bob100

Wondering if Nikon’s 200-500 mm f4 $1300 lens would be sharp enough to use on the D850?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Your best bet would be to rent one and do some tests. The rental will be far less than the purchase price and the results will be far more informative than the multitude of guesses and suggestions you'll receive here.
--Bob

User ID

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I suspect that most users who NEED 500mm of reach
will often encounter the need to crop some, for lack of
600 or 700mm. In such cases, the high MP count of a
D850 or other high MP body is justified simply for their
advantage when cropping for tighter framing, and this
concern has nothing to do with whether or not a given
long lens is optically fantastic or state-of-the-art.

Ignoring the cropping issue, it's just myth that high MP
sensors need or "deserve" lenses of maximum IQ. Little
doubt that such max IQ lenses will strut their stuff better
when aimed at more MP. But the reverse of that concept
does not necessarily follow.

The myth of "need" derives from a false assumption that
the above concept IS reversible. Not at all true. Shooting
film instead of pixels, no one ever needed to seek out a
"holy grail" optic to take advantage of Panatomic-X BW
in ultra fine developers, or to shoot Kodachrome-25.

True enuf that these ultra fine films were de riguer if you
wanted to get the most from your optics, but the reverse
should NOT automatically be assumed today, and was of
no concern to those who used their ordinary quite decent
old-tech lenses to take GREAT advantage of those films.
Can "great" be less "absolute maximum" ? By definition,
the answer must be "yes it IS lesser". But, OTOH "great"
is not chopped liver !


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Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

What Bob said

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

I'm currently using the newer Nikon 80-400mm lens on the D850 for wildlife photography. I can tell you this, either you nail the shot or you don't. With the concentrations of pixels there is no room for fudge factor. What also makes the camera great, is you can heavily crop you photos and still get the fine detail, that is, If you Nailed the shot... I would be more concerned with shooting technic then anything else.

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Have been birding with a D7200 and Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 G2, since the G2 came out. I picked up a D850 yesterday at my local camera shop and I mounted the G2 up and have taken some test shots at various distances and zoom factors. So far so good. If the weather permits, I'll get the combination out to my favorite state park to do some birding this week. Can't wait!

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I have this camera, and I have this lens. They work fine together, producing extremely sharp images that hold up even when cropped significantly. The VR also works very nicely. I have handheld images captured at 500mm and 1/400 second that show no effects of camera/lens motion. The only compromise is perhaps in the build quality...there are quite a few plastic parts. And it is quite heavy.\, but the weight is not out of line with the maximum focal length.

Use it with confidence.

That said, the suggestion to rent and see if it works for you is a great one.

rdubreuil Loc: Dummer, NH USA

Bob, there's no such lens as the 200-500mm f/4, it's an f/5.6. The only f/4 lenses you'll find are primes.

bob100

Thanks to everyone for your responses. RD, thanks for the correction on the lens. I did indeed mean the f5.6 lens.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Nikon has a 180-400 F4 zoom. But it will cost ya!

rdubreuil Loc: Dummer, NH USA

Hey Gene, I stand corrected, wasn't aware of the new E series fixed f/4. Your also quite right about the price of one at 12.4K on Nikon USA... Ouch... I also did a generic search for f/4s and there is also a 200-400mm (AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR). Adorama has on in list "fair condition" for 1,699... In any case good luck to the OP with the pairing he has and happy shooting...

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You may want to read this before jumping on the 200-500. It's a good, not great lens, and it has no dust/moisture sealing. For the money, the Tamron 150-600 G2 is a sharper lens, especially at 600 and wide open.

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-200-500mm-f5-6e-vr

https://photographylife.com/reviews/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f5-6-3-g2

I use a Sigma Sport 150-600 on a D810, and have switched up with a friend who uses the Tamron G2 on a D800, and both of us find the G2 just as sharp as the Sigma at 600, and the G2 is sharper at shorter focal lengths compared to the Sigma.

If budget is a consideration, the Tamron will give you the best bang for the buck in a long lens suitable for the D850.

Bill_de Loc: US

Nikon has had a 200 - 400 f/4.0 for many years.

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traderjohn Loc: New York City

At least the old lady didn't jump all over you.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

There is so much bad information in circulation spread by people with little or no experience repeating what they don't understand.

The D850 or any other high pixel count camera do not require upgraded or special lenses. As always some lenses are better than others, but if you are currently satisfied with your current lenses, they will be even sharper on a high pixel count camera. Check the DXO Mark data for any lens on different pixel count cameras.