Adam Trahan: AF-S VR Nikkor 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 ED N G

I have used the D version of this lens and enjoyed the results. In all the reviews of this lens and the G version, the AF-S N (silent wave focus and lens coating) was indicated as a far better lens. A friend of mine who is a professional photographer just received his and he really likes it. I like the 80-400 zoom so much that I wanted the upgrade. The D configuration has an aperture ring, I would lose that with the G (Gelded, electronic aperture control) but my F6 could still function perfectly with it. When I bought the D version, I got it inexpensively, and it was a good choice, now I know that this lens is useful to me so everything pointed at upgrading my choice.

I looked for a few weeks and finally found one and committed to it. The vendor I chose actually has a one year warranty. Not the reason why I purchased but it’s nice insurance.

It’s a bigger lens in length, girth and weight. Not too big, not in a different class, I still knew what I was getting myself into. The lens hood has a more secure with a locking mechanism. The focus ring for manual control is in the position closest to the camera body. It auto focuses faster, it’s a quieter lens as well. The additional weight and size is noticeable but it’s not a game changer. The quality of the lens on appearance and feel is an upgrade too. In short, I like the handling and the looks better but what I’m really after is ease of use and a quality image upgrade. On initial inspection, I’m seeing this too.

I’ve owned a couple of 500mm lenses, the Nikon Reflex-Nikkor • C 500mm f/8 and the Reflex-Nikkor 500mm f8 N. I have had a couple of 300mm lenses, the Nikkor 100-300 f5.6 AIS and the AF Nikon 300mm f4 ED, both were nice to use but the 100-300mm was a manual focus and the 300mm f4 auto focus was just too limiting. The two reflex lenses were ok at fixed tripod positioning but depth of field is not user friendly. I got my shots but at a cost of low percentage of keepers.

The best example of a useful 300mm zoom I owned was the AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR FX which was a choice killing machine! What a super lens but it wasn’t enough to keep. It was a lazy man’s lens. I just kept it on my camera, it did it all and I liked it but overall, it was not a lens I wanted to use all the time. I liked my wide zooms choices much better than the wide end of the 28-300mm.

The 80-400 is my Goldilocks lens, it’s just right. The close up duties are left for my wide zooms and past that, the 80-400 takes care of the rest. I have just one more lens that I want for long lens duty and that’s the 200-500mm. I recently rented and used a copy and whoa, it’s a beast. The Nikon AF-S 200-500 f5.6G ED VR. That’s the upper end of my long lens wants but that’s an entirely different story that’s starting to become real.

The 80-400 G on the Left and the 80-400 D on the Right.

The below images are from an example of the primary reason why I chose this lens, hunting for rock art. On this occasion I used the lens as a sort of spotting scope. If I don’t find what I’m looking for, I’ll use my tablet back home to expand the images and search for petroglyphs in distant rocks by further magnification. I did find rock art on this day and continued to photograph. The 80mm is good for close ups so to speak in the absence of my wide zooms. I ended up walking about two miles carrying the camera and lens in hand, it gets heavy and I had to change the way I was carrying due to fatigue. I’ll use the tripod ring with a strap attachment in the future for hiking farther than two miles.