RAPHSHOTS
JOIN ME ON:
  • Home
  • About
  • Landscapes
  • Nature
  • People
  • Night
  • Sport & Fun
  • NY
  • Design
  • Video

Field Test Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED AF-S VR

18/1/2018

2 Comments

 
I have tried the 200-500mm f/5.6 AF-S VR on field during my trip to Costa Rica this winter. That was  the perfect opportunity to photograph nature and especially wildlife and see what this lens has in its . I have had a good time shooting with this lens and the quality of the images went beyond my expectations. I used it mounted on my D750 which shows excellent performance in low light conditions and thus was an excellent addition to the lens which has a relatively small max aperture of f/5.6. The pictures have been taken mainly in aperture priority mode. Iso values used are between 200 and 5000, so keep your attention on these numbers since they have an important impact on the overall image noise. The settings of each shot is shared in the captions and a crop is given to judge the sharpness and crispness of the pictures. If you want another field test of this lens, have look at the stunning photos taken by Roy Mangersnes in Svalbard, Norway:

https://roymangersnes.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/field-test-nikkor-200-500mm-f56e-ed/

For the persons interested, here's a short history of the lens:
Since 2014 Tamron and then Sigma offered interesting super tele with impressive reach (150-600mm f/4.5-6.3), but Canon and Nikon remained quiet with their semi-pro 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM (II) and the 80-400mm AF-S VR respectively.
In august 2015, Nikon launched the 200-500mm f/5.6 AF-S VR,  which has everything to compete (and certainly beat) its competitors but not enough to cannibalise Nikon’s Pro range lenses because of the lack of tropicalization which is required to shoot in extreme weather conditions. 
In other words Nikon has launched a versatile optical weapon with an electronic comparable to pro lenses (AF-S and VR) but without the mechanical finish that characterise them (and that justify their high price). This is a great opportunity for wildlife and even sport photographer looking for a super tele with excellent sharpness and good focus speed and image stabilisation.
Let’s see the results on field.

Picture
Northern Jacana @420mm 1/1250s, f/8.0, ISO 640
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Little Blue Heron @440mm 1/1000 s, f/5.6, ISO 640
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Green Heron @500mm 1/2500s, f/5.6, ISO 640
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Collared Aracari @270mm 1/100s, f/5.6, ISO 800
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Hermit Crab @500mm 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 4500
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Central American Whiptail @500mm 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 640
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Back-cheeked Woodpecker @420mm 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 1000
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Green Iguana @500mm 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 1000
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Spider Monkey @500mm 1/800s, f/5.6, ISO 1600
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Brown Pelican hunting @500mm 1/4000s, f/5.6, ISO 320
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Brown Pelican striking fish @500mm 1/4000 s, f/5.6, ISO 320
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Brown Pelican @380mm 1/4000s, f/5.6, ISO 560
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Brown Pelican starting its descent to catch a fish @500mm 1/s, f/5.6, ISO 250
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Slot climbing @500mm 1/640s, f/5.6, ISO 640
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Howler Monkey @500mm 1/500s, f/8.0, ISO 5000
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Brown Pelican at take-off @500mm 1/4000s, f/5.6, ISO 560
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Sungrebe (very rare) @500mm 1/160s, f/5.6, ISO 1000. This is the only bird specie where the male has two marsupial pockets under its wings to carry his chicks both on the ground and in the air.
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Variegated Squirrel @460mm 1/100s, f/5.6, ISO 1600
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Canal in Tortugero @200mm 1/160 s, f/10, ISO 200
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Jesus Christ Lizard @500mm 1/800 s, f/5.6, ISO 800
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Great Green Macaw @500mm 1/2000 s, f/8.0, ISO 1600
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Royal Terns @280mm 1/320 s, f/14, ISO 220
Picture
100% crop
Picture
Sanderling @500mm 1/2500 s, f/5.6, ISO 400
Picture
crop 100%
Picture
Black-throated Trogon @500mm 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 1600
Picture
crop 100%
2 Comments
Duc link
12/2/2018 02:50:53 am

Great job mate ! Good article, awesome pictures. You nailed it ! Impressive :-)

Reply
Raph
17/2/2018 08:54:06 am

Thanks my friend!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    My name is Raphaël Hoesli and I have a strong passion for photography. I am based in Bienne in Switzerland. I began photography at the age of 13 with my father's Canon AE1 camera. First attracted by Wildlife and nature photography, I progressively started with sport, events, city and people photography. This website should provide a good general idea of what I do.

    Archives

    January 2018
    November 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    February 2014
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.