200-400/4 ED - Worth It?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Had all set up when the fog rolled in ... Will try again.

[Wally]

400/5.6 ED-AI at f/8, 4 sec, ISO 100

Beautiful shot, love it. I guess this is up north in Washington? Somehow reminds me of Japan though...

[jhinkey]

Had all set up when the fog rolled in ... Will try again.

Thanks!

[beryllium10]

John, your last-light photo of Mt Rainier looming over Harbor Island here in Seattle is really splendid (it looks to have been taken a few summers ago when the Polar Pioneer oil rig was docked here?).  I can see why you're looking for a lens that performs well wide open.  Good luck in your search, and feel free to post more photos like this!  Inspirational.

Cheers,   John

[jhinkey]

Beautiful shot, love it. I guess this is up north in Washington? Somehow reminds me of Japan though...

Thanks -

This is looking South across Elliot Bay right next to downtown Seattle.  I have a few special spots that have unique views that most local guys don't really bother to find.

- John

[jhinkey]

John, your last-light photo of Mt Rainier looming over Harbor Island here in Seattle is really splendid (it looks to have been taken a few summers ago when the Polar Pioneer oil rig was docked here?).  I can see why you're looking for a lens that performs well wide open.  Good luck in your search, and feel free to post more photos like this!  Inspirational.

Cheers,   John

Yes, that's exactly it.  As you know there's always something moving on the water which is typically my subject.  Ferries, ships, submarines, tug boats, paddleboarders, wave patterns, etc.  So amazingly for my landscapes, a fast shutter speed, low ISO and across the frame sharpness (for stitching panos) are key.

- J

I'm procrastinating getting the lens until Bjorn hopefully can supply some wide-open shots with this beast of a lens.  I don't want to spend that kind of $$ to find out it's not very sharp at f/4.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Trust me, I will provide the required test shots. I'm impatiently waiting for a weather improvement. The current state of rain, sleet, and fog, are hardly the conditions under which remote-distance subjects can be captured in a meaningful, comparative manner.

[jhinkey]

Trust me, I will provide the required test shots. I'm impatiently waiting for a weather improvement. The current state of rain, sleet, and fog, are hardly the conditions under which remote-distance subjects can be captured in a meaningful, comparative manner.

Oh yes, I understand - no pressure - whatever you can do would be great!

John

[Wally]

Holy smokes - what a lucky strike
This lens is MINT and appears unused!
John - I can offer you some shots wide open, although not before late next week

[jhinkey]

Holy smokes - what a lucky strike
This lens is MINT and appears unused!
John - I can offer you some shots wide open, although not before late next week

Where is this one shown in the image at?

[Wally]

This picture may not do justice but shall provide a first idea of sharpness across the frame at f4. Look at the upper 2 power lines from left to right. Distance was around 60m. Shot on D800 at base ISO.

[jhinkey]

This picture may not do justice but shall provide a first idea of sharpness across the frame at f4. Look at the upper 2 power lines from left to right. Distance was around 60m. Shot on D800 at base ISO.

Thanks, but unfortunately the image file is too low in resolution to see any kind of sharpness.  Can you put up a full resolution file?

[Wally]

Hope this one works better

[Erik Lund]

Please just make a 100% crop or two and post instead of a full size JPG Thank you.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

To add what Erik said, a full-sized (non-scaled) jpg from a D8xx has to  be heavily compressed in order to fit our upper file size. In doing so, a vast amount of information is sacrificed, thus defeating the original purpose of showing fine detail.