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Reviews about this item

Review Summary

2018-05-14T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Manageable Super Telephoto Lens

The optics of this lens are excellent. In spite of its long reach, the length and weight of this lens are quite manageable compared to it's 600mm f/4 brother.

Scripps23

2015-05-15T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

OUTSTANDING OPTICS IN A SMALL PACKAGE

Wow! When you think about the reach this lens has and the brightness of F4, it's a pretty small and light-weight package. I like to think of it as "my pocket 600F4" LOL It's sharp as a tack and the auto focus is right on the money. I don't believe I've used any other F-stop than F4... why would I? I use it on a whimberly gimbal and mainly for shooting Rugby and birds and sometimes surfing. It's so smooth and easy to aim on the gimbal head. I bought the Arca-swiss type foot to replace the factory foot so it mounts to the gimbal head. Beautiful!! Once in a while I will use this on a monopod, but of course the tripod is better, but it's doable. These were all shot with a D-4.

RugbyPro

2014-06-01T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Fabulous lens

The 500 is a fantastic lens. I have been using it now for a couple of years and I am 100% in love with this lens. It is great for wildlife.

Brad

2014-02-28T19:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Sharp lens!

I use this lens for birds and wildlife on a Nikon D800, sometimes with a 1.4 Nikon teleconverter and also without it. It is a fast focusing lens even on the D800. I mounted it on a friends D3 and it is superfast! I love the lens and am glad that I went ahead and made the investment.

Brownbomber2

2013-07-29T21:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

As good as advertised.

Used for sports photography (football) daytime and at night with a Nikon D3 camera body. During daylight the lens performed perfectly at f up to 22 at 400 ISO. At night under lights I cranked the ISO up to 6400 with good noise reduction from the D3 and used f4 aperture preferred. The shots were incredibly clear even with the fastest action when well focused and stabilization enabled. Auto focus was not really helpful during fast action shots but very quick over all. Very well balanced on the monopod mount using the D3.

Kim

2012-10-02T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

One Word: Outstanding!!!

I have been using plenty of long tele lenses already, primarily zoom lenses, including the Nikon 200-400 VR, so I thought that I knew what excellent contrast rendition and sharpness looks like. Obviously I have been mistaken! The Nikon 500mm VRII is even better than I have expected. I am using it with my Nikon D7000 and J1 for birding, moon shots and sports photography and I am still amazed at the details that can be rendered, even with tele converters or my J1 + FT1 adapter, having a pixel density of roughly 70MP FF. The autofocus foccuses nearly instant and is very accurate and the handling is not much different from my Nikon 200-400 VR. I can use it hand-held and the VRII is even more effective than VRI has ever been. I hope Nikon will produce professional cameras without mirror in the future, because the only problem using such long prime lenses is the mirror causing vibration. With my J1 I do have 1350mm and each movement, even a minor one, has adverse effects on sharpness, but due too the J1 being mirrorless, I can get better results than with my DSLR on far off subjects. Speaking of distance shots, the Nikon 500mm VRII is far better than the Nikon 200-400 VR in this regard, although the Nikon 200-400 is better for macro photography. I wish the closest focusing distance would be similar, but one can use extension tubes for that purpose anytime. All in all I am very pleased with this lens and I am looking forward for a 500mm VRIII.

Andy

2012-08-26T21:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Excellent, as expected!

I've been waiting for years to be able to acquire this lens, and as I had hoped, I am thrilled with the results. Its well worth the wait and the weight. If you're serious about sports/ wildlife photography, there is none better.

DAVID H.

2012-03-18T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Excellent wildlife lens

Very fast focus, extremely sharp, and the VR allows for hand held photography of flying birds. I have owned several long lenses and this is the fastest focusing and sharpest lens I have owned.

Rambleon41

2012-02-06T19:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

This lens is the best for the buck

Very wll made. Well Balanced Sharp, fast, great color saturation. Love the bokeh at lower f-stops. My experience using a tripod is great, except when tracking birds too far off center. For that, I hand hold, to avoid tripping over the legs. My hand-held shots are incredibly sharp, and I love this lens no end. The image below was shot at ISO 400 f/4 1/125 1-1/3 overexposed. I wanted to see what it would do with poor light and hand held at the above settings.

lightning l.

2011-12-15T19:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Perfect size and great quality

I wanted some long glass that I could wield on a monopod. This fits the bill nicely. I can hike all afternoon with this lens on my monopod with the D7000 attached. It's not light but it's a whole lot lighter than the 600f4. The focusing is super fast...even faster for birds in flight when I set the focus limiter. I get tack sharp images easily when on a tripod and a high percentage of sharp images on a monopod at 1/800 sec. It works great with the TC1.4eII. I see no loss of quality in prints or on the computer.

Mully410

2011-04-14T20:00:00

Rated 4 out of 5

fast focus - poor tripod mounting ring

Great lens except for one thing. After using this lens for the first time the mounting ring cracked. After the fact I then found out from others that this is not an uncommon problem with the original equipment on the large Nikon lens. Nikon would not warranty it saying that it was improperly used. I was not happy but had to pay for a new tripod mounting ring. I shoot along side several other photographers that use their long lenses in the same way that I use mine. I have been using the 500mm lens with the new ring for over a year now and the new ring is performing as it should. Nikon said that the lens should never be picked up by the tripod mount or left on the tripod when moving the camera and attached lens. I have never seen a photographer do it any other way.

Jer

2011-04-13T20:00:00

Rated 4 out of 5

Great lens, collar just a little stiff.

This is a great lens. I owned a 500 P and thought it was the sharpest big glass I had ever seen. This lens is just as sharp with AF and VR. I own or have owned just about every medium and large telephoto lens from Nikon in the last 30 years and this is my favorite. Could it be a little lighter, sure. There's no such thing as a free lunch. My only real complaint; the lens collar is just a bit stiff with a pro body attached. It rotates fine un-weighted, but with a heavy body- and especially mounted on a gimble-type tripod head- it becomes hard to turn smoothly in the small increments required with this kind of magnification. To make perfectly smooth, small, horizontal adjustments, I need to "lift" the lens and body in the collar just a bit with both hands. With one hand it's more problematic. I have a schematic of the lens and they specify 3 (!) different types of grease in the collar assembly so I dont think lubrication is the problem. Perhaps a smoother milled surface with PTFE involved somewhere (besides the thrust bearing) ? I don't have a solution but I'm sure the engineers at Nikon can handle it. When they do, 5 stars. On another note, all the best to the Nikon folks in Japan after the terrible earthquake. Sandgrouse

Sandgrouse

2011-04-13T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Sharp, sharp, sharp

Had it for a month before taking it to Florida for a week of bird photography. The images are stunning for clarity, contrast, and sharpness. Even with the 1.4 t/c the shots are super sharp. I generally use it on a "W" brand gimbal mount but even handheld it is not that bad for birds in flight.

bills_pix

2011-04-13T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Love this lens!

Wanted just a bit more telescoping that my 400mm lens and this does the trick. Not nearly as expensive as I expected it to be. Well worth every dime. Now I can see the eagles in the nest just like I am sitting there. Even my husband was impressed! This photo was taken approximately a football field away from their nest.

Eaglewatcher

2011-04-13T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Love it

Extremely sharp, and love using it hand held, with a monopod or bean bag. The effect of using it at f4 is great, and still sharp.

pacho

2011-04-13T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Great Wildlife lens

This is the lens to get for birds and wildlife. A tack sharp lens.

FishHawk

2011-04-13T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Simply Excellent

Lightweight for its focal length and rock steady in the VR mode. Extreme clarity, excellent light management and fast focus make this a must for any nature/wildlife photographer. Outstanding performance on the D3x and the D3. Tack images with tons of resolution. Just superb.

Nikon P.

2011-02-26T19:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THIS LENS YEARS AGO

This is a dream lens.I should have bought this lens a long time ago. It is tack sharp, focuses incredibly fast, most shots with this lens are keepers.The fact this is heavy is offset by all the other qualities.Buy it!

Robert O.

2010-09-21T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Incredible lens

Love it for High School football games. It's a great product at a fair price.

BradB

2010-08-24T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

pin-sharp edge-to-edge

As a professional photographer I have used Nikon lenses for the last 21years. Nikon optical glass is the best in the World. The 500mmf4 & 600f4 are both crucial to my magazine sports photography: edge-to-edge sharpness and ease of use (fast / accurate focus, light weight and exceptional build quality are second to none. I would not be without my trusted Super-telephoto Nikon's. Highly recommend using the TC14E-2 when you need slightly more reach on difficult assignments,/ from f4- f5.6 but images are as sharp as they are from the prime lens. The Nikon 500/600 f4's are the best super-telephotos available. If your thinking of buying a Sigma or other make, choose a good second-hand Nikon everytime - its the optical glass that is all important, not the price !

londonphotographer

2010-07-29T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Best all-around bird lens I ever used

I have made 40,000+ bird images with this lens primarily on a D300. Optically, the lens delivers excellent performance with enough resolution to support use of a 1.7X converter on todays highest resolution Nikon DSLRs and it exhibits total freedom from fringing. The relatively low weight for such a fast, long lens makes it tolerable to carrry around in the field all day. The build is first rate and rugged. Auto focus speed on the D300 leaves something to be desired when working flying birds at relatively close range. That may be more a function of the body than the lens, however. The one serious problem is the inexplicable inablility to achieve proper focus with the TC-14E extender. I have tested three 500mm VR lenses, three 1.4X extenders, two D300 bodies, and a D3 body in various combinations and the problem arose in each case, without exception. There is just not enough range of adjustment in the Nikon "AF fine tune" to correct the situation. Fortunately, this problem does not occur with the TC-17EII extender.

Nikotus

2010-07-29T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

Wonderfully Sharp and Contrasty

Highly recommended for bird photography--very sharp and contrasty images. I use this lens on both the D300s and the D700 with and without teleconverters. Make sure you have solid support (sturdy tripod with gimbal head) or beanbag for sharpest images.

dvd5

2010-07-19T20:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

500mmf4 ED VR

Outstanding, 'pin sharp' images from edge to edge, extremely high precision lens optics and lens construction. The 500mmf4 IF-ED produce results that are simply amazing, together with the 9 blade shutter to give outstanding Bokeh - this is a lens that I would highly recommend for sport, commercial, fashion and wildlife photography. (Cameras used Nikon D3's)

prosportsphotographer

2010-05-05T21:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

An effective 500-2000mm lens

An amazing lens for wildlife photography. Fast accurate autofocus, edge to edge sharpness, and wide open high image quality. I also can hand hold this for a couple of shots. Longer if I balance the foot on my hand with an elbow on my knee. I am rather large at 5' 11" 200 lbs. The most amazing aspect of the lens is it's high image quality wide open that allows for extreme cropping. I can see a small bird 40-50' away, capture the image on my D300, and then crop out 75-80% of the photo to get a near full frame image with high feather resolution. So the lens has effectively become a 2000 mm lens through cropping. For routine use with the D300, I use ISO 400 or ISO 500 as my base setting. Up to ISO 640 in later hours of the day. For those considering a teleconverter, this lens will take the TC-14E II, but noise levels increase and the amount you can crop is dramatically reduced. It works best in two situations (discussion based on wide open f/5.6): 1. Making a close object closer. Not for taking far away things and making them close through cropping. 2. At lower ISOs, 200-320, noise levels are not a problem. I have tested 500mm vs. 750 mm shots and did find the 750 mm did produce a better final image if I shot at ISO 200-320, but at ISO 4-500, the 500mm shot cropped did better. Like many, my decision was between this lens or the 600mm f/4. I made the decision for two reasons: 1. Weight for hiking. I carry the lens over my shoulder with a lightweight tripod and ball head for miles at a time. Total setup weight of 12-13 pounds. For a 600mm add 2.7 pounds added lens weight and 1.8 pounds more for a full Wimberley mount. So another 4.5 pounds. As is I need to pad my shoulder. 2. Ease of travel packing and carrying. For those considering lower cost alternatives such as the 300mm f/2.8 + TC-20E II, I would strongly reconsider if the 5-600mm reach is what you want. I rarely find that I can shoot above f/5.6. Often I cannot go above f/4 at ISO 500 on a D300 to get 1/100 speed. The VR with good technique (hand pressing on top of the lens) works reliably down to 1/60 on a loose ballhead in my case. You will be VERY disappointed if you try to get a 600mm f/5.6 by 300 mm + TC-20 because the internet users with this reveal the need to stop down further and the ability to crop is very limited. There is that much difference in IQ.

Minnesota_Steve

2009-08-18T21:00:00

Rated 5 out of 5

The Boomstick

I think everyone considering this lens knows that it's a stellar piece of professional grade gear. Prior to using it there were a few questions on my mind that I will answer here. 1) Is the 500/4 hand-holdable? I use long primes mainly for bird-in-flight shots, and much prefer to dispense with a monopod or tripod. The answer is "kind of." At 6'5" and 250lbs, I have been able to hand hold the lens and get great results. I pay for it in sore muscles every time, and I have friends that simply cannot pull it off. Let's just say it's troublesome. 2) How does it work w/ teleconverters? Fantastic with TC17E-II or TC14E-II. I'm not a fan of the TC20E-II, noticeable softness with that option. 3) Is it a viable option to buy the cheaper 300mm f/2.8 VR and use the TC17E-II to achieve a 510mm f/4.8? Most definitely. I use this combination with outstanding results and can't really tell any difference between the naked lens and using the 1.7x teleconverter. The 300/2.8 combo is far more hand holdable too. Of course, with the 500/4 you can really reach out and reach 850mm with the same TC. The lens is world class, so if you can spend the money don't even hesitate. It is very large, but makes no sacrifices in quality.

BRETT C.

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Nikon 500mm F/4 Specifications

General

General

Jump to...
  • Brand

    Nikon

  • MPN

    N/A

  • Lens Series

    Nikon G

  • Color

    Black

  • Lens Type

    Telephoto

  • Lens Mount

    Nikon

  • Format Compatibility

    Full Frame

  • Focus Type

    N/A

  • Focusing Technology

    N/A

  • Closest Focus Distance

    157" / 400cm

  • Distance Information

    N/A

  • Built-In Motor

    N/A

  • Focal Length

    500mm

  • Angle Of View

    4 deg. 10 minutes (35mm format),
    2 deg. 40 minutes (Nikon DX-format)

  • 35mm Equivalent Focal Length

    Not Applicable

  • Coverage

    N/A

  • Minimum Aperture

    N/A

  • Maximum Aperture

    f/4

  • Maximum Magnification

    N/A

  • Lens Coating

    N/A

  • Aspherical Elements

    N/A

  • ED Glass Elements

    N/A

  • Filter Size

    52mm

Construction

Jump to...
  • Lens Elements / Groups

    14 Elements / 11 Groups

  • Diaphragm Blades

    N/A

  • Dimensions

    15.4 x 5.5" (391 x 139.7mm)

  • Weight

    137oz / 3900g

Features

Jump to...
  • Image Stabilization Type

    VR

  • Tripod Collar

    N/A

  • Waterproof / Water Resistant

    N/A

  • Dust Resistant

    N/A

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About Nikon 500mm f/4G ED AF-S Vibration Reduction (VR II) Nikkor Lens (Black).

FEATURED REVIEWS

The Boomstick

By BRETT C.

I think everyone considering this lens knows that it's a stellar piece of professional grade gear. Prior to using it there were a few questions on my mind that I will answer here. 1) Is the 500/4 hand-holdable? I use long primes mainly for bird-in-flight shots, and much prefer to dispense with a monopod or tripod. The answer is "kind of." At 6'5" and 250lbs, I have been able to hand hold the lens and get great results. I pay for it in sore muscles every time, and I have friends that sim...

View full Review

An effective 500-2000mm lens

By Minnesota_Steve

An amazing lens for wildlife photography. Fast accurate autofocus, edge to edge sharpness, and wide open high image quality. I also can hand hold this for a couple of shots. Longer if I balance the foot on my hand with an elbow on my knee. I am rather large at 5' 11" 200 lbs. The most amazing aspect of the lens is it's high image quality wide open that allows for extreme cropping. I can see a small bird 40-50' away, capture the image on my D300, and then crop out 75-80% of the photo ...

View full Review

Nikon 500mm f/4G ED AF-S Vibration Reduction (VR II) Nikkor Lens (Black). Features

  • Lightweight, convenient, Super Telephoto lens optimized for edge-to-edge sharpness on both the Nikon FX (23.9 x 36mm) and DX-format image sensors
  • Vibration Reduction (VR II) minimizes the effects of camera shake allowing photographers to shoot at as many as four shutter speeds slower than would otherwise be possible, assuring dramatically sharper images
  • New Tripod Detection mode reduces vibration that may occur due to shutter release when mounted on a tripod
  • Nikon's Silent Wave Motor (SWM) enables ultra high-speed autofocusing with exceptional accuracy and powerful, super-quiet operation
  • Exclusive Nano Crystal Coat and a meniscus protective glass element combine to further reduce ghosting and flare for even greater image clarity
  • Three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements control chromatic aberrations while enhancing color, sharpness and contrast, even at the widest aperture settings
  • Rugged, reliable, lightweight construction features a magnesium die-cast barrel and professional-grade dust and moisture resistance
  • New A/M focus mode provides secure switching between Auto and Manual focus operation

What's in the box:

  • Nikon 500mm f/4G ED AF-S NIKKOR Vibration Reduction (VR II) Lens
  • CT-504 Trunk Case
  • HK-34 Lens Hood
  • LN-1 Strap
  • 52mm NC Filter
  • 52mm Slip-in Filter Holder
  • Front Lens Cap
  • LF-4 Rear Lens Cap
  • Drop-In Filter Holder
  • Hood
  • Rear Lens Cap
  • Tripod Collar