constant aperture gives your shots beautifully out-of-focus backgrounds across the entire zoom range. That’s a lot of weight to keep steady out in front of you handheld, proper shooting technique or not. It's difficult to get things in focus both in the center and at the sides at 500mm, but if you do, it's sharp even wide-open from edge-to-edge — and there's no falloff. It offers a large zoom range, making it ideal for capturing everything from small birds to large mammals.

While this is fully under the camera’s control, the focus motor speed on the 200-500mm was causing me to miss reacquisition by the next shot in a burst sequence (at 6 fps). Wider aperture: As a fixed f/4 lens, the 300mm lets in 1 more stop (or double the amount) of light as the Nikon 200-500, helping to produce more pleasing out-of-focus backgrounds. On the flip side, both rings on my sample are smooth and consistent in their rotation action (some lenses get “stickier” as you near focal or focus range limits). which at 500mm gives something a bit less than 5:1 magnification, a reasonable close focus capability though not approaching macro. While there’s a lot of glass in the lens (19 elements), most of the glass is actually quite small in diameter.Nevertheless, the lens boasts an exceptional five stops of VR, significantly improving its hand-holdability and making it easier to use in tight spaces and challenging terrains. That’s particularly true of the extreme corners, and in direct comparison to the high-end Sigma sample I tried. Use the FTZ or FTZ II adapter and everything should work great on Nikon's Z-series mirrorless cameras. is a great range for birds, while the 200 to 400 focal length is great for large and smaller size wildlife. This difference tremendously impacts the versatility and usefulness of the Nikon 200-500 in the field if you can get very close to your subjects.

A lens hood provides essential protection for the front glass element of the lens, shielding it from minor bumps, tree twigs, and rain. If you’re looking for a completely stable system, you might try the Really Right Stuff Long Lens Support or Kirk’s custom solution for the 200-500mm. But in the Galapagos Islands, I was in plenty of situations where I needed 200mm, then I needed 500mm, and then I needed something in between, repeat ad infinitum.It is impressive that Nikon was able to come up with a constant aperture lens design for such a long zoom lens.