Telephoto Lenses For Nikon 'F' Mount
Evaluations By Bjørn Rørslett
For rating criteria, please see the Lens Survey Page
[test lens version(s) given]
| Lens | Rating | Comments |
| 300 mm f/2
Nikkor ED-IF [AIS] |
5 (F4, F5) |
A monster
lens by any standards: Extremely big and bulky, heavy as
a truckload of bricks, and horrendously expensive too.
The image quality matches the price, though. Less than
300 units probably were manufactured. They are keenly
sought by the movie industry and collectors with
bottomless wallets. This beast performs very well wide open to reach maximum sharpness at f/2.8. Contrast improves up to f/4. This lens was delivered with the specifically designed TC-14C converter giving a 420 mm f/2.8, but in my opinion, this combination isn't optimal because corner colour fringing can be troublesome for some scenes. However, the lens performs very well with the TC-301 to make a superb 600 mm f/4 unit (in fact, optically superior to the non-TC 600). A legend in its own time. A pity it's next to impossible to haul around in the field without the user developing severe lower back pain. |
| 300 mm f/2.8
Nikkor ED-IF [AI, AIS] |
4-5 (F4,F5) (much depending on your focusing accuracy) 4 4 |
My standard
telephoto lens for many years now, built with a
workmanship and quality to last a life-time. Very sharp
with a good although not overwhelming image contrast, and
a crisp colour rendition. It handles extremely well on a
tripod with near-perfect balance on the F4 or F5, and its
manual focusing is very smooth and swift. In common with most super-speed
lenses it flares quite easily when shooting against the
light. Maximum sharpness is near wide open, between f/2.8
and f/4, although contrast improves up to f/5.6.
Vignetting at full aperture is quite moderate. Sharpness
deteriorates quickly when the lens is stopped down beyond
f/11. It can be used with all Nikon 1.4X teleconverters
to give a useful 420/4 unit, but the results with most 2X
converters are not spectacular. Also, adding extension
tubes will soften the image to a certain degree. In common with other ED-IF designs from the same era, the 300/2.8 does show some peripheral colour fringing used on the D2X and D3. Image sharpness suffers as well. Post-processing can mitigate this issue to some extent, but I have to admit that the modern 300 mm designs should be preferred with these modern cameras. |
| AF-Nikkor 300 mm f/2.8 ED-IF | 4 (F4) |
More bulky than its MF cousin, does not handle equally well and it cannot quite match its predecessor in optical quality, either. I ended up replacing it with the older MF version. It needs to be stopped down at least to f/4 to give sharp images, wide open it is a bit on the soft side. On the other hand, it takes on the TC-301 teleconverter in a better way than the MF lens. |
| AFS-Nikkor 300 mm f/2.8 ED-IF | 5 4.5
IR: 4-5 |
Short, fat
and extremely sharp with phenomenal colour saturation and
image contrast. I shoot briefly with this lens wide open
on my F5 and was really impressed with the optical
quality. The optics now comprise 11 elements in 8 groups. When I later on did a lens upgrade for my D1X camera, the AFS 300 was added to my stable lens arsenal. I continue to be amazed by its extremely sharp and contrasty images. Compared to my MF 300, images are sharper all the way into the extreme corners of the frame. However, if you are into this "Bokeh" approach, be warned that stopping down beyond f/5.6 is rewarded with very poor bokeh under high-contrast conditions. Otherwise (or if you are not a 'bokeh' believer) the lens behaves exemplary. I'd wish the tripod support was a little less skimpy, though. The above refers to Mk.I. Nikon recently upgraded this to Mk.II, which shares the 11/8 optical formula, but the front lens coating now shimmers in green instead of bluish hues, and the weight is reduced by a carbon-fibre lens barrel as well. Unfortunately, the skimpy tripod mount of Mk.I is further degraded by weight paring, thus the support for the lens on a tripod is now quite shaky. This shows unequivocally by an increased incidence of blurry images. I'll probably never understand why Nikon does such things. |
| AFS VR Nikkor 300 mm f/2.8 G ED-IF | 5 4.5-5 4 |
This lens is
a logical next step in the evolution of the 300 mm lens
range. Photographers have repeatedly been told VR is an
absolute necessity and so it's only natural Nikon
eventually "gave" them what the customers think
they need. Not to say VR doesn't come in handy in
practical photography, but I wouldn't call it an
instrumental feature. The 300 VR is nicely made and looks like a bigger brother of the new 200/2 VR. They share the same cockpit-like arrangement of control buttons. A near-focus limit to 2.2 m, very fast AF action, and VR that works (hand-held) enhance the practical scope of this lens. On the downside, the tripod support is definitively less than perfect and VR sometimes interferes with image sharpness when the lens is mounted on a quality tripod. In the typical fashion for the new generation of high-end Nikkors, images are rendered with vividly saturated colours and high image contrast. Sharpness is good or excellent across the entire aperture range f/2.8 to f/22. Slight internal flare lowers contrast at f/2.8 and there is the unavoidable effects from diffraction at f/16 and f/22. With VR switched on and using the lens hand-held, I managed to get quite sharp images at 1/10 sec. A pity then that the same 1/10 sec yielded unsharp images with the lens on a tripod, if VR was activated. The 300VR worked well in conjunction with the TC-14E and TC-17E teleconverters. With the 1.4X TC, images were professionally sharp with the lens stopped down about 1 stop, with the longer 1.7X converter, you need to stop a little more in order to achieve truly sharp images. The 300 VR sports a new Nikon invention in terms of its multi-coating technology, claimed to be made of "nano-crystals". I can vouch for its enhanced efficiency, thus ghosting is reduced to a minimum. Some slight flare still is evident when the lens is pointed directly towards the sun, but compared to other telephoto lenses, its rendition is remarkably superior in terms of flare and ghosting resistance. Further shooting with this lens indicated it excels as far as bokeh is concerned, bringing it a giant step forward when comparison is made to the non-VR 300 AFS Nikkor. |
| AF-Nikkor 300 mm f/4 ED-IF | 4 |
This is a nice lens with very good optical rendition, but it handles less well than the other 300's due to the placement of the focusing ring towards the front of the lens assembly. An aperture setting between f/8 and f/11 produces the sharpest images. |
| AFS 300 mm f/4 Nikkor ED-IF |
(5 if life is kind to the photographer) (1 in the real world, on a tripod with a heavy camera attached) (2-5 when a lighter camera, such as F-100, is used with it on a tripod) |
A
long-awaited design, the newest addition to the AFS
line-up is a mixed blessing. It focuses very close so at
the near limit at 1.45 m impressively tight shots are
obtained. AF works fast and reliably both on D1 and F5.
Images obtained with D1 under well-lit conditions (at
fast shutter speeds) were crisp and sharp across the
entire frame. My main objection relates to the really poor tripod collar. It is a detachable and cantilevered design which - for some inscrutable reason - is very thin and thus flexes easily. I'm unable to hand-hold a 300 mm lens so using such lenses tripod-mounted is a prerequisite. However, when combined with my F5 (made even heavier by its attached "L" bracket) on my standard Sachtler tripod, the AFS 300 f/4 didn't yield a single, critically sharp image. Yes, it is true. This is easily the worst test result I've yet encountered. In fact, the viewfinder directly showed the proneness to shake. Read the details and see the test pictures for yourself. Concurrent test shots with my 300 mm f/2.8 Nikkor using an identical setup were crisp and clear. True, shutter speeds during test shooting ranged from 1/60 down to 1/2 sec, so they fell squarely into the "danger zone" for vibrations. But again, absolutely no problems were encountered with the 300/2.8 lens under these conditions. I scrutinised the test pictures at high magnification and found clear, tell-tale signs of vibration. Probably, my heavy F5 excited a strong resonance frequency in the camera/lens/tripod setup. The Sachtler tripod is very light and extremely rigid, so this explanation sounds likely. Later, I repeated test shooting with a heavy-duty Sachtler fluid video head instead of my Foba ball head, and got slightly better results. Replacing the F5 with a lighter camera did reduce - but not eliminate - the vibration problems. No mirror lock-up was used for these shots, and I strongly object if this remedy should be mandatory just for shooting with a moderate focal length such as a 300 mm. In fact, I have shot with lenses up to 1600 mm on my Sachtler tripod to get excellent results. I can only hope for a revised lens with a redesigned tripod collar. In fact, there is plenty of space for adding a wider and stronger collar to this AFS Nikkor. I really have an axe to grind with Nikon over this lens, but on a more positive note, I won't be tempted to buy myself yet another lens ... A final note: A (well-known, but not very critical) reviewer claims my findings about poor support is hogwash, because he got sharp pictures at two seconds exposure. My comment is that this is outside the critical range for camera shake, so proves nothing. Feed-back from other users of the 300 AFS has confirmed my findings, though. IMPORTANT 15 Dec, 2000: I discovered that the tripod collar of this lens (and the 80-400 VR as well) is ever so slightly improved by a better and less brittle casting. Thus, tripod operation may be improved, but still the design is basically flawed. Initially, I had high hopes for this new collar, but I'm now convinced it doesn't solve the problem in most cases. Numerous owners of the AFS 300/4, mainly from the US, have shared their expericences with me on the poor stability of this tripod collar, so Nikon should consider this a major issue and aim to rectify the situation. My advice is to return the lens forthwith for a money refund, if you are dissatisfied with the tripod collar, or return it for replacement of the tripod collar as a warranty issue. Either way, you help build a pressure on Nikon to concede they screwed it all up with this collar design (same as on the 80-400 VR, by the way). |
| 300 mm f/4.5
ED [AI] |
5 4-4.5 IR: 3-4 1 |
This lens,
one of the first to carry "ED" designation, was
only available for a short time in the mid 70's before
being replaced with the internal focusing (IF) model. A
pity, because the non-IF lens is, or rather was, a truly
remarkable performer even by today's standards. It excels
even near wide open and the impressive quality holds up
well down to f/16. This lens was so well colour-corrected that it lacked the traditional "red dot" for IR photography, because visual and IR focus coincide. However, this by itself doesn't guarantee IR quality (see below) Focusing isn't as smooth as the IF successor, but entirely doable if you aren't in a hurry. If you lust for this elusive lens, being in a hurry won't help you much anyway, because it is remarkably difficult to locate today on the second-hand market. IR performance: I had great expectations of this lens and close subjects come out quite good. However, for remote subjects, results are simply awful. Lots of optical aberrations are seen and critical sharpness is non-existing. Same applies to the 400/5.6 of similar vintage, by the way. Very strange. |
| 300 mm f/4.5
Nikkor ED-IF [AIS] |
4 (D1X, D2H) 4 IR: 3.5 |
A
light-weight alternative to the other 300 mm designs,
this lens renders sharp and contrasty images when stopped
down to f/8-f/11. Its performance wide open isn't equally
impressive, though. It copes well with extension rings
and the setup with PN-11 is very effective in giving a
comfortably long working distance eminently suited for
shooting shy objects. However, adding teleconverters such
as TC-14B or TC-301 gives inferior image quality and
isn't recommended except as a last resort. On D1X, D2H/X, and D3, you will note some colour fringing from chromatic aberration (CA), most if not all of which can be cured by appropriate post processing. IR performance: Not bad and not very good. Image quality simply drops. But at least no hot spots are observed. |
| 300 mm f/4.5
Nikkor-H [non-AI, AI, AIS] |
2 |
This was a beautifully built telephoto released in the 60's, but the image quality would not raise eyebrows today. Acceptable pictures were produced when it was stopped down to f/8 or so. A redesigned model was brought on the market in 1981; it made a much less elegant impression but image quality was better. |
| AF-I Nikkor 400 mm f/2.8 ED-IF | 5 |
Big and bulky, in fact it nearly matches a 600/4 for sheer size and mass. The internal motor (forerunner to the later AFS model) ensures fast and positive focusing action. Images are crisp and sharp even wide open. Like other superfast long lenses, it should not be stopped down too far, f/8 being a wise end-point. |
| AFS-Nikkor
400 mm f/2.8 ED-IF Model II in carbon |
? (defect sample) |
My review
sample of this super-speed lens was flawed and did not
produce sharp images (except at close range at f/11). I
returned it and expect another sample later on.
Workmanship is superb and the lens is surprisingly
light-weight thanks to the liberal use of carbon fibre
material. My major complaint, apart from the issue of getting a defect sample, is the very poor design of the tripod collar on this lens. It is far too weak and thin to support such a large and heavy lens. Likely this isn't a problem for sports photographers deploying the 400 on a monopod, but it certainly is a concern for tripod-based work elsewhere. People ask why I have posted a report on a defective lens here, and my answer is that this is a warning that even in this elevated price bracket, you can get a lemon product. So running a quick test on your new lens is always recommended. |
| AFS-Nikkor 400 mm f/2.8 VR G | 5
|
This new
incarnation of the 400 "soccer" lens sports a
very high image quality, provided you can get the shutter
speeds up and away from the 1/2 sec to 1/60 sec range.
This is because the tripod support - once again - is
inadequate. Also, using the so-called "long lens
technique" within this shutter-speed window will
lead to blurring or loss of fine-detail rendition. Even
the dedicated tripod mode for VR will not help under
these circumstances. You definitively have to use mirror
lockup (MLU) in conjunction with a cable release, plus
pay attention not to touch neither lens nor camera in
order to get sharp images. The sports photographer needs
faster shutter speeds anyway, so these caveats won't
apply. The new lens has nano-technology coating and ghosting is hardly seen. However, under extreme against-the-light situations, you can observe some mild off-axis flare. Apart from the tripod mount, the lens is well built and handles superbly combined with a D3 or D3X camera. Autofocusing is fast and positive as would be expected from a long, fast lens. The VR feature may come in handy for some users. I only tested the TC-14E Mk.II with this lens and can report that this combination continues to deliver outstanding image quality. |
| 400 mm f/2.8 Nikkor ED-IF [AIS] | 4.5 4.5 |
A huge
telephoto with impeccable workmanship and an impressive
extension lens hood, this heavy-weight lens demands
rock-solid support in order to deliver its optical goods.
The tripod mount doubles as a carrying handle, but
performs better as the latter than in the more needed
rôle of lens supporting foundation. Probably the 400
will perform more to its advantage hooked up to a
heavy-duty fluid head. Being so big and bulky, the lens
also is prone to buffeting by gusts of wind, so using
good long lens technique is particular important. But
don't try to touch the lens at slow shutter speeds. Focusing is smooth and fast, hence the lens can serve a useful purpose for sports and action photography even today. Colours are rendered with high saturation and image detail is excellent. Only the peripheral traces of colour fringing (from lateral CA), quite evident with the D2X and D3, gives away the dated optics. However, as judicious post-processing can mitigate this issue, I for one have helped myself to getting this behemoth of long glass for a cheap price. |
| 400 mm f/3.5
Nikkor ED-IF [AI, AIS] |
4.5 (F5) 4 3.5-4 3.5-4
IR: 4.5 |
Superb
workmanship quality and arguably the best handling
properties of any long Nikkor lens distinguishes this
quite fast 400 mm. Image quality is excellent even at
f/3.5, declines markedly at f/5.6 but improves
significantly again when the lens is stopped down to f/8.
When stopped further down sharpness is rapidly lost. This
strange performance pattern occurred identically for two
different samples so presumably is typical for this
design. Some corner light fall-of is evident wide open
but largely disappears by f/5.6-f/8. This lens performs
extremely well with TC-301 to give an 800 mm f/7 of excellent quality,
but performance with the 1.4X converters is not so good,
TC-14C being the best alternative amongst them. The
built-in sunshade is way too short and thus the lens
flares quite easily under adverse light conditions. On the high-resolution D200 and D2X, the age of this telephoto designs clearly shows. Although centre sharpness is very good, there is far too much chromatic aberration (CA) to my liking and the images never really spring to life due to the all-over smearing of colours. If you shot it wide open the visible CA is reduced, but stop down and it creeps in everywhere. I have downrated the 400 for these cameras accordingly. However, not all subjects will give troublesome CA, so before ditching the old favourite do give it a field try. IR performance: I got a very pleasant surprise when I tested this old-timer with the new S3Pro UVIR camera. By using the "Live Preview" feature I could critically focus the 400 mm, and the images were amazingly crisp and sharp corner to corner. IR filters are conveniently inserted in the filter drawer on the lens barrel. |
| 400 mm f/5.6 Nikkor P·C | 4.5 (DX: D1X, D2X) 4.5
IR: 2 |
Nikon
commenced their "ED" glass telephoto designs
with this exquisitely crafted 400 mm. Just hold the lens
to realize what the onslaught of plastics has lead to in
terms of workmanship degradation. Likely the glasses used
in the lens changed slightly throughout its production
life-time. Thus, the first version carried the P·C
inscription and had no golden ring on the lens barrel,
whilst the two later models had the golden ring and an
"ED" label. Rumours from its launch told of
fluorite-quality elements in the optics. The 400/5.6 focuses to 5 m with help of a generously sized focusing collar. Being a non-IF design, focusing is slow by today's standards. However, this doesn't matter as the lens is capable of projecting bitingly sharp images with high colour saturation and contrast. High quality images are obtained even with the lens set wide open. Lateral chromatic aberration gives some colour fringing, visible on the D2X. However, post-processing can largely eliminate this issue. In this case I haven't downrated the lens for D2X simply because image sharpness isn't degraded to a significant extent by colour fringing, although post-processing to get rid of CA still is recommended. IR performance: Similar to the 300/4.5 ED, this 400 produced substandard IR images. I have no clue as to what is going on here, can only report what I found. In fact, I saw the issue already when I tried to focus the lens using the "Live Preview" of the Fujifilm camera, the image simply didn't snap in and out of focus. |
| 400 mm f/5.6
Nikkor ED-IF [AIS] |
4 (F5) |
This slow lens gives sharp and contrasty images even wide open or stopped down only one stop to f/8, although its image quality is slightly lower than the faster 400's in the Nikon line. Being a light-weight long lens, it is very prone to camera shake and vibration and really needs to be mounted on a sturdy tripod. |
| 500 mm f/4
Nikkor-P ED-IF [AI-P/AIS] |
5 (F5) 4.5 4.5 IR: 4-5 |
Quite
light-weight for its focal length, this is a lens with
superb image rendition giving near-perfect colour
saturation and high image contrast. Sharpest at f/4,
while contrast increases down to f/8. Some corner
vignetting exists wide open, though, gone by f/8. This lens mates
perfectly with the TC-14C converter to make it an
unbeatable 700 mm f/5.6 combo. It also gives good results with TC-301
making it an 1000/8. Small traces of chromatic aberration are exhibited when this lens is used on the D2X. Although CA can be removed in post-processing, I'd rather prefer not having the issue in the first place. Hence I have downgraded the 500/4 for the D2X case. |
| AFS 500 mm f/4 ED-IF | 5 |
A huge lens with a commanding performance to match, this latest version of the 500/4 is a tremendous performer. The slight light fall-off wide open of the MF version is gone, and image sharpness at f/4 is simply stunning. There is a price to be paid with a significant increase in weight (from 3 to 4.2 kg) and a corresponding increase in bulk, too. Now, if I only could afford the damned beast .. guess I have to make do with my old MF 500. The AF locking buttons did not work properly with my sample mounted on an F5, though. Don't know if this is typical or an individual deviation. |
| Reflex-Nikkor
500 mm f/8 (old version) |
3 | Image sharpness isn't really that bad, but low contrast tends to cut the recorded sharpness on film. For the scenes needing a softer rendition this lens could be a viable alternative, but its light weight makes it quite prone to vibrations and camera shake on any tripod. The camera can rotate at the end of the lens for vertical and horizontal shots. |
| Reflex-Nikkor
500 mm f/8 (new version) |
3.5 |
The updated 500 Reflex sports a rotating tripod collar, which is quite flimsy and not able to support a heavy camera, and a much improved near limit to 1.5 m. Image contrast is slightly higher than of the old type. Whether or not you'll be able to get sharp results depends entirely on the tripod supporting the lens. |
| 600 mm f/4
Nikkor ED-IF [AIS] |
4 (F4, F5) |
A heavy and super fast long lens, performing excellently at f/4. In fact, stopping the lens down only 1/2 stop cuts sharpness! It handles quite well despite its massive bulk when mounted on a sturdy tripod. Stopping down beyond f/8 is not recommended. Flare can become a problem under some circumstances. It mates happily with the TC-14B to make a very good 840/5.6 combo, but with the TC-301 the optical quality suffers because of excessive colour fringing. |
| AFS-Nikkor
600 mm f/4 ED-IF [type II] |
4 (DX: D1X) |
This, the
latest model in the 600 mm line of super telephoto
lenses, is the most compact and light-weight of them all
thanks to the extensive use of carbon fibre in it. The
workmanship is superb and the lens handles quite well in
the field, giving contrasty and sharp images with highly
saturated colours and negligible colour fringing as well.
AF speed is not up to the standard set by the 300 AFS,
but probably satisfactory for most uses (I prefer
shooting in manual mode). Images are sharp already at f/4
and keep their bite past f/8. In common with the smaller 400/2.8 AFS, the 600 has a poorly designed tripod support. |
| 800 mm f/5.6
Nikkor ED-IF [AIS] |
4.5 (F5) 4.5 4.5 |
A big,
heavy, and very sharp 'cannon' of the largest calibre.
Perfect for shooting wildlife, if you can afford it and
are able to lug it around in the field! A sturdy tripod,
preferable of the Pentapod type, is strongly recommended. As
common for the super-fast lenses, performance is
excellent even wide open and sharpness isn't much
improved by stopping down the lens. Slight traces of chromatic aberration are seen on images taken with the D2X. Most of this can be eliminated in post-processing, so it doesn't really detract from the practical value of this super telephoto lens. |
| 800 mm f/8
Nikkor ED [lens head] |
5 |
Nikon produced for a very short period, around 1975, a series of long-focal lens heads with ED glass for their CU and AU-1 focusing adapters. All of these are rare and the 800 ED may be among the rarest of all Nikkors; only 42 units may have been produced. A pity since it also is a truly superb performer on my D3 and D3X, in fact, easily outperforming many far more modern designs. Images have a pleasing purity of colours and a nicely rounded contrast to them. |
| 800 mm f/8
Nikkor ED-IF [AI] |
4 (F5) 4- (DX: D2X) |
This longish, but at 3.3 kgs quite light-weight, lens gives all the classical problems of an extreme telephoto lens: severe camera shake due to vibrations and trapped standing waves within the lens tube itself, proneness to being buffeted by wind or external disturbances, and image deterioration when shooting distant subjects due to haze and atmospheric turbulence. When directed at not-so-distant subjects, however, and mounted on my Pentapod, it renders very sharp and contrasty images with high colour saturation. Maximum sharpness is ensured by using the lens nearly wide open. |
| Reflex-Nikkor 1000 mm f/11 | 3.5 4 4-4.5 IR: 4 |
Better image
quality than the shorter 500 mm version, but much
more difficult to focus because of the very dark
image it projects onto the viewfinder groundglass.
Vibration and camera shake really are big issues with it
- you'll need the sturdiest tripod you can get, and the Pentapod would obviously be a good choice. An
alternative is the ENG2 tripod series from Sachtler using
the Burzynski ball head, which supports this long Nikkor
very well. On D2X, you can capture crisp and surprisingly sharp landscape scenes with this mirror lens, but colour saturation and image contrast is by design much lower than with traditional optics. The virtual lack of colour fringing is a welcome bonus offered by the mirror design and partially offsets the lower contrast of the image. IR: this lens really benefits from the contrast boost that IR entails. |
| 1200 mm f/11
Nikkor ED-IF (AI) |
4.5 4- |
The longest
of the long refractive optics made by Nikon, and the
rarest of them all as well. Probably less than 500 were
produced. The lens is similarly shaped as the 800/8 Nikkor, but the barrel is significantly longer and the lens is heavier at 3.9 kg. The optics, comprising 9 elements in 8 groups, are so well colour-corrected that the lens has no IR focus mark. The tripod mount is for once excellent and the lens takes 39 mm filters in a drop-in slot. The focusing collar is situated far to the rear of the lens, an arrangement which takes a little to get used to but in practice works well with the lens attached to a tripod. Using such a long lens isn't trivial because the great magnification and long physical length both tend to amplify camera and mirror shake, and don't even bother to put this lens on a flimsy tripod. Given it is supported well by the tripod, you get very sharp and crisp images from it, and the colour saturation is excellent as far as telephotos are concerned. Colour fringing is by and large absent, too. However, be warned that the 1200 mm won't give quality results with any teleconverters unless you accept a huge increase in CA. On the FX camera (D3), corner vignetting becomes fairly obvious, even to an extent that might appear similar to a big hot-spot. Post-processing can remove some or most of this issue, but you're warned. |
Last Update 15 January, 2009 |