Both have special dirt, dust and smudge resistant multicoatings to stay cleaner longer, so it's your choice of brass or aluminum. I shoot the 200-500mm as I shoot a rifle; you need to know how to hold it steady and pull the trigger slowly and smoothly for the best results. All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since the Canon focuses so close and zooms to 400mm at the same time, it's better than most macro lenses since you get the same close picture, but from far enough away to get a better perspective, not pester living subjects and not block your own light.

Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited. From the little that I’ve used the Tamron (200-500mm, 150-600mm) and Sigma (150-600mm) lenses, I’d say that the Nikkor is clearly sharper than the other two in virtually every situation, every focal length, and every part of the frame when shot wide open.

This is good news as there is a guide that says you need a shutter speed the same as or more than the focal length to get a sharp picture (the reciprocal rule) i. Put another way, if I were shooting the same 12-shot fast motion sequence handheld with both lenses, the 200-500mm will get a few less “in focus” shots than the 80-400mm, partly due to the weight causing me to move the focus sensor off the subject, partly due to the 200-500mm not reacquiring focus quite as fast as the 80-400mm (or the 200-400m f/4 in the same situation for that matter). Additionally, an electromagnetic aperture mechanism is integrated into the lens design to provide greater exposure control stability that is especially beneficial when working with faster continuous shooting rates. I have every reason to believe the 200-600 will have as good or better IQ and build quality as the 200-500.

Figure out where a subject is going, orient yourself that direction, then swivel to point at the subject. All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2024 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved. ED glass elements are employed to achieve high optical performance with minimal chromatic aberration. Indeed, that was true both for rough transport with the hood reversed as well as a lot of rough carrying over tough terrain, including bumping against lava rocks a few times. When compared to the flimsy focus ring on the Sigma 150-600mm, the focus ring on the Nikkor 200-500mm VR is actually very smooth, allowing for more precise focus acquisition.I've tried this lens on numerous Nikon cameras from my 1970s F2AS through today's D810, and it works great on all of them. By f/11 diffraction starts to be an issue on a lot of the bodies you’d use this lens on, so I’m not going to try to assess the smaller apertures. Handling wise the NIKKOR 200–500mm is a nicely balanced lens unlike the Sigma, which like most primes has a lot of glass up front.