{"id":34154,"date":"2016-02-25T16:07:38","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T20:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=34154"},"modified":"2017-08-11T17:11:19","modified_gmt":"2017-08-11T21:11:19","slug":"review-nikon-200-500mm-f5-6e-vr-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/review-nikon-200-500mm-f5-6e-vr-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"review: Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6E VR lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

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review: Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6E VR lens<\/h1>\n

The\u00a0Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6E VR<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(B&H<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/a><\/em>) is an immediately appealing lens. It is only $1,400 for a telephoto zoom with a superb range of 200mm to 500mm. $1,400 is a very attractive price, especially when other lenses such as the Nikon 200-400mm f\/4 VR II<\/a>\u00a0 (B&H<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/a><\/em>), comes in at 5x that price! \u00a0I had the first version of the Nikon 200-4oomm and it was stellar! I loved it, but didn’t use it enough to warrant such an expensive lens mostly languishing on the shelf. But at $1,400 even occasional use for sport or nature photography is very attractive.<\/p>\n

But then the question comes up, is the Nikon 200-400mm f\/4 lens 5x as sharp as this lens? \u00a0Or, considered in another way, is the new Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6 only 20% as good as the top lens?<\/p>\n

This is the thought I had for this review when I took the Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6E VR<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) to the streets of New York during a momentary warm\u00a0winter’s day. I wanted to photograph some compressed perspective cityscapes\u00a0– flattening the city scenes to give abstract and even surreal impressions of the city. (There’s not much nature and wildlife photography to be had in New Jersey in the winter.)<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6E is advertised to offer\u00a04.5 stops of Vibration Reduction! With that, I used this lens hand-held at medium shutter speeds, but took extra care to steady myself, or brace myself. With such long focal lengths, sloppy technique shows up very quickly. As it was, it was an interesting learning experience shooting with such long focal lengths again – I had forgotten how much effect air turbulence can have on image sharpness!<\/p>\n

Out of the box, the lens is impressive – zooming the lens feels smooth. The build quality feels and looks really good. It feels like a top Nikon lens. The weight is a not-intolerable\u00a081.2<\/span>\u00a0oz \/ 2.3 kg. You couldn’t realistically expect a lens like this to weigh less. Cradling it in my arms as I walked,\u00a0I\u00a0was comfortable carrying it for a few hours as I walked around New York. It’s not really a huge beast of a lens, considering the focal range.<\/span><\/p>\n

When looking at the 100% crops of the images, keep in mind that this was shot with the\u00a0Nikon D810<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>), and that such a high-resolution camera shows up any flaws quickly, whether optical or in technique.<\/p>\n

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Specifications of the\u00a0Nikon 200-500mm f\/5.6E VR lens<\/h2>\n