I am currently looking at this same lens to purchase. The owner says it has a high pitched whining noise during autofocus. Do you have any idea what could be causing that noise?
I have the same lense. Getting into wildlife photography, was thinking about selling it and getting the Nikon 500mm Pf prime lense. will I see much difference in Sharpness at long distances? I use a D500 body?
I suspect the 500mm PF would be superior for distant subjects, primes do tend to have an advantage in my experience. The 200-400 is a little soft at 400mm, so adding a TC to get to 500+mm does have downsides. I haven't used the 500mm PF, so I cannot say for sure, but it's on my list of lenses to get as well.
thomas pallan I own both lenses (200-400mm vrii and 500mm pf). Im coming from a different body however (d850), so in terms of versatility, the 500mm pf was a no brainer for me having the ability to shoot at 500mm or 750mm (effectively) @ 19mp in DX mode. Obviously on your d500, you’ll be fixed at an effective range of 750mm. Good news is, for wildlife photography you almost always have the ability to back up if needed. Shooting both lenses wide open, the 500mm pf is noticeably sharper at f5.6 compared to the 200-400mm at f4. I almost always stopped my 200-400mm down to f5.6. At that aperture, the 500mm pf is still sharper, although not as apparently so. For me, this negated the f4 aspect of the 200-400 when comparing the two lenses. So for you, it really boils down to portability and the ability to zoom out. The 500mm pf is a dream to carry around. The 200-400, as you well know, is quite cumbersome. Putting myself in your situation, I’d probably still spring for the 500mm pf. Your challenge at that point, would be getting your hands on one. They’ve been on backorder for awhile now and lightly used versions are being sold for upwards of $1000 above msrp.
@@adamthompson8140 I can't ty enough for all your helpful info. I did buy the Nikon 500mm, F5.6pf...incredible lense and so easy to hike with and manage! Ty for the excellent advice. I will try and sell the 200-400mm, f/4 Nikon zoom. really a shame, I bought it new for over $6K, many, many years ago; now, I'll take a big hit trying to sell it. Now, I will need a Nikon zoom in about the same range, or perhaps a New Nikon body, maybe even the the new Mirrorless ? Z-8? Then I can use the Nikon 200-500, f 5.6pf as full frame and the 500pf as a 750mm lense? We'll see what the future holds. Sorry for the late response! Tom
Thanks for making this video. I am looking at getting this lens for my F6. I photograph wild horses and the PF lenses will only work wide open on the film SLR cameras. I was hoping it would be reasonably sharp at 400mm F4, but sounds like this may not be the case. Any more thoughts/info since the posting of this video two years ago?
