Z telephoto lens choices

Nwcid

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I am currently running a pair of Z7ii. Right now my longest lens is my Tamron 70-200 G2 F mount. I had a Tamron 150-600 G1 that was not compatible with Z series so I sold it. Now I am looking for a new telephoto option.

We are getting ready to head off for 2 trips soon, one a week in Costa Rica then roughly 2 months in AZ. My issue right now is availability, followed by future usefulness followed by price.

My original plan was to just pick up a Tamron G2 150-600 and use it with the FTZ. I was happy with my last one and I know what to expect. Cost is $1400 and is available now. My concern is that the upcoming 200-600 from Nikon will be a much better lens.

I am considering the Nikon 70-200S with 2x TC. In the long run this would be a lens I use all the time and the 2x would get me a useful range for my trips and is available right now. I think the biggest downside is price at about $3200 and I have a perfectly good 70-200 right now.

The Nikon 100-400 with 1.4x or 2x TC would be a great option for me. Cost is about $3300 however they are likely weeks or longer from being available.

Nikon 200-600 again would be an obvious choice but I think we will be lucky to see those by the end of the year.

While I do not want to spend $3200 right now and have a TC that I may rarely use once longer lenses come out, I feel it may be a better value then spending $1400 on a lens I will likely want to replace when the 200-600 comes out.

Any thoughts? Or I guess another question is do I really need longer than 200 mm in Costa Rica?
 
Wouldn't that depend upon what you are photographing?

Fair point, I did miss that in my post.

On a couple of days we will be venturing into the "jungle" and volcano areas to explore and see wildlife. My though is that to get good wildlife images I will need more reach than 200mm will give me.
 
I have the Z-mount 70-200 f/2.8 and it is a phenomenal lens. Tack sharp, lightning fast and accurate autofocus, and significantly smaller and lighter than F-mount versions. I bought it in December so I haven't really had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but I rented a copy in the summer to shoot a wedding and it exceeded all of my expectations.

However, will you use it? It is big and heavy and only fits in one of my camera bags. I definitely wouldn't call it a travel lens, it's 3lbs on its own and is 11" long with the hood. I have traveled with a smaller telephoto lens in my bag 3 times, and never took it out on 2 of those trips. On the 3rd trip it came in handy as a 2nd shooter at a wedding, as well as some wildlife and watersport activities at the beach. If you think you'll use it, it's definitely worth the upgrade. Personally, I think I would leave it at home for any trips where I don't have a specific use in mind.
 
I have the Z-mount 70-200 f/2.8 and it is a phenomenal lens. Tack sharp, lightning fast and accurate autofocus, and significantly smaller and lighter than F-mount versions. I bought it in December so I haven't really had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but I rented a copy in the summer to shoot a wedding and it exceeded all of my expectations.

However, will you use it? It is big and heavy and only fits in one of my camera bags. I definitely wouldn't call it a travel lens, it's 3lbs on its own and is 11" long with the hood. I have traveled with a smaller telephoto lens in my bag 3 times, and never took it out on 2 of those trips. On the 3rd trip it came in handy as a 2nd shooter at a wedding, as well as some wildlife and watersport activities at the beach. If you think you'll use it, it's definitely worth the upgrade. Personally, I think I would leave it at home for any trips where I don't have a specific use in mind.
I can appreciate your use.

My 70-200 2.8 is by far my most used lens, travel or otherwise. It is the lens that is primarily attached to my camera. I can only think of a couple of trips where I rarely used it and that was in very urban areas.

My dilemma today is what lens is available today for the Z series that will get me 400-600mm and also make some financial sense.
 
My original plan was to just pick up a Tamron G2 150-600 and use it with the FTZ. I was happy with my last one and I know what to expect. Cost is $1400 and is available now. My concern is that the upcoming 200-600 from Nikon will be a much better lens.
Personally, I think your original plan makes sense. Maybe rent a 150-600 G2, or try to find a decent second hand copy for the trip and sell or trade it in on a new 200-600 Nikkor if you find it to be a lot better? That G2 Tamron is said to be a pretty good lens. (Never owned or used a Tamron myself.)
 
My dilemma today is what lens is available today for the Z series that will get me 400-600mm and also make some financial sense.
Please post a follow-up when you decide what path to go. I would love some extra reach, and I've been very curious about the performance and image quality of the 70-200 with teleconverters.
 
Ricci Talks has a video on the Nikon Z teleconverters with the 70-200 vs. F-mount alternatives that you might find useful. It's not quite the same comparison, but may provide some additional insight.
 
Good video. Thank you.

At this point it looks like I am likely to rent a 150-600 for the trip.
 
***Follow up***

I ended up getting a new Tamron G2 since I did not leave enough time to rent one and get it in time for our trip.

I will say I am very glad I had it and I am very happy with the results vs cost.

Here are 2 images, both at 600mm and with the 2nd image I have added a screenshot of how much I also cropped.

Here is video shot with the same combo, I believe I was either at 400mm or 500mm for these. The last section I did crop to about 75% in video processing.
 

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