Nikon 800PF Review For Wildlife Photographers (Official Discussion Thread)

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NorthernFocus said:
Presumably that means it's not an issue for them/what they shoot ?
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For myself it matters. I already run into MFD of my 600/4 at 4.5m more than I'd like. One reason I ordered a 400/2.8.

I guess it isn't a consideration or concern for others. But I think it is worth discussing and always should be considered when one is considering a lens. A lot of people I talk to in the field over look this spec and run into their MFD.

Maybe I just have too good of field craft?? Or I pick my locations to suit. This lens is screaming for a companion lens like 400Z or 100-400Z. I wouldn't want to be walking the Wakodahatchee boardwalk with only this 800PF :cool:
 
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arbitrage said:
For myself it matters. I already run into MFD of my 600/4 at 4.5m more than I'd like. One reason I ordered a 400/2.8.

I guess it isn't a consideration or concern for others. But I think it is worth discussing and always should be considered when one is considering a lens. A lot of people I talk to in the field over look this spec and run into their MFD.
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Same here. This is the first spring I've had my 600/f4 and the first thing I noticed was how far away I had to stand for the closer birds and I have missed some shots because I wasn't used to it yet.

Back to the 800PF, I'm really exciting for the Nikon shooters and I can't believe it came in at $6500 USD. *edit* So much interesting glass for the Z bodies :)
 
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arbitrage said:
For myself it matters. I already run into MFD of my 600/4 at 4.5m more than I'd like. One reason I ordered a 400/2.8.

I guess it isn't a consideration or concern for others. But I think it is worth discussing and always should be considered when one is considering a lens. A lot of people I talk to in the field over look this spec and run into their MFD.

Maybe I just have too good of field craft?? Or I pick my locations to suit. This lens is screaming for a companion lens like 400Z or 100-400Z. I wouldn't want to be walking the Wakodahatchee boardwalk with only this 800PF :cool:
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Yes I'm one watching the 400 PF space very closely. I'm confident f4 and weigh under <1kg. Let's see the next Z Roadmap before revising the dimensions from the silhouette of 103mm wide by 226mm.
Once Nikon publish a comparable sized photography of a Z Nikkor in development, the dimensions are easier to estimate.
 
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DaveR said:
Would a simple extension tube solve the problem?

I have no idea, I've never run into this problem but it would be a lot cheaper than a 13000 lens.
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It's not the MFD, it's the focal length. Lots of relatively large birds within petting distance :)
 
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Pre-ordering it today from NPS to my local store but admittedly will be watching closely in the next few weeks to see if there's more info comparing it to the 800 5.6 which is much more; but the graph showing the sharpness was about the same is impressive.
 
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padrepaul said:
Pre-ordering it today from NPS to my local store but admittedly will be watching closely in the next few weeks to see if there's more info comparing it to the 800 5.6 which is much more; but the graph showing the sharpness was about the same is impressive.
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I just pre-ordered as well. I hope they have a lot of these piled up somewhere...
 
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I am in no hurry to pre order anything from Nikon especially a lens that will work on a Z9 that I am still waiting to receive. I know that this comment may not be fair as it has nothing to do with the lens, but if I do not have a Z 9 body to use it on, why order a lens for it?
 
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Steve said:
I just pre-ordered as well. I hope they have a lot of these piled up somewhere...
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We'll see - I like going local. For what it's worth I paid $9495 for my refurbished 800 5.6; they offered me a straight up trade on it and I avoid sales tax, so I'm leaning towards it. Main concern was do I lose anything in terms of sharpness and feather detail - more tests to come, but from what you said and others so far and the graph showing sharpness it seems on par with what I own. It's lighter weight will help in traveling but also in situations like I was in trying to photograph a screech owl along a steep sandy hill where it was hard to set up my tripod and I was carefully photographing him to get other angles, and to react more quickly I think to flying owls and raptors. As long as the sharpness is not degraded at all I think it should be great, and it's also designed with the Z mount in mind so I don't need the adaptor.
 
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gdecamp said:
Me too and about an hour later my camera shop called to say my 400/2.8TC arrived and they are shipping it to me today. Will have it Friday, damn this is going to be a nice setup with the 800!
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My wife and I were just talking about that combo! It should be great!
 
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I spend a lot of time out in the boonies of Idaho chasing sparrows and other small birds that can be tough to get close to. I shoot far fewer large birds and have the Z100-400 that I carry in a think tank holster with my Z6II mounted with my 600 f/4E mounted on my D850 in my MRJan big lens carry system adapted to a think tank speed belt. Still waiting for the Z9 on order but got NPS membership and priority request in last week so that should help. I hand hold all of the time unless shooting out the window of a vehicle from time to time.
I was handholding the 600/f4E on my gripped D850 for about an hour last week at a Sharp-tailed Grouse lek, link to another thread with pics below, where 100 yards and having to crop heavily in LR, and Steve's pre release teaser video made me decide the 800 pf was going to be a great lens for a run and gun birder like me :)

Nikon Z 800 f6.3 to cost $6,000

Jeff you and @RichF are making my retiree brain twitch ... I was a marketing manager for a specialized farm machinery manufacturer in another life :eek::ROFLMAO: There are 2 things I can say for sure about retirement from the world's largest consumer goods company. 1) I don't miss it and 2)...
bcgforums.com bcgforums.com
 
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NorthernFocus said:
What happened to the idea of an all PF kit? :)
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The PF kit will happen first. I can only afford one new lens right now and it's the 800mm. It's funny too - I was really on the fence about the 400 2.8 (still am a bit) but this lens was love at first...shot :)

Still, I think the 400 2.8 with this lens would be a very potent - and flexible - combo.
 
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Somewhat (maybe very!) tempting but having just dropped so much on the Z9 I need to wait awhile before I can think about spending that much. :rolleyes:And honestly I am really more interested in the (hopefully forthcoming) 200-600. That seems a more useful range for me, especially on safari, although I realize it will probably be more similar to the 200-500 in quality...but who knows.

Also, I really don't think I could handhold the 800mm with the Z9, at least for any length of time, which would mean it would be mainly be a tripod lens for me. So I'm waiting for awhile.
 
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Steve said:
LOL, yeah, that's one place I don't think this would be ideal!!
That 400 2.8 though... :)
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The thought that ran through my head this morning is for the price I'm about to pay when my 400GM order comes through this month I could buy a Z9 and this 800PF. Crazy good deal. But I think for now I'll just stick with my full Sony kit having already sold my Z9. It is all about the A1 for me....not the lens.
 
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