Nikon Nikkor 400mm f2.8 and 800mm f5.6 AIS ... a modern view ( w Nikon D800 and D850)

crycocyon

Senior Member
It's been a while since I posted here (ie: years lols), nice to see the forum is still so active. I was so busy buying Sigma lenses the past two years but this is something I think worthy to show because it is so hard (at least for me) to find really good reference of these old lenses. I recently acquired the Nikon (Nikkor) 400mm f2.8 AI-S and 800mm f5.6 AI-S. As some of you might recall, I used to have the 300mm f2.8 AI-S and did some bird photography with it. I'd like to get back into nature/wildlife photography so there was a guy selling a full set of telephotos all almost mint and I missed the 600mm f4 and 200mm f2 so I got these two as consolation lol. My plan is to explore their capability and compare them to more modern AF lenses. For example I might get a Sigma 300-800mm and compare with that as I think there might be something to be said for simpler optical formulas. Plus I plan to compare these lenses against each other as I also got the 1.4x (Nikon TC-14B) and 2x (Nikon TC-301) teleconverters.

So here's the breakdown of focal lengths etc with converters:

400mm f2.8
1.4x = 560mm f3.9
2x = 800mm f5.6

800mm f5.6
1.4x = 1120mm f7.8
2x = 1600mm f11.2


Here are the two lenses as they arrived in their hard cases.

400and800cases.jpg

Here are the two lens cases opened, with the 400mm f2.8 on the left and 800mm f5.6 on the right.


400and800mmincase1.jpg

Closeup of the 400 in the case

400mmincase1.jpg

Closeup of the 800mm in the case

800mmincase1.jpg

Here's the 400mm f2.8 AI-S with Nikon D800

400mmD8501.jpg

Here it is with the 2x doubler on

400f2.8AISwith2xandD850.jpg

And now the 800mm f5.6 AI-S on the D850

800mmD8501.jpg

And with the 2x

800f5.6AISwith2xandD850.jpg800f5.6AISwith2xandD850b.jpg

Here are the two standing side by side, 400mm on the left with the D800 and 800mm on the right with the D850

400and800mmstanding.jpg

On the weekend I got a Manfrotto 393 gimbal head, so here is the 400mm on it.

400f2.8AISandD850b.jpg

Another shot

400f2.8AISandD850a.jpg

And a few other angles so see how it is balanced with the 2x TC-301 added.

400f2.8AISandD850e.jpg400f2.8AISandD850f.jpg400f2.8AISandD8502xb.jpg

So it will be fun to get the time to put these through their paces.
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Certainly don't want to be using those on a neck strap.
smile.png
Should be interesting to see the results.
 
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hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Yikes! That 800mm is a Bazooka of a lens! Hope you've been doing some strength training on your arms to carry it! ;)
 

crycocyon

Senior Member
Here's a quick rundown of basic specs (and for curiosity comparing them to the Sigma 800mm and 300-800mm):

Nikon 400mm f2.8 AI-S
5,150g or 11.35 lbs
163mm wide x 378.5mm long
8 elements in 6 groups with 1st and 2nd elements being ED glass
min focus 13.1 ft

Nikon 800mm f5.6 AI-S
5,400g or 11.9 lbs
163mm wide x 546mm long
8 elements in 6 groups with 3 ED elements
min focus 26.2 ft

Sigma 800mm f5.6 Apo EX DG HSM
4,900g or 10.80 lbs
157mm wide x 521mm long
12 elements in 9 groups with 2 ELD elements
min focus 23 ft

Sigma 300-800mm f5.6 Apo EX DG HSM
5,880g or 12.96 lbs
157mm wide x 544mm long
18 elements in 16 groups with 2 SLD elements
min focus 19.7 ft
 
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crycocyon

Senior Member
I got a new Feisol Elite CT-3372 carbon fiber tripod and put the Nikon 800mm f5.6 AI-S on it with the Nikon TC-301 2x converter, again with the Nikon D850. Please excuse the low quality iphone photos.

IMG_3330b.jpg

IMG_33322b.jpg

IMG_3331_2b.jpg

IMG_3289b.jpg

I actually took a studio portrait with the 400mm f2.8 (no converter) and it turned out surprisingly good (from 30 feet away). Now I just need to find time to shoot the moon. :D
 
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STM

Senior Member
And I thought my 600mm f/4 was a beast, that 800mm f/5.6 is HUGEMONGOUS.

My 400mm f/2.8 ED-IF AIS arrived in the mail today and it is a beauty! It fills out my stable of "Beasts"; 200nn f/2, 300mm f/2.8, 400mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4 ED-IF perfectly. Unlike my 600mm f/4, the 400mm f/2.8 is handholdeable.


Compared to the 600mm f/4:
400 vs 600 comp.jpg
 

crycocyon

Senior Member
And I thought my 600mm f/4 was a beast, that 800mm f/5.6 is HUGEMONGOUS.

My 400mm f/2.8 ED-IF AIS arrived in the mail today and it is a beauty! It fills out my stable of "Beasts"; 200nn f/2, 300mm f/2.8, 400mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4 ED-IF perfectly. Unlike my 600mm f/4, the 400mm f/

Congratulations on the 400mm 👍🏻 well it's ok for a few minutes but it's still hefty...after all it's only half a pound less than the 800mm lol. Ya i'm still hoping to get a 600mm f4 AI-S as that was my first choice. Nice collection you have there. Would love the 200mm f2 as well. Ya the 800mm is probably overkill but i have big plans for mine 😁. Would you consider getting one someday? It's interesting how the 800 and 400 have really around the same dimensions up front but both are still second to the front element of the 600mm 😳 which i'm guessing is similar to a 300mm f2. Of all the lenses i like the proportions of the 400mm the most.

8DD3A561-371A-44BF-A756-95820926DAFB.jpg
 

STM

Senior Member
Congratulations on the 400mm  well it's ok for a few minutes but it's still hefty...after all it's only half a pound less than the 800mm lol. Ya i'm still hoping to get a 600mm f4 AI-S as that was my first choice. Nice collection you have there. Would love the 200mm f2 as well. Ya the 800mm is probably overkill but i have big plans for mine . Would you consider getting one someday? It's interesting how the 800 and 400 have really around the same dimensions up front but both are still second to the front element of the 600mm  which i'm guessing is similar to a 300mm f2. Of all the lenses i like the proportions of the 400mm the most.

View attachment 341898

The 200mm f/2 ED-IF is a beast too. It is nearly as long as the 300mm f/2.8 but is heavier due to having more and larger/heavier glass but the IQ is amazing! I think I will pass on the 300mm f/2!
 
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