Nikon - AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Super Telephoto Zoom Lens - Black

After much review of lenses on-line from Nikon and others by Tamron and Sigma, this is the best lens over the competition. Only the 200-400mm. f4 at $7,000 is better. At $1,400 this lens is a steel for quite the same quality. On the specs you loose 1 stop and does not have Nano coating, but after all it is $5,600 less. The VR works as expected and is good with hand held sports action. A little heavy, but a 500m lens has to be big. Great bokeh and fast focus is plus on my Nikon D800. It shoots well at f 5.6 thru f 11.0 with razor sharp pictures. A tripod or monopod mounted to the lens clip makes pictures only better. This lens fits nicely with my other zooms selections of 14-24 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f 2.8.

I purchased this lens to shoot wildlife and sports. So far, I'm extremely happy with it. I was able to get in time to take on a florida beach vacation and I've shot one middle school football game. It has exceeded expectations. Shooting with a D7100, even in semi low light conditions it gives sharp images without too much noise. I will say it's HEAVY, but most of the time I shoot off a monopod, which I recommend for any duration shooting (sports).

Have owned this lens for several weeks and have been very pleased with it. Even at five pounds I am able to hand hold thanks to an amazing VR. It maintains its 5.6 f/stop throughout the zoom range. Images are sharp throughout the zoom range. I did see a slight drop off of image quality at 500mm with subjects at a distance. Only cons are the weight, but surprisingly comfortable to hand hold, and the f/5.6 in low light condition makes one push the ISO up. Best bang for your buck in super telephoto lens.

Great lens straight out of the box, and half the price of my 80-400mm AFS Nikon zoom (my "go-to" wilfdlife lens). It is a bit heavy, so you'll know it when you've been carrying it in the boonies a while. Also, zooming all the way in takes two twists of the lens - so a drawback if you need to react fast. Not one I use every day - but excellent for performance and price, and the capability to really reach out there.

I love to do wildlife and landscape photography and I love having a lens that allows me to really zoom in and capture some very unique photos. I thought long and hard before purchasing this lens and for the money invested, this lens fits the bill perfectly. One word of caution though, it is a heavy lens, therefore a tripod or a shooting stick is a must for many occasions. However its not impossible to get a good photo thanks to the vibration reduction built into the lens. The 2 photos I have included were both hand held. The bird taking flight I was leaning against a tree so was pretty rock solid, but the bird in flight I was standing, looking almost straight up, a very unstable stance. You can spend much, much more money and get more light gathering capabilities but for a professional amateur, like myself, this one works great.