Author Topic: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed  (Read 14313 times)

arthurking83

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Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« on: June 14, 2018, 15:45:42 »
Nikon  have recently announced the development of thee up coming 500/5.6 PF VR lens

https://mynikonlife.com.au/news/gear/nikon-australia-announces-development-of-af-s-nikkor-500mm-f-5-6e-pf-ed-vr/

Interesting turn of marketing lately in announcing the 'development of' .. eg. the D850 before it was released ... and now this lens(that it seems so many have been lusting for.

I don't really remember Nikon in recent history as the company type to announce developments of products.
But, in some ways good to see them 'communicating' more openly with this kind of thing .. and hopefully more to come(annoncements and products) .. oh! and at sane prices too!
Arthur

Macro_Cosmos

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2018, 09:19:51 »
Nikon had their days of putting out groundbreaking stuff, and I'm happy to see them back at it. Nikon is also known to flip-flop, there's many substantial cases throughout history, nonetheless Nikon survived with a happy customer base.  ;)
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Akira

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2018, 03:05:59 »
Further rumored info on the 500/5.6: a total length is 24cm, and the estimated price is 4,300USD.

https://nikonrumors.com/2018/07/06/nikon-af-s-nikkor-500mm-f-5-6e-pf-ed-vr-lens-additional-information-price-and-length.aspx/
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Ann

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2018, 03:16:26 »
I am actually very disappointed that the 500 Pf is to be only an f/5.6 lens.

500 mm is still very short for bird photography and this lens will be too slow for use with Auto AF with the necessary TCs.


Akira

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2018, 03:31:00 »
I am actually very disappointed that the 500 Pf is to be only an f/5.6 lens.

500 mm is still very short for bird photography and this lens will be too slow for use with Auto AF with the necessary TCs.

I hear you as nature photographer.  Probably Nikon wanted to promote the drastic reduction in size of the 500/5.6 PF compared to the current 500/4.0.  The diameter will be the same and the weight won't be very much lighter, so long as the speed remains the same.  For the sports photographer, 500/5.6 could be an attractive alternative to 500/4.0, now that there is D5 with the excellent high-ISO performance.
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Mongo

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2018, 04:22:42 »
this is a move in the right direction but have the same concerns as Ann. 500mm is the minimum length needed for long lenses especially for wildlife/birding. In all likelihood this lens will require a TC a lot of the time and therefore, its real usefulness will depend on how it performs with TC attached. Not afraid of shooting at f8 and in fact, do  a lot of the time even though faster apertures  are available. However, this new lens will need to be able to give great IQ with a converter wide open at at least f8.......in short, there will be no room for stopping down to get sharp results. Personally, a 600mm f5.6 of this lens is by far the better option if eventually made available. It was in the past as an AI-s manual lens and it should be reproduced today in modern form.

Ilkka Nissilä

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2018, 14:35:04 »
Nikon already have a lightweight 500/4. In a fast tele, PF would lead to only small weight and size savings and yet the bokeh and contrast would be inferior to refractive designs, so Nikon do not offer such a design. In a smaller aperture version the size and weight savings are much more substantial.

There are subjects for all focal lengths.

Akira

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2018, 22:12:22 »
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Roland Vink

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2018, 23:12:04 »
I wonder if they will develop a 400/5.6PF? That would seem to strike a good balance between reach and affordability for many amateurs, and give better quality than zooms or 300/4+TC which cover the same range. Nikon is rather lacking in 400mm primes apart from the 400/2.8.

Akira

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2018, 23:15:41 »
I wonder if they will develop a 400/5.6PF? That would seem to strike a good balance between reach and affordability for many amateurs, and give better quality than zooms or 300/4+TC which cover the same range. Nikon is rather lacking in 400mm primes apart from the 400/2.8.

I would agree.  I don't remember how many times I wanted to switch to Canon because of their 400/5.6 prime which is much more modern than the venerable Ai(s) 400/5.6 ED IF.
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Frank Fremerey

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2018, 10:03:14 »
I wonder if they will develop a 400/5.6PF? That would seem to strike a good balance between reach and affordability for many amateurs, and give better quality than zooms or 300/4+TC which cover the same range. Nikon is rather lacking in 400mm primes apart from the 400/2.8.

the 300pf with the 14E III and only this is breathtakingly phantastic. very little room for a 400/5.6
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Erik Lund

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2018, 12:16:03 »
Further rumored info on the 500/5.6: a total length is 24cm, and the estimated price is 4,300USD.

https://nikonrumors.com/2018/07/06/nikon-af-s-nikkor-500mm-f-5-6e-pf-ed-vr-lens-additional-information-price-and-length.aspx/


24cm now that is compact! Wow ;)
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Ilkka Nissilä

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2018, 14:17:24 »
I wonder if they will develop a 400/5.6PF? That would seem to strike a good balance between reach and affordability for many amateurs, and give better quality than zooms or 300/4+TC which cover the same range. Nikon is rather lacking in 400mm primes apart from the 400/2.8.

A Nikon patent mentions 400/5.6, 500/5.6 and 600/5.6, all PF. But of course we cannot know which of them (or if all three) will be realized into products, apart from the 500mm which was announced to be in development.

Given that there is already a 300/4 PF, the annoucement of 500mm next makes sense since 1.67x is a reasonable ratio between consequtive focal lengths that you might carry at the same time. 1.33x is perhaps too dense a spacing between primes, in my opinion. I understand the cost argument but a new 400/5.6 would likely be priced quite high (2500-3000€?). This would make it a hard sell when compared with the Canon 400/5.6, which has been in the market for a very long time.  500/5.6 has some novelty which means the price is not dieectly compared with existing older products.

Which would I prefer? As a user of 300 PF I would like to add a 500/5.6. Of course, the cost is a big issue, and the lens needs to be high quality, reasonably fast and accurate focusing, and lightweight and compact. We know the length but it is interesting to see how the tripod collar is; is it built in and non-removeable, fully removeable or with removeable foot but not collar? How well does it handle vibrations? Etc. How much image quality is lost compared to the 500/4G and E VR and is there some area where the 500 PF is actually better? For example, LoCA could be very well corrected and it may be optimized for near distances and offer a high maximum magnification (for small subjects a fast maximum aperture may give too little depth of field, whereas for large or faraway subjects the f/4 aperture is beneficial and useful).

If it gives excellent close up capability with high level of optical correction, and yet give better results at longer distances than 200-500, and very good  corner sharpness (I am thinking about architectural and landcape details not only moving subjects) then I think it will find its users. I don't care for TCs, and happy if lightweight long glass is made available so that I never have to use a TC.

If the image quality is not as good as the 300 PF then I will not be trying to stretch myself to be able to afford it, rather I will consider the second hand market for the 500/4 VR. I have tested it a bit (G version) and liked it a lot, but currently I have some back pain (having been foolish enough to lift something extremely heavy at work, now suffering the consequences) and so I have to consider the PF to be on the safe side for recovery.

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2018, 11:41:17 »
I did not care about TCs before I saw the results of the 14E3 with the 300PF. There is simply no reduction in IQ, AF and mechanical performance. I did not really believe it before I tried it but now I can confirm it. I also have the glassless 14E and mechanical it is great plus optical. Highly recomnended!!!
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Ilkka Nissilä

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Re: Nikkor 500mm f/5.6 PF VR lens confirmed
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2018, 20:52:01 »
I did not care about TCs before I saw the results of the 14E3 with the 300PF. There is simply no reduction in IQ, AF and mechanical performance.

I do not has such a good experience with mine. My 300 PF performs much better without TC. Sharper, cleaner, more confident in focusing. I use the TC when I need to but want a 400 or 500 with better quality and AF.