Compact for 400mm Sharp at 400mm @ f/5.6 VR feature really works Does credible stand-off macro

Rather heavy Tripod collar somewhat superfluous Uses a lot of battery power Requires manual focus to fully shorten

An astounding lens. Sharp at maximum aperture at least and greatest focal lengths, and allows hand-held shots at 400mm (on an S2) at 1/40-1/60th of a second with decent results. Also very versatile as an outdoor (sunny weather) action lens (on a D1H). I think the competition (the comparable Canon) set a standard which Nikon sought to equal.

Customer Service

Not required

Similar Products Used:

120-300/2.8 Sigma 80-200/2.8 Nikkor 28-300/3.5-6.3 Tamron

See above

Somewhat slow to focus on D100

Has become my favorite travel lens. VR works very well...sharp, contrasty and well built. Not overly heavy nor large for such a flexible range. Superb!

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

300 4.0 afs, 80-200 2.8

Good focal length range in a compact package compared to fixed, faster focal lengths. VR gives sharp shots at slower shutter speeds.

Stops working in wet. Eats batteries. Slow, noisy AF. Low lens speed.

This is a good fair-weather lens, but a little slow lightwise. It's a great range of focal lengths for sports; I've used it at pro mountain bike races and downhill skiing. On a D1H camera, it eats batteries very quickly. Also, NEVER, EVER use it in rain or get it wet, as it WILL STOP WORKING. At the 2002 Sea Otter Classic races in Monterey, CA, it died completely after subjection to intermittent rain. Nikon USA did a wareranty repair in ~3 weeks. (Leica repairs average 1-2 months for comparison.) At the 2003 Sea Otter in rain, autofocus became erratic, so I changed to a 10-year-old Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 EDIF (no tripod collar) between events. The 80-200mm had no problems. Talking to another shooter, a friend of his had had Nikon replace two 80-400s because of rain problems. The VR has allowed me to get reasonably-sharp monopod-supported shots at the end of the day at 1/60.

Customer Service

Nikon USA; very fast repair, but uninformative on reason for failure.

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 EDIF Nikkor 300mm f/4 EDIF Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS

Superb elements. Vibration Reduction...you have to see it to believe it!!! Internal focusing doesn't hunt very much and is great for handholding. Lens shade is big enough to hold a Big Gulp from 7-11.

Are you kidding?

I had previously owned a Tokina 80-400. I never got much use out of it. Mostly for the reason that photos with it were very unpredictable, at least as far as sharpness is concerned. It just wasn't worth the trouble to lug it around. I shoot mainly landscapes, but always wanted to have a good telephoto, for those moments when I come across wildlife. But hey, whats the use of carrying a big telephoto, sitting around for an hour shooting a mountain goat, and finding out that the photos are fuzzy?! Intil I stepped up and bought this Nikkor VR lens. Absolutely, positively poetry in motion. I just cleaned out my bag to make perminent room for this beauty. It is worth every cent. Just go and get one.

Similar Products Used:

Tokina ATX 80-400

Ability to hold the lens and shoot at rediculously low shutter speed (1/3 sec @ 400mm) and with surprisingly great results. It has a VR function that will not fail you. It is not super big for a 400mm (600mm with the D-1/D-100 series) and if you shoot handheld, it is at it's best. Super sharp til about 280mm and quite sharp to the rest (til 400mm)

Noisy and relatively slow focus that hunts a little in lower light situation. Badly positionned tripod collar.

Satisfaction garantied. This is not the sport type lens in the first place, it has 4.5 to 5.6 aperture and the focus is rather slower than the common 80-200 lens type (especially on a D-100)

Similar Products Used:

AF 80-200 ED Nikkor

The final print, slide, jpg, tiff, nef

Slow to focus on some cameras (my D100 is yawningly slow, while my D1 is near instant)

Awesome is the only word that describes this lens. Yes its slow to focus on some cameras, its not particulaly fast, some of the plastics are a bit cheap and the tripod collar is a design by the devil himself - but what it produces is first rate pictures. 1/60 at 400mm is always possible - while down at 80mm you can get away with ludicrous shutter speeds. Yes of course using a tripod would be better but thats just not possible with some subjects.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 170-500mm

Build, sharpness, VR, range.

Slow focussing

This lens is extraordinary, it does exactly what it says on the tin. I have shot at 1/6 at 400mm 2 consecutive shots and both were as sharp as nails. I pitted this lens against the legendary 80-200 2.8 AF-S and I ended up returning the 80-200. Why? Because the 80-200 exhibits excellent sharpness throughout the entire range, but as soon as the 80-400 reaches F6 +, it is as good as, and in some respects better than the 80-200 + you get VR + you get a massive range. On my D100 I get 120-600mm.

Customer Service

Not had to use.

Similar Products Used:

nikkor 80-200 AF-S ED IF

Ability to shoot hand-held at much lower shutter speeds. Good optics.

Cumbersome to shift from AF to manual.

Amazing lens...sharp with very good contrast/color rendition, relatively light, leave tripod at home.

Customer Service

Never needed

Similar Products Used:

80-200 2.8 nikkor, 50-500 Sigma

-Sharp when used in VR mode -Razor sharp when VR is turned off & used on a tripod -Lightweight for a 400mm -Great price for a 400mm

-Tripod collar could have been a little better -Can eat up batteries with VR on

Not the fastest lens in the world, but it is really sharp. The VR mode is great until you start shooting below 1/30 second. Other than that "most" images will come out nice and sharp. Just remember, the faster the film, the sharper the images tend to be with VR (I recommend Fuji Provia 400F-has excellent grain). Without VR, which is how I use it 75% of the time, it produces razor sharp images with a good tripod attached. Lens is light for a 400mm, construction is a bit cheap feeling, but I have banged it around quite a bit and it still works perfectly.

Customer Service

None needed.

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 200-400mm

VR (when you are used to it), optical performance, light weight for the focal range

No HSM motor, so focusing is a little slow, but think how much heavier / bigger it would be with HSM as well.

When you buy a lens, you just stick it on the body, and away you go, right? Wrong - with this lens. You need time to get the best from it. For me, I had to get used to the VR. That means switching on the viewfinder simulation, as this tells you how VR is working. Now, after trial and error, I start to see the benefits. On a Fuju S2, with its 1.5 multiplication factor, this lens becomes the equivalent of a 120 - 600mm lens on a 35mm film camera. That is incredible pulling power in a relatively compact, lightweight, VR enabled lens. Is it sharp? Yes, it is. But the depth of field with a lens like this can be very small. Critical focusing is a must. I compared this lens with the Sigma 50 - 500 HSM. The HSM motor is great, but boy, the Sigma felt like a bazooka next to the relatively smaller and lighter Nikkor. And this is where the 80-400 really scores. For so wide a range of focal lengths, amazing pulling power on a DSLR body, and overall high optical and useful VR performance, ir is unique.

Customer Service

Not tried

Similar Products Used:

Various