Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

[Warbird5]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Whatever you decide on I would advise renting first to see how you like it. A 500mm lens is very heavy, with a lot of weight out front. I'm not strong enough to hand hold one all day.

Nikon has recently come out with a very good 200mm-500mm zoom that is getting rave reviews. The price is very reasonable and the lens is hand holdable. I personally love using the Nikon 300mm F2.8 with a TC-17E teleconverter. This combination gets me to 500mm with much less weight than a straight 500, and the weight is closer to my body which for me is very preferable. I've used this combination all day at Reno without any discomfort and the results have been spectacular.

It's also worth pointing out that a 300mm F2.8 would work very well with your D7000 and give you an effective equivalent of a 450mm lens on a full frame camera. Your D7000 is actually a pretty good little camera.

There is a company called Lensrentals that carries a vast array of rental equipment from both Nikon and that other company. They have an excellent reputation and seem to be easy to deal with.

Neal

Morning,

Take what Wingman has posted to the bank.

Between him and Bucky they are the ones who have consistently recorded to film/digital the majority of the photographic history of the races.

Stay away from the heavy lens' and that may mean choosing less zoom, as Wingman has stated it gets real old real quick lugging around and using a heavy zoom. Personally I've found that I'm rarely above 200mm when using a 100-400mm zoom when shooting aircraft in flight.

LenRentals is as stated a excellent place to rent gear to try before you buy. I've used them for years, and can't say enough as to how well they do business.

Warbird Willie

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Morning,

Take what Wingman has posted to the bank.

Between him and Bucky they are the ones who have consistently recorded to film/digital the majority of the photographic history of the races.

Stay away from the heavy lens' and that may mean choosing less zoom, as Wingman has stated it gets real old real quick lugging around and using a heavy zoom. Personally I've found that I'm rarely above 200mm when using a 100-400mm zoom when shooting aircraft in flight.

LenRentals is as stated a excellent place to rent gear to try before you buy. I've used them for years, and can't say enough as to how well they do business.

Warbird Willie

Well, if you can get to the pylons, you don't need 500mm. For those of us who can't, 300mm doesn't cut it, 200 most certainly doesn't cut it. 500mm might cut it from the stands. Yes, its on the heavy side, but it's not that heavy. (I have a 180mm F2.8 manual focus lens that weighs more than the Nikon 200-500). For shooting an airshow, unless you have media credentials, 300mm just doesn't cut it. Its one thing to be on the course or on the flightline shooting pics, its another story when you are half a mile away, trying to shoot something small and fast that is still another mile out. All you end up doing is cropping the hell out of the shot so the pic that could be epic in poster size is now only 8.5x11 at most.

Will

[Desertdawg]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Thanks everyone for contributing to this. I have a 200mm lens and have pulled in some good runway shots from the pit wall. They're ok when cropped, but not great. Just like Will said, the 99% of us are stuck far away and do not have the benefits of the lucky soles that get pylon access where I'm sure a 200mm may be ok.

I have shot "good" at a distance my entire life, so now as I approach 62 its time to get some "great" shots

One thing I got out of this discussion, is to look at the 100-400mm series lenses. They sure are a lot cheaper, $1,500.00 range vs $9,000.00.

I never considered the weight issue, glad Wingman mentioned that. It may turn out that I can save a lot of money and serve my photographic needs well going with a 400mm lens. Maybe have extra dollars for a better camera body?

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

I would seriously look at the 200-500 that Nikon has out. It is the best lens for the price. I've been doing a lot of research on it and its sharper than the more expensive and smaller lenses Nikon has out, it blows the doors off the Sigma and Tamron lenses in every way. I haven't found a bad review of it yet.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/200-500mm.htm

http://www.dslrbodies.com/lenses/nikon-lens-reviews/nikon-200-500mm-f56-lens.html

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/nikon%E2%80%99s-new-af-s-nikkor-200-500mm-f56e-ed-vr-telephoto-lens-0#LeMICB53Chl0WoLv.97

I'll be buying one as soon as I can sell off my bike frame (Anyone want a 56 cm Litespeed Vortex in perfect shape?)

Will

[Desertdawg]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Will,

Thanks for that info in the Nikon sense.

More research needed now :-)

[CJAM427]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Will,

Thanks for that info in the Nikon sense.

More research needed now :-)

Take a look at my post on the top of this page, physical evidence of what that lens can do!

[Desertdawg]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Take a look at my post on the top of this page, physical evidence of what that lens can do!

Connor,

Most definitely will. Those were some very nice shots.

Thanks again for sharing those.

[CJAM427]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Connor,

Most definitely will. Those were some very nice shots.

Thanks again for sharing those.

You're welcome!

That lens is awesome, definitely worth a short rental to check it out if nothing else.

[SnapHappy]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

I hope this will be the year I get myself a 500mm lense set-up.

I have a Nikon D7000 w/18-200mm lense, this works great for general shots.

I really want something for air racing and car racing fast action shots.

Plus the benefit is I could do my hunting with a lense vs rifle :-)

I'd like to keep this around $10,000, and have been looking at this Canon lense

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/ef-500mm-f-4l-is-ii-usm

What are you guys using?

What would be a good camera body match for this lense?

Thank you

Hans

I'm no expert but I would also recommend [[RENTING]] the 200-500 f5.6. I'll be dragging one to Reno this year.
https://flic.kr/p/zL6zmR <--(see F7F shot with 200-500)

[Victor Archer]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

At Reno when Nikon was there I always had them bring a Nikon 300mm F2.8 lens for me to use. This lens was unpopular with a lot of the folks because everybody thought the exotics like the 400mm F2.8, 500mm F4, 200-400mm F4 etc were more cool. Those suckers are all just too big and too front heavy for anybody but young fireplug weight lifters like Victor and Tim Adams.

Neal

Yeah, I used the Canon 500 f/4 at Reno for a number of years. One year it was really windy and had a pretty rough time with the big 500. After that race week I was in a lot of pain heading home and went to the Doc's turned out that I had torn a muscle in my back and also had a pinched nerve. Was in physical therapy for three months. They would put me in traction for an hour three days a week, fun times!



It was interesting being out there with a 500 but I don't think I could do it any more. You need to be a young guy in good shape to follow objects moving like that.

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

I picked up a Nikon 200-500 today. First off, its a BIG lens. It fills nearly my entire Tamrac backpack case. I got it through Adorama. They had what I thought was a good kit setup with 3 filters and some other stuff for the same price as the straight lens. The lens filters however are iffy. I stuck the 2 stop neutral density filter on first thing and had some rather surprising results. The camera would not focus correctly. Didn't matter what setting or how close I was to the target, it was out of focus along with everything else. My first thought was crap I got a bad lens. Then I stopped and thought about it, pulled the ND2 off and tried again. It was fine. No issues whatsoever. I don't know why the filter caused it to go screwy, perhaps it needs more light to work, or the filter itself has some optical issues that can't be seen by just looking through it. I'd love to try a good ND2 or ND4 filter, but at $300 each I don't see that happening any time soon. The UV filter seems to work fine. Here are some test shots.

500mm ISO640 (I didn't intend to shoot that high ISO, I was shooing the meteor shower last weekend and forgot to change it.) F5.6 1/1000

What better to test the focus speed than a flying hummingbird?
ISO 320, F13, 1/80 (hand held) 500mm

500mm F14 1/80

500mm F16 1/80

500mm F5.6 1/160 ISO 320 (Hand held)


The detail on the hummingbirds is impressive. I was a good 10 feet away as I was trying to shoot, and it was in the shade.

I'm looking forward to using the lens at the Monterey Historics this weekend. I should have a better idea of the new Sport (panning) VR setting as well as how hard the lens is to use in real life. At this point, I like it. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can shoot at Laguna Seca, and how slow I can shoot it at. (Gotta practice for perfect prop circles )

Will

[Desertdawg]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

The detail on the hummingbirds is impressive. I was a good 10 feet away as I was trying to shoot, and it was in the shade. I'm looking forward to using the lens at the Monterey Historics this weekend. I should have a better idea of the new Sport (panning) VR setting as well as how hard the lens is to use in real life. At this point, I like it. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can shoot at Laguna Seca, and how slow I can shoot it at. (Gotta practice for perfect prop circles )

Will

Hey Will,

Congrats on the new lense. Thanks for sharing your first shots.

You got the Nikon AF-s Nikkor 200-500, right? What camera body did you use?

I like that lense and after all the discussion here I am leaning towards matching it with a D500 body.

[wingman]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Those hummer shots are great, Will. The issue with the neutral density filter is that the focussing system at best only works to F8 or so only, so 2 stops less light on an F5.6 lens simply does not put enough light on the sensor to autofocus accurately. So your issue is most likely not the camera or filter but a combination of all. You should still be able to focus manually, and possibly with "Live view" on the back LCD, though I'm not sure about the latter.

Just as an experiment try the filter with the lens at 200mm, where the lens is a bit faster. I think the autofocus might work there, though you would still be near the edge of its capability.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where you'd need a 2x ND with a lens like this, but there must be one.

I'm sure hearing good thing about this chunk of glass. Nikon seems to have hit a home run here. And, from all accounts it pairs magnificently with the D500 body. Always remember, though, that with a small sensor body like the D500 this lens is the functional equivalent of a 750mm lens on a full frame or film camera body. That is REALLY long to handhold, and requires either pretty high ISO (for a fast shutter speed) or absolutely impeccable technique to get consistently sharp results.

Neal

[RAD2LTR]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Those hummer shots are great, Will. The issue with the neutral density filter is that the focussing system at best only works to F8 or so only, so 2 stops less light on an F5.6 lens simply does not put enough light on the sensor to autofocus accurately. So your issue is most likely not the camera or filter but a combination of all. You should still be able to focus manually, and possibly with "Live view" on the back LCD, though I'm not sure about the latter.

Just as an experiment try the filter with the lens at 200mm, where the lens is a bit faster. I think the autofocus might work there, though you would still be near the edge of its capability.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where you'd need a 2x ND with a lens like this, but there must be one.

I'm sure hearing good thing about this chunk of glass. Nikon seems to have hit a home run here. And, from all accounts it pairs magnificently with the D500 body. Always remember, though, that with a small sensor body like the D500 this lens is the functional equivalent of a 750mm lens on a full frame or film camera body. That is REALLY long to handhold, and requires either pretty high ISO (for a fast shutter speed) or absolutely impeccable technique to get consistently sharp results.

Neal

Neal,
I thought about the filter being too dark, but I couldn't get it to focus even in manual mode. It was really odd. I use an ND4 on my 70-300 F4-5.6 Vr lens all the time so I can shoot slow shutter speeds in bright light (to capture motion). I've never had an issue at 300mm. (Wouldn't the new lens at 300mm allow the same amount of light as the 70-300? They would both be 300mm at 5.6 ) The shots I took there was literally nothing in focus in the frame. I'd think there would be something, somewhere, but everything was off. Even in MF, everything was off, almost like the front of the lens was wrapped in cellophane. I tried 200mm, 300, and 500 and everything was all blurry. Took the filter off and issue solved. I wonder if the filter is poorly made and has some magnification that causes the sensor to freak out and think its in focus when its not? I really don't know if the issue lies with the filter or the lens with a ND filter on it? I have a CPL that came with it, but it doesn't seem to want to screw onto the front of the lens well, and is so low profile I can't even turn the thing with it on the lens. I might give that a try this weekend (on something random that I don't care about)

I'm shooting a D600 with a D610 shutter so its a full frame body. The lens does take a little while to focus at infinity if going from something close up. It hunts around a bit, but once it locks, its good. I got a pic of a hummingbird at 40 yards or so at sunset so it can find small targets at distance, even in relatively low light.
100% crop, F/8 1/200 ISO 320 500mm


Another straight off the camera looking across the Napa valley at sunset.
500mm ISO 320, 1/250 F/8


The low light performance seems to be pretty decent. The long distance hummingbird shot says a lot considering the size, the distance, and the amount of light.

Will

[wingman]

Re: Need Expert Advise on 500mm Lense Set-up

Sure does sound like an issue with the filter then. Seems odd, as filters are obviously pretty simple. I suppose they may be some off brand with no quality control...

I'd contact Adorama, and maybe email them a couple of sample images and see what they say. They're a very reputable company and might be willing to try an exchange.

The important thing, though, is that you are so happy with the lens itself.

Neal