Seems like I have been away from blogging for ages. I was away from the computer but I never put the camera down. Matter of fact I attended a photo workshop and have shot more frames in the past 2 months than I did all summer long.

Nikon released their latest big zoom the 200-500 AF-S prior to my workshop but I didn’t order it until after I got back home. I’ve taken it on 2 outings since it arrived last week and will share a some examples from todays shoot.

This first shot of a black swan is sooc the f5.6 delivered a pleasing bokeh.

A heavy crop on the mirror image of the ring necked duck and the white swan closeup doesn’t show alot of distortion. Though I hope Adobe will be adding the lens correction profile to Lightroom soon.

I haven’t tried the “Sport” mode that was added to this lens so far. That’s on the to do list next time out. The biggest surprise I had was too much lens compared to what I am used to with the 80-400mm. Never thought I’d say that! It’s a nice lens and will be an everyday part of my kit but it won’t replace the 80-400 however it is a great compliment to it. All of the shots in this post are DX format shot with D7200. Next outing will test its performance with full frame D610.

Other reviewers have stated that this lens design leans towards hand held shots. It can be done and can be used at lower shutter speeds than most long lenses allow you to shoot but IT IS heavy and the 95mm barrel is more than a handful for smaller hands. A quick mention the 200-500 performs well with the TC-14E III although it is a slow focus and manual focus is better suited for birds in flight.

Thanks for taking time to stop by and listening to my thoughts! It would be great to hear thoughts from others who have been using this lens. Until the next post… go take more photos!