AF-S FX NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

I've been researching telephoto zooms here for a while as I was trying to decide which one to get. I narrowed it down to the Tamron 150-600, Sigma 150-600 and this lens the Nikon 200-500. After reading/watching a bunch of reviews and comparisons of the lenses I decided to go with the Nikon, mainly because of it's sharpness throughout all focal lengths but also because of it's incredible VR (Vibration Reduction). Apart from being a great quality lens it's also affordable. For what you are getting it's a steal! Compared the it's Big Brother the Nikon 500m f4 Prime it's about 9 grand less and produces just about the same amazing quality. The lens itself is fairly new, it was released in 2015 I believe and because of that there isn't a whole of info out there like there is for other lenses. As of writing this review there is still no DXO Mark score which really bothers me, but hopefully they will get it up at some point. The real beauty of this lens is it's VR, it's Nikons latest generation of Vibration Reduction and it's incredible! It's really quite amazing how low you can drop the shutter speeds. I posted some pics with my review that hopefully help give some ideas as to what to expect with this lens. One of the pics was taken at 1/8th a second at 500mm handheld, that's just insane! Obviously you wouldn't want to be shooting at that speed if you don't have to, I just wanted to test the capabilities. At 1/8th I couldn't land a super tack sharp pic, but scaled down to any reasonable size it then looks totally sharp. In general I was able to land tack sharp images at 1/25h and lower, and 1/100 to 1/300 gave me super sharp images almost every time, even at 500mm focus. The bokeh on this thing is impeccable, blowing out the backgrounds is a snap with this lens. Colors are also deep and saturated with good contrast. Chromatic Aberration isn't a problem either, however I've noticed a very slight hint of CA on a few images, though I am talking about a very minimal amount, if you weren't pixel peeping you would never see it, and even then you might still might miss it. Focusing isn't as snappy as the 500mm f4 prime, but at 1/10th the cost the focusing works pretty darn good. Once you get used to it and know how much time you need to adjust you will get the hang of controlling the focus properly. The zoom wheel also requires a bit too much turn to go from 200-500, you won't be able to make a full transition in a single hand turn which is a bit of a bummer especially if your starting at 200 and zooming is as your tracking your subject, but again this will improve over time once you practice with it. My only other criticism thus far is the weight. It's definitely light enough to hand hold, but holding it up to track a bird or take a series of pics can get tiresome pretty quickly. However, this too will get better with practice as you build up some muscles. All in all I would say this is one of the best telephoto zooms to date, if not the best if you take the price into consideration. This is about as good as it gets at this price range, you really won't find a better lens. It's extremely versatile, you can focus close enough to take some macro shots as well (a few included in my review), you can use this lens for tight portraits, candid shots, birding, macro, and even landscapes to a lesser extent.

This is a great lens (Nikon 200-500) for nature and sports photography. I did learn the hard way, if you use any filters on this lens, they must be of good quality. I used an inexpensive Circular Polarizer Filter that caused fuzziness in any photo I took with this lens. It also caused auto focus issues sometimes, and I found when I removed the filter, everything worked well with excellent picture quality. For the money, it's a bargain. Note it is very heavy for us older folks, so I would recommend using either a monopod or tripod if possible. The Vibration Reduction does eliminate any shake if handholding the lens. I was quite pleased with how fast the auto focus is.

I never thought I'd say this about a $1,400.00 super-zoom telephoto lens, but,.. it is phenomenal. This lens is sharp! The VR is very effective as well. It allows me to hand-hold the lens to below 1/100s at any focal length and get sharp results, provided the subject isn't moving much. Being able to focus on subjects close or far away and being able to zoom in or out is also a bonus. I shoot a lot of wildlife, birds in flight, surfing and so on, and needed a longer lens. I was using my 300mm f/4D AF-S plus Nikon 1.4TCII, which got me to 420mm at f/5.6. This combo works really well due to sharpness, light weight, smaller size and good reach. That being said, I'm shooting with the D750 which is full frame, so I've always wanted just a little more reach than that and something I didn't need a TC for. I was looking at the new Tamron 150-600mm G2 and this Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6VR. I decided to go down to Sammy's Camera to give them both a try to see which one I'd like better. Though I'm sure the Tamron is great, I ended up really liking the Nikon. It just seemed to work better with my D750 as far as low light focus and VR were concerned. I liked it so much, that although I planned on buying it online, I couldn't help myself and handed over the cash so I could take it home that minute. I have read that there could be some copy variation and that some of these perform better than others. The one I picked up is flawless. It is pin-sharp wide open at every focal length with no AF fine tune necessary. Though it is a bit slow to focus on a subject initially, once it locks on, it tracks that subject very well. I haven't missed any shots so far, so long as I was able to keep the lens on the subject. It's larger and heavier than my 300mm f/4D and TC combo, so it did take some getting used to. I would highly recommend this lens to any Nikon shooter needing more reach. This lens delivers even with a 1.4TC attached! I've only tried it with my 1.4TC II (which holds up really well though it was first announced in 2001!), but plan on buying the 1.4TC III for improved focus, optics and VR with this lens. The TC brings you to 700mm at f/8. I was getting sharp results on subjects that were moving slower, but for flying birds it didn't quite work out. I'm confident that the 1.4TC III will improve that quite a bit, since it's meant to work better with these new "E" lenses.

I absolutely love the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens. The quality and build of this lens are outstanding. While working in Alaska, I managed to get incredible shots of wildlife, thanks to its impressive performance. The vibration reduction feature is a game-changer, ensuring sharp images even at maximum zoom. I’m very happy with this purchase, and the price was quite reasonable for the value it offers. Highly recommended for any wildlife photography enthusiast!

I enjoy my wildlife photography and although I was getting some decent shots with my 80-400mm, I wanted to fill the viewfinder that bit more. I have been really impressed with the results using this lens, that extra 100mm has made a big difference. The VR is very effective and the autofocus is quick; I had read some reports saying autofocus was a bit slow, but it seems fine with my D810. The lens is a bit heavy, but I've managed to carry it around for over 5 miles without any bother (I'm in my early 60s). The biggest problem I've had is getting a holster that can carry it and the camera, I've settled on a Think Tank one at the moment, but its not ideal as the lens will not fit in with the hood on (this is a wide hood and even reversed will not fit in the bag). To give an idea of quality, the image of the pigeon was the first test shot I took. I was in my garden, the bird was on the apex of the roof; the image is cropped at 100% yet is still quite sharp (500mm f8 @ 1/400th ISO200). All in all I'm very happy with the lens and consider it money well spent.

¡Increíble!, es la mejor palabra para describir este grandioso teleobjetivo. Con un precio muy ajustado para la calidad que ofrece, como siempre Nikon no defrauda, la primera sensación que transmite es su robustez y peso, con una luminosidad asombrosa. Lo mejor aparte del conocido sistema VR, que funciona a la perfección, es su motor de enfoque, no se le oye pero absolutamente nada, cuando empecé a disparar con el miraba el anillo de enfoque para ver si realmente se movía puesto que no me podía creer que viendo el enfoque a través del visor no oyera nada, y además es súper rápido tanto con mi Nikon D80 como con D7100, en ambas funciona a la perfección y cuando seleccionamos el enfoque a partir de 6 metros con el selector que trae para ello, es aún más rápido si cabe. Sin duda lo volvería a comprar. Solo una pega, y es que no tiene ningún punto de anclaje para una correa, por lo que la sujección se hace directamente con la camara, poder usar una correa adicional que vendría bien pues pesa de lo lindo. Incluso a pulso las fotos son nítidas, pero no es un objetivo para tirar a pulso. Con un simple monopie va de fábula y con un trípode es bestial. AMAZON como siempre un 10 tanto en envío, como rápidez y en este caso en concreto en precio: 200 euros de ahorro respecto a otros sitios.

very happy with lens. a bit heavy though. photos very sharp even with an entry level crop sensor camera. beautiful bokeh, lovely colours too money well spent. brings a lot of joy

One of the best bits of photographic equipment I have ever owned or used. It is simply the best.

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