Nikon 200-500 VR f/5.6 game changing lens?

Is the Nikon 200-500 VR f/5.6 a game changing lens? For me I think the answer is becoming a resounding YES! My workhorse nature photography lens over the past 20trs has been the incredible Nikor 500mm f/4 lens which, in recent tears, I updated to a VR version. The lens is incredible sharp, super fast focussing and handles both the 1.4x and 2x convertors with ease (the latter has to be the MKIII version!).  I’ve taken the 500mm all over the world and most recently, in 2016, on several trips to Spain where I rented photographic hides which are set up to accomodate the growing ranks of amateur nature photographers that have a wide variety of lenses, not all of which have 500mm lenses. This often meant that the subjects were a bit close and became big in the frame and the fixed focal length of the 500mm, even on full frame sensors, can mean the subject is tight in the frame.

As a professional commercial photographer shooting a lot of portraits, my workhorse lens in that sphere is my 70-200mm zoom. I rarely leaves my D4/D810 and I really appreciate the ability to zoom to change composition. Often, I have discussed with my photo buddies the dream of having a decent zoom for working in the hides. Nikon does have a 200-400mm f/4 VR lens but it is very expensive and is also big, almost the same size as a 500mm lens. As I often travel with budget airlines, size and weight is becoming more important to me and so the thought of a smaller, lightweight zoom has always been appealing. Sigma and Tamron both offer 150-500mm superzooms and I see these being touted around by many people, especially birdwatchers who also want a record shot of the bird they’ve just seen. However, I’d rather give up photography than use a Sigma lens and, though I admire Tamron, the reviews weren’t always great. Enter Nikon with their Nikor 200-500 Vr f/5.6 offering – a direct assault on the Tamron and Sigma lenses. Priced at £1100 and with the release of the Nikon D500 APS-C camera, I decided to have a dabble. Would it be a game changer and a replacement for my 500VR lens? Only time will tell, but today, I had an amazing outing with it and my opinion is beginning to form!

There has just been a period of easterly winds in mid-October and that can only mean one thing – migrants a plenty on the east coast. With rarities being reported quicker than burgers sold at a McDonalds’ drive thru, I decided to head to Bemton Cliffs on the east coast to see wht I could find. The weather conditions were perfect with light easterly winds and bright sunshine. The coastal hedges were litterally dripping with tired migrant bords. Chiffchaffs and goldcrest were the dominant species but there were also redwing, bluethroat, brambling, robins and blackbirds all to be had. I took only the D500, Nikkor 200-500VR and the 1.4TC-E MKIII and mounted the whole rig on a cheap monopod. The set up is very lightweight and manouverable and this is the first thing I noticed, no tripod required or back breaking lenses over the shoulder! This combination also notches up an amazing 1050mm equivalent at the long end and the AF at f/8 is very quick. Given that the zoom range is effectively 420-1050, this is an incredibly versatile set-up. I think if you need much more than 1000mm, you’re too far from the subject for anything other than a record shot. I used this combination all day and, boy, did it work well.

A couple of things to note: the wetaher was very bright and sunny so AF was not a problem and, also, I shot mostly at f/11 because I think the lens is much sharper when slightly stopped down but that may just be my copy (which I bought used for £995 from Dale Photographic). There were so many birds in the bushes, finding a subject was easy, especially if you wanted to photograph goldcrest or chiffchaff! I shot around 1500 images at 2500ISO to get me shutter speeds of 1/2000 and above. I did this purely because the goldcrests do not sit still and a shutter speed of, say 1/500, might freeze the body, but the bird’s head will be blurred: they are like little sowing machines!  I’ve presented a selection of images here, most of which are straight out of the camera with only minor contrast tweaks and some have a slight crop for compositional purposes. I am really impressed with the sharpness and detail of this lens and on the D500 it’s just an amazing set-up for the nature photographer. I need to try it in low light to see if the AF speed and sharpness hold up, but based on today’s performance, I reckon this is a game changing lens for me and the selling of the 500mm just became one step closer! Stay tuned for the next brief appraisal…..