Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-13)

subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 7 September 2019 47

performance we associate with Nikon’s pro-
spec 500mm f/4 and 600mm f/4 lenses at
signifi cantly lower cost. Pros who regularly
shoot in low light and demand a faster aperture
are likely to sway towards an f/4 prime to gain
a speed advantage, but for other serious sports
and wildlife shooters who know they’re going
to be working with plenty of light, want to free
up some valuable luggage space and like the
sound of being able to comfortably shoot
handheld with a 500mm prime all day, it’s a
seriously tempting alternative. If I were a Nikon
user planning to go on safari, I’d put my name
down to hire this lens in an instant. It would be
a dream lens to capture once-in-a-lifetime
wildlife images with. You won’t get any change

fromspendingaround£150a weekor£250

fortwoweeks’hire,butI don’tthinkthisis

unreasonablegivenhowmuchyou’dneedto

paytobuyit outright.Therewillalwaysbethe

argumentthata longtelephotozoomlens

coveringa focallenghof 100-400mmor

60-600mmis moreversatileandaffordable,

howeverif youknowyoushootmostof your

shotsaroundthe500mmmarkandwantthe

bestyoucangetat thisfocallength,you’ll

struggletofinda betterlensforthemoney.

Ultimately,thewayNikonhasmanagedto

blendsuchfineopticsinsidesucha well-built

lens,whilemakingit incrediblyfasttofocus

andextremelylightandportableis a great

achievement.Thelackofa strongcarbon

fibrehoodis theonly area where it comes in

foranyformofcriticism.

SonowthatNikon has both a 300mm f/4

and500mmf/5.6compact telephoto prime in

itsline-up,whatcan we expect next? I know of

quitea fewNikonusers who would love to see

themanufacturerdevelop a 400mm f/4 with

a PhaseFresnel(PF) element to slot in between

thelensreviewedhere and the AF-S Nikkor

300mmf/4EPFED VR. Whether this is in the

pipelinenobodyknows, however with next

year’sOlympicGames fast approaching,

I wouldn’tbesuprisedif it’sonthecards.

SHOULD you require more reach, the lens can
be turned into a longer telephoto prime by
coupling a teleconverter between the camera
body and lens. Pairing the lens with Nikon’s
1.4x teleconverter (TC-14E III) turns it into a
whopping 700mm hyper-telephoto prime.
Autofocus with the TC-14E III is only available
with cameras that offer f/8 support. These
include the Z 7, Z 6, D5, D500, D4/D4S, Df,
D850, D810/D810A, D800/D800E, D750,
D600/D610, D7100, D7200 and D7500.
The lens is also compatible with Nikon’s 1.7x
teleconverter (TC-17E II) and 2x teleconverter
(TC-20E III) without autofocus. The maximum
aperture reduces to f/9.5 and f/11 respectively
when used with the TC-17E II and TC-20E III.

Teleconverter

compatibility

TobyRoland-Jonessendsbails

flyingashepicksupthesixthwicketfor

Middlesexwhowentontowinthegame

NikonD850,1/2500secatf/5.6,ISO 1000

AP’s Michael Topham takes

up position. The lens is

supported on a Vanguard

VEO 2 AM-264TR monopod

Vignetting is

well controlled

wide open

at f/5.6

Nikon D850,

1/3200sec at

f/5.6, ISO 400

Amateur Photographer would like to thank Lord’s and

the MCC for accommodating our visit. http://www.lords.org.