Nikon 200-500/5.6 VR Lens....... post your photos!

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singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
Blacktop said:
It slays um pretty good flying as well. It slays them a lot better on my D750 then on the D7100.
Click to expand...

A lot better, eh? I still don't have much shooting time behind this lens, but comparisons on a stationary object showed the 750 to beat my D7000, which I sold to buy a D7200. The 7200 now shows better than the 750 (in my limited tests on stationary objects). Are you referring to focus, IQ or what?
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
singlerosa said:
A lot better, eh? I still don't have much shooting time behind this lens, but comparisons on a stationary object showed the 750 to beat my D7000, which I sold to buy a D7200. The 7200 now shows better than the 750 (in my limited tests on stationary objects). Are you referring to focus, IQ or what?
Click to expand...

I have only done a few tests , but so far here is my limited experience.

On stationary subject with good light (not too high an ISO) the D7100 comes very close to the D750 as far as IQ goes. As ISO goes up, IQ degrades on the 7100. ( I can see the D7200 equaling the D750 or even surpassing it )
Focus wise the D7100 and the D750 pretty much locked focus evenly in this scenario.

Now, the reason this lens will live on the D750 and not on the D7100. Focus speed . Locking focus tracking birds. The difference HUGE! If not huge, than big.

I spent hours yesterday shooting gull. These guys are not the fastest birds on the planet, but still, they are quite quick changing directions and diving .
I first gave it a good workout on the D7100.
The weather was not very sunny but it was not badly overcast. On a 1-10 scale, I would say maybe a 6 or 7 leaning towards bright.

Now before I continue, I must say that I have some experience tracking moving objects and have become pretty good at it using the 70-300mm lens. This of course is a much heavier lens , but I still did fairly well keeping the focus point on the bird and close to the eyes.

On the D7100 it was somewhat of a problem. I was tracking the birds with the focus on the bird but it kept wanting to focus on the sky instead. I'm not saying that it was really bad, but I did have to refocus many times to get the bird and sometimes by the time it did focus on the subject the bird was already past, showing it's backside.

On the D750 it was the opposite. As soon as I hit the bird with the focus point it snapped right to it. Everytime!! As long as that focus point is on your subject it will focus almost instantaneously.

My overall conclusion with the limited experience I have ,is this.

If you're only shooting stationary subjects, this is a fantastic lens whether be on a D7100 or a D750.
Tracking birds, the winner is the D750 hands down. I will now be shooting landscapes with the D7100 and BIF with the D750. (This is not a lens that you want to be changing back and forth all day.)
I'm willing to sacrifice reach over quality and speed.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Blacktop said:
I have only done a few tests , but so far here is my limited experience.

On stationary subject with good light (not too high an ISO) the D7100 comes very close to the D750 as far as IQ goes. As ISO goes up, IQ degrades on the 7100. ( I can see the D7200 equaling the D750 or even surpassing it )
Focus wise the D7100 and the D750 pretty much locked focus evenly in this scenario.

Now, the reason this lens will live on the D750 and not on the D7100. Focus speed . Locking focus tracking birds. The difference HUGE! If not huge, than big.

I spent hours yesterday shooting gull. These guys are not the fastest birds on the planet, but still, they are quite quick changing directions and diving .
I first gave it a good workout on the D7100.
The weather was not very sunny but it was not badly overcast. On a 1-10 scale, I would say maybe a 6 or 7 leaning towards bright.

Now before I continue, I must say that I have some experience tracking moving objects and have become pretty good at it using the 70-300mm lens. This of course is a much heavier lens , but I still did fairly well keeping the focus point on the bird and close to the eyes.

On the D7100 it was somewhat of a problem. I was tracking the birds with the focus on the bird but it kept wanting to focus on the sky instead. I'm not saying that it was really bad, but I did have to refocus many times to get the bird and sometimes by the time it did focus on the subject the bird was already past, showing it's backside.

On the D750 it was the opposite. As soon as I hit the bird with the focus point it snapped right to it. Everytime!! As long as that focus point is on your subject it will focus almost instantaneously.

My overall conclusion with the limited experience I have ,is this.

If you're only shooting stationary subjects, this is a fantastic lens whether be on a D7100 or a D750.
Tracking birds, the winner is the D750 hands down. I will now be shooting landscapes with the D7100 and BIF with the D750. (This is not a lens that you want to be changing back and forth all day.)
I'm willing to sacrifice reach over quality and speed.
Click to expand...


What focusing mode are you using for BIF on the D750?
 
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singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
It's snowing in St. Louis, so I stepped out back and caught this owl in my neighbor's tree. SOOC and shot at 20,000 ISO.

JFS_0641.jpg
 
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D200freak

Senior Member
OK, this might be called cheating. This rufous screech owl got trapped in my screened-in pool enclosure and ended up tangled in the vines in a planting in one corner. Being only SLIGHTLY nervous about the possibility of getting a finger stripped to the bone, I carefully picked up the owl and took it outside and set it free. It must have been rather worn out, because it did not struggle or show the slightest signs of aggression. In fact, it seemed to be quite content to be handled (very gently) and even petted a little before being released. I set it down in a sheltered area of the yard and it flew away, quite unharmed, when it was good and ready. (About ten minutes later, at a guess.)

It certainly helped that I have handled hundreds, perhaps thousands, of wild birds over the years and have become quite adept at handling them in a manner that keeps them calm and (if necessary) restrained to avoid injury. But this guy was happy to just sit on my hand, no restraint necessary.

So here's a bird in the hand, taken with the 200-500, at a very short distance.

Rescued owl 1 3-1-16.jpgRescued owl 2 3-1-16.jpg
 
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D200freak

Senior Member
It might have something to do with the cost, as well. 600mm lenses start at $10,300, 800mm costs 16,300, and the 200-500 retails for 1400. THAT is why the 200-500 sells out of stock in a matter of

a day or two every time my local store gets more in. SpaceX Falcon 9 3-4-16.jpg
 
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