Nikon 200-500: Greetings all. Thinking about purchasing the Nikon 200-500. Much of my photography is of granddaughters’ sports - soccer, basketball and surfing. Wondering if the...

jzett

Greetings all. Thinking about purchasing the Nikon 200-500. Much of my photography is of granddaughters’ sports - soccer, basketball and surfing. Wondering if the 200-500 would be a good choice for hand held surfing photos. Your thoughts and advice are appreciated.

dubyacee

I recently acquired the 200-500 and am well pleased with it. The VR is excellent and although kinda heavy, I can get very good hand-held shots. I don't do sports but from what I read, it is an excellent choice for shooting sports. I looked at specs long and hard before plunking down the bucks but am not disappointed.

JR45 Loc: Montgomery County, TX

I use mine on a D7200 or D500. Depending on how much move you want, you may
want to use an ISO high enough to stop action.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I've had mine for about 6-8 months now. Mostly for wildlife. Been going full speed ever since. I love it! If it's too heavy for you, use a mono pod. I use one about 50% of the time. Well worth the money IMHO.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Because of the weight, for serious/continuous work you will want to use a monopod.
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larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I've had one of these lenses for about a year and a half. It doesn't get used a lot right now (most of what I'm working on at this time calls for wide angle lenses), but when I do, it serves very sell. As already pointed out, it is on the heavy side, and when extended to 500mm, it is pretty long (and wide) as well. But it is manageable, even hand held, and the VR works very nicely. When you play in the price against the performance it delivers, it becomes a great lens, in my opinion. The big thing to consider is that it is an f5.6 lens. That's not as big a limitation as it would have been in the days of film, but be sure that it will be fast enough for whatever you're doing on whatever camera you are planning to use it on. It takes 95mm filters, so if you use a circular polarizer, it may be necessary to save up for one of those.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

had the tamron 150-600 never got a sharp shot out of it ...The 200-500 is fantastic just make sure you set the fine focus adjust , set sharp to +9 auto iso to 3200 and min 1/500 and you are good to go ..don't use a UV filter..use it on a D850

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

jzett wrote:

Greetings all. Thinking about purchasing the Nikon 200-500. Much of my photography is of granddaughters’ sports - soccer, basketball and surfing. Wondering if the 200-500 would be a good choice for hand held surfing photos. Your thoughts and advice are appreciated.

I have been using the Nikon 200-500 for over two years and find it VERY EASY to hand hold. In fact, that is all I do with it for shooting birds in flight here in Florida. It is so sharp I sold my Nikon 300 2.8 and 200-400 4 lenses. Below are some examples of it's sharpness. Also I got a handle to attach to the tripod collar with makes it easier to carry around. Good luck and keep on shooting until the end.
PS. I just got the new Nikon 500 5.6 and will be selling my new 200-500 next week, I have two of these lenses and no longer need both with the new 500. Private message me if your interested. It is new, used once, and comes with original box, instructions, etc. It is a US lens but warranty has been sent in so the buyer would not have a warranty, but the lens is in great shape.

Jerrin1 Loc: Wolverhampton, England

jzett wrote:

Greetings all. Thinking about purchasing the Nikon 200-500. Much of my photography is of granddaughters’ sports - soccer, basketball and surfing. Wondering if the 200-500 would be a good choice for hand held surfing photos. Your thoughts and advice are appreciated.

I used mine on the end af a D500 for wildlife photography. I felt it just pulled birds out of the sky and I rarely missed a shot. The only drawback is the weight when carrying it for long periods, though you will not be likely to encounter that issue. I also owned a Nikkor 300mm f4 PF ED EV + TC14EIII. A much lighter, shorter lens which produced fantastic results. It is easier to use for really fast action, but limited by being a prime lens.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Retired CPO wrote:

I've had mine for about 6-8 months now. Mostly for wildlife. Been going full speed ever since. I love it! If it's too heavy for you, use a mono pod. I use one about 50% of the time. Well worth the money IMHO.

tcthome Loc: NJ

I have 1 & I am very happy with it.

CWGordon

I tried the 200-500 lens recently on a wildlife trip in Jackson Hole. I was very impressed with the sharpness of the lens. It is a bit heavy for me, but at that price, to have variable photo lengths, and be what is today a moderate price, this is a helluva bargain. It appears well-built and again, appears to me to be undervalued for all it provides the user. I bought a different lens, but only because of weight. I paid dearly for that weight reduction. If it wasn’t for my arms and shoulders being weakened over the years that would have been my more likely choice of lens. I truly was pleased with the results I was able to obtain with it.

NikonZSeriesMike Loc: Naples, FL

Thanks for the tip about the tripod collar handle. I normally carry my 200-500 by the ring. The handle is an excellent idea!

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

jzett wrote:

Greetings all. Thinking about purchasing the Nikon 200-500. Much of my photography is of granddaughters’ sports - soccer, basketball and surfing. Wondering if the 200-500 would be a good choice for hand held surfing photos. Your thoughts and advice are appreciated.

Yes, good choice. I own one and have been pleased with it.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

jzett for sports - soccer, basketball and surfing the AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR is decidedly a wiser choice... Why? it is lighter a.k.a. easier to hand hold and locks focus faster and has superb acuity.... Basically the 80-400 is Pro-Grade glass... While I shoot the 200-500mm for soccer it isn't known for it's blinding focus speed... btw, I use a monopod on the 200-500mm for soccer albeit I hand hold in the studio.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/camera-lenses/af-s-nikkor-80-400mm-f%252f4.5-5.6-g-ed-vr.html

Food for thought: For basketball you may be far better served with a 70-200mm f/2.8 in as the 200-500 is really not appropriate nor germane in that scenario

That said I cherish the 200-500 for studio beauty genre... it is superb and crazy sharp stopped down...

Hope this helps jzett...
I wish you well on your journey
.

AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

(Download)

AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR

(Download)