Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8D ED-IF II Nikkor

I borrowed this lens of a very trusting mate in our local camera club. We had a holiday trip out to Dubbo, in Western NSW and went to the Dubbo zoo. This lens was unbelievably awesome! I do admit it was a heavy big sucker to lug around all day ( 4.4kg's/8 pound ) but the photos were awesome. It allowed me to get right up close to the animals like rhinos, elephants, tigers etc and with the wide 2.8 aperature, I could blur out background distractions to allow more natural looking shots. Also by having such a massive lens hanging on my side it did make me feel like a fully blown professional there for a few hours. It was heaps of fun. The autofocus is extremely fast too having the AFS motor and driven rear lens element. The tripod collar also came in very handy. When I do my trip to Africa later I would definitly consider to beg, borrow or steal one of these. Pop a 1.5 or 2 times tele-convertor between the body and lens and you have yourself an awesome outfit. On a digital SLR you would could end up with a fast and sharp 600 to 1200mm lens. Very good for lions etc as they can run very sharp and have big sharp teeth which I don't want to have to get to close to. If you want to see another photo of this lens or read reviews about it, check out www.kenrockwell.com The only reason this lens got an overall rating of 4 stars out of 5 was I deducted 1 star due to the weight of this lens. If it was a smaller lens that was obviously lighter, it definitly would've got a 5 out of 5.

Extremely fast focus Awesome clear sharp shots Good colour rendition even with such a large front lens element Tripod collar handy

Heavy as all christ to lug around The price new ( that's why I borrowed it and haven't bought one yet ) Sturdy tripod needed as very heavy Only the newer Nikon brand tele-convertors will work with it, the older (and I mean like only a year or two old ) Tele-plus brand convertors won't work

It's a mates which he bought in from US on ebay and I don't think he's had dramas with it yet...touch wood.