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Under the radar: 500mm PF

Jorgen Udvang

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Another impressive effort by Nikon. If and when I return to Nikon, this lens will be one of the reasons. While $3,600 isn't exactly cheap, high quality telephoto primes never were, and it actually compares favourably when it comes to weight and price when compared to lenses like the PL 200mm f/2.8 and Zuiko 300mm f/4 for m4/3. Since compact telephoto lenses have always been an important advantage using smaller sensors, this is a big deal lindeed.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/47387...ility-announced-for-compact-nikon-500mm-f5-6e

If Nikon can come up with a "microscopic" 150mm f/2.8ish, I'm all theirs :D
 
Swissblad

Swissblad

Well-known member
There has been a lot of buzz about this lens - and possible 600mm/400mm PF variants - on birdphotog/naturephotog forums since initial notes were posted on Nikonrumors a while back.

If it is as good as the 300mm f4.0 PF - it will be a great addition to the Nikon telelens arsenal.

:thumbs:
 
doug

doug

Well-known member
A lens like this - if it works well with the FTZ adapter and Z7 - would tempt me to return to Nikon, but only if Sony has nothing comparable.
 
Frankly

Frankly

New member
I weened myself off the 300/2.8 in favor of the 300/4 PF e but it took me two tries... now my back is thanking me, I bring it out twice as often. The reality is I rarely miss something that I could only have gotten with the big 2.8. And the weird flare issues only occur if you do a lot of night shots or go out trying to make it happen.

$3600 is still a big hunk, I'd have to suddenly really like the birdies and critters. But if you ever did go on a safari or Antartica this would justify buying a Nikon just for it.
 
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iiiNelson

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I agree this was possibly the most under the radar announcements yesterday. I think I saw more about the new DJI drones than this lens and maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact it’s F-mount and being treated a bit as an afterthought.

I’d also like to see Sony (or someone) make FF Mirrorless options for “affordable” super telephoto lenses. I can quite justify the $10k+ f/2.8 or f/4 lenses for what I do but I wouldn’t mind having the reach personally at times. Having f/5.6 options that are under $4k would have me interested or even supertelephoto zooms with constant apertures at f/4 or f/5.6 like Nikon did with their 200-500mm lens. I’m hoping the rumored Sony 200-600 directly competes with that lens at a comparable price (i.e. within $5-800 of it).
 
Frankly

Frankly

New member
As luck would have I processed yesterday's images after writing what I did above. I grabbed this quick shot of the cloud with the 300/4 PFe, the sun being on the opposite side of the sky and wide open at f/4. You can see the "ring" effect from the fresnel in the blue sky. At least I can. Of course the light could have actually been like this (doubtful) so you'd want to test it more carefully.

It was just a grab shot so I didn't experiment but I suspect that stopping down might alleviate the effect.
 

Attachments

F

fotophil

Member
iiiNelson said:
I agree this was possibly the most under the radar announcements yesterday. I think I saw more about the new DJI drones than this lens and maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact it’s F-mount and being treated a bit as an afterthought.

I’d also like to see Sony (or someone) make FF Mirrorless options for “affordable” super telephoto lenses. I can quite justify the $10k+ f/2.8 or f/4 lenses for what I do but I wouldn’t mind having the reach personally at times. Having f/5.6 options that are under $4k would have me interested or even supertelephoto zooms with constant apertures at f/4 or f/5.6 like Nikon did with their 200-500mm lens. I’m hoping the rumored Sony 200-600 directly competes with that lens at a comparable price (i.e. within $5-800 of it).
Click to expand...
Sony lenses are not known to be comparably priced so it would very surprising that that could even come close to matching the Nikon 200-500
 
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fotophil

Member
Frankly said:
As luck would have I processed yesterday's images after writing what I did above. I grabbed this quick shot of the cloud with the 300/4 PFe, the sun being on the opposite side of the sky and wide open at f/4. You can see the "ring" effect from the fresnel in the blue sky. At least I can. Of course the light could have actually been like this (doubtful) so you'd want to test it more carefully.

It was just a grab shot so I didn't experiment but I suspect that stopping down might alleviate the effect.
Click to expand...

I used the first version of the Canon 400mm F/4 DO Lens for bird photography and occasionally found strange areas in the out of focus tree backgrounds.I don't know if the version 2 had the same problem. Due to the small size and light weight of the DO lens, it was so wonderful for hand holding that the strange backgrounds could be ignored in bird photos. The lens was not my favorite for landscape.

After switching to Nikon I have found the the 300mm f/4 PF lens to much better behaved than the original Canon DO and hopefully the new 500mm PF lens will be the same. It is interesting that Canon never followed up on their initial statement to expand the DO concept into the longer telephoto lenses.
 
iiiNelson

iiiNelson

Well-known member
fotophil said:
Sony lenses are not known to be comparably priced so it would very surprising that that could even come close to matching the Nikon 200-500
Click to expand...
They're not known for that but I find that they actually are priced within the same realm personally. The problem is in the perception more than reality where some people go strictly off focal length and aperture speed. Everyone wants the 50/1.4 to cost $400 and resolve as much as an Otus but that’s just lunacy. The top end Sony lenses are made for high resolution sensors and thus cost a bit more but in most cases not terribly so.
 
iiiNelson

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Frankly said:
As luck would have I processed yesterday's images after writing what I did above. I grabbed this quick shot of the cloud with the 300/4 PFe, the sun being on the opposite side of the sky and wide open at f/4. You can see the "ring" effect from the fresnel in the blue sky. At least I can. Of course the light could have actually been like this (doubtful) so you'd want to test it more carefully.

It was just a grab shot so I didn't experiment but I suspect that stopping down might alleviate the effect.
Click to expand...
Is the shading and vignetting at the edges and middle normal on PF lenses?
 
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