180-600 Disappointment!

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Steve said “The higher-end optics have better quality lens elements and better quality coatings on those elements”. I think this hints at something about the glass in the elements as well. I think thats what is intended. As I understand it higher end lenses have purer and more expensive to produce glass in much if not all of the elements. Glass manufacturing is a complex process. It’s not just about the shaping of the lens element as I understand it.
 
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Interesting discussion.
For me, perhaps most instructive is the fact Steve is adding this lens to his standard kit. That puts to rest any question I have of its quality, sharpness, etc.
In other words, it IS a good sharp lens, it just comes down to inescapable tradeoffs (will not be as sharp as a prime, etc.) Steve illustrates in his review.
For those who haven’t seen it, Photography Life has a couple articles below that proffer an opinion the lens is exceptionally sharp, outperforming the f 200-500 in almost all regards, and offering great sharpness at 600mm.

I have been shooting the f 180-400 TC for years, but replaced it with the z 180-600 on a 3 week safari I just completed, while I wait on my z 600 tc (Ordered in August). I can‘t render final judgement until I’m back at my computer in a month and process the photos, but my early read from back of the camera viewing is I will prefer the z 180-600 over the 180-400 TC and the 600 TC for future international trips as the optical quality is good enough to save the weight of the other two options.

photographylife.com

Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR Review

We've updated our review of the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 with full lab tests of sharpness, vignetting, chromatic aberration, and distortion. I've also added dozens of new sample photos from my recent trip to Sri Linka. Read on to see how the lens stacks up after these extensive tests!
photographylife.com photographylife.com

photographylife.com

Best Super-Telephoto Lenses for Nikon Z Cameras: 8 Tested

photographylife.com photographylife.com
 
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Kemble Widmer said:
Interesting discussion.
For me, perhaps most instructive is the fact Steve is adding this lens to his standard kit. That puts to rest any question I have of its quality, sharpness, etc.
In other words, it IS a good sharp lens, it just comes down to inescapable tradeoffs (will not be as sharp as a prime, etc.) Steve illustrates in his review.
For those who haven’t seen it, Photography Life has a couple articles below that proffer an opinion the lens is exceptionally sharp, outperforming the f 200-500 in almost all regards, and offering great sharpness at 600mm.

I have been shooting the f 180-400 TC for years, but replaced it with the z 180-600 on a 3 week safari I just completed, while I wait on my z 600 tc (Ordered in August). I can‘t render final judgement until I’m back at my computer in a month and process the photos, but my early read from back of the camera viewing is I will prefer the z 180-600 over the 180-400 TC and the 600 TC for future international trips as the optical quality is good enough to save the weight of the other two options.

photographylife.com

Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR Review

We've updated our review of the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 with full lab tests of sharpness, vignetting, chromatic aberration, and distortion. I've also added dozens of new sample photos from my recent trip to Sri Linka. Read on to see how the lens stacks up after these extensive tests!
photographylife.com photographylife.com

photographylife.com

Best Super-Telephoto Lenses for Nikon Z Cameras: 8 Tested

photographylife.com photographylife.com
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The PhotographyLife piece posted here finds the 200-500 to outperform the newer lens in many ways, a fact that raised a bit of discussion here and on other forums when the piece was first released.
 
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SCoombs said:
The PhotographyLife piece posted here finds the 200-500 to outperform the newer lens in many ways, a fact that raised a bit of discussion here and on other forums when the piece was first released.
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Hmm.
The field review states “It’s sharper and overall better optically, while reaching 600mm rather than 500mm (and 180mm rather than 200mm).”

In the lens comparison, yeah in re- reading I would agree he gives the slight edge to the 200- 500 at 400mm and 500mm.
In this review he does state the lens improves quite a bit at 600mm (every lens has a sweet spot as many have said), and that the autofocus is superior.

I recall Ricci found the 180-600 superior in sharpness to the 200-500.

Seems sharpness is awfully close and depending on exact lens copy, focal length, etc. but I guess my reading is the reviewers lean more toward the sharpness edge to the 180-600.
 
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SCoombs said:
I've definitely seen people get bif with the 200-500. After thousands of shots with mine in the D500 and Z8 (and to a lesser extent the Z7ii) I think if I put this lens on either camera on a tripod and a bird flew around in a circle without ever leaving the frame or changing its distance to the camera, and I stood there and just held down the AF button without moving anything that I might get one or two usable photos. The focus just seems to lag flying birds even when for instance the Z8 thinks it's got a perfect lock.

Of course, for everyone who gets bif photos with their 200-500 when I don't there's someone who can't get photos nearly as sharp as mine does.
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One main thing I like about the 200-500 over the 200-600 , manual focus override on the lens . I used this a lot with BIF , my thumb had a lot of exercise
 
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LTK said:
One main thing I like about the 200-500 over the 200-600 , manual focus override on the lens . I used this a lot with BIF , my thumb had a lot of exercise
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I don't understand. You can just turn the control ring on the 180-600 and go to mf whenever. I leave mine set for focus (which is why I wish it had a second ring, but alas).
 
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MRK said:
Received my Nikon 180-600 last week very excited to try it on my Z9. My go to lens has been 500PF and sigma 150-600C. Most of the time use the 500PF for its light weight and super sharpness. So this past weekend was out with the new 180-600 photographing warblers and shore birds. No inflight shooting, just trees and walking on shores. After 2 days I was very disappointed with the new lens, so much so I am sending it back for a refund. I was hoping this would give me a little more flexibility over my 500pf and it did. But here is where my big disappointment was with this lens. Sharpness. Shot over 1500 images this weekend and most were soft. Nothing like the 500pf and not as good as the older Sigma. Don't know if maybe it was a bad copy of the lens, but sending back for a refund. And going to stay with my old faithful 500 pf. Also the 500pf is not only much sharper but lighter and faster focusing. Anyway was wondering if anyone else has used the 180-600 after having used a 500pf. Just curious, maybe I had bad luck with my copy.
Thanks
Mark
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I had the same experience shooting alongside a 500PF and returned mine after trying it out for a few weeks.

I wanted to like the 180-600 and use it to replace my 200-500 as I go more and more mirrorless. I appreciated the internal focusing, faster AF, wider focal range and lighter weight. However, IQ was always my big question, as I saw a lot of soft image examples online. I did see a couple reasonably sharp ones that prompted me to try it out, along some very positive reviews.
Unfortunately, I found it just a bit too soft compared to my other lenses including the 500 PF, 500E, 800 PF and 200-500.

I’ll add that I’ve seen some nice images posted by friends that own the lens, and if I was getting similar results I’d have kept it. So, perhaps I had a bad copy.
 
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I wanna know if there is anybody here who’s experienced hi noise and color distortion because I just took a photo of an osprey at 1/800 and ISO 110 and the photo is awful! I loved my 200-500 but it was too heavy. I traded it in for this and I’m regretting it. I don’t know why everybody’s saying how sharp it is it’s not any sharper than a 200- 500 was. Frankly, I think the the 200 500 is better.
 
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Klocarolinanc said:
I wanna know if there is anybody here who’s experienced hi noise and color distortion because I just took a photo of an osprey at 1/800 and ISO 110 and the photo is awful! I loved my 200-500 but it was too heavy. I traded it in for this and I’m regretting it. I don’t know why everybody’s saying how sharp it is it’s not any sharper than a 200- 500 was. Frankly, I think the the 200 500 is better.
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Well, high noise is a function of the sensor, and if you're pixel peeping a high res sensor will look noisier. That has nothing to do with the lens. Color distortion I haven't seen. Can you post an example? What were your white balance settings?
 
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Cameron T said:
Well, high noise is a function of the sensor, and if you're pixel peeping a high res sensor will look noisier. That has nothing to do with the lens. Color distortion I haven't seen. Can you post an example? What were your white balance settings?
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Your point is well taken however, I’m not doing anything different than I did with my 200 500 and the photos are not as good. I will try to post a photo soon.
 
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​

To set default settings for raw images, do the following:
  1. In the Camera Raw dialog box, click the Open Preferences Dialog button
    open-preferences-dialog.png
    . Or, in Photoshop, choose Edit > Preferences > Camera Raw (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Camera Raw (macOS).
  2. Select Raw Defaults from the Camera Raw Preferences dialog box.
  3. From the Master drop-down, select one of the following:

    Adobe Default
    Select this option to apply Adobe default settings to your raw images.

    Camera Settings
    Select this option to keep the settings of the camera from which the raw image was taken.

 
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I
sportmaster said:

​

To set default settings for raw images, do the following:
  1. In the Camera Raw dialog box, click the Open Preferences Dialog button
    open-preferences-dialog.png
    . Or, in Photoshop, choose Edit > Preferences > Camera Raw (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Camera Raw (macOS).
  2. Select Raw Defaults from the Camera Raw Preferences dialog box.
  3. From the Master drop-down, select one of the following:

    Adobe Default
    Select this option to apply Adobe default settings to your raw images.

    Camera Settings
    Select this option to keep the settings of the camera from which the raw image was taken.
Click to expand...
yes, mine is set to camera settings
 
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After tweaking settings and getting use to this lens, it’s definitely sharper than the 200-500 and lighter. I will say though using it with the Z8 the majority of the time during early or late hours you will need Denoise.

The 6.3 is just not good in low light with the Z8 obviously. But because you can stop down, your photos will still be tack sharp at 1/500 it’s a trade off. Most of the time in low light I end up around 2800-6400 ISO
It is what it is for $1500
 

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Interesting, but you don't say here if you tried to make an AF Fine Tune calibration, do not forget that once a new lens is attached to the camera it is essential to match both units. Maybe that would have to solve the matter.
 
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Klocarolinanc said:
After tweaking settings and getting use to this lens, it’s definitely sharper than the 200-500 and lighter. I will say though using it with the Z8 the majority of the time during early or late hours you will need Denoise.

The 6.3 is just not good in low light with the Z8 obviously. But because you can stop down, your photos will still be tack sharp at 1/500 it’s a trade off. Most of the time in low light I end up around 2800-6400 ISO
It is what it is for $1500
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Not sure how this is an indictment of the 180-600, rather that’s the reality of any lens shooting at f/6.3. You obviously have options for faster glass, be it the $15k+ super Z primes or now more affordable legacy F-mount f/4 super-teles, that would better assist in creating shots with a little less noise.

2800-6400 on the z8 is more than usable as well. If you want a little less noise, maybe look into a Z6II (or hopefully III someday), but the obvious tradeoff is loss of resolution.

Best setup would be to run two camera bodies: Z6III + f4 exotic, Z8 + 180-600. Right tool for the job.
 
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MRK said:
Shot over 1500 images this weekend and most were soft. Nothing like the 500pf and not as good as the older Sigma. Don't know if maybe it was a bad copy of the lens,
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While "soft" is a relative term, it is widely reported (including by me) the 180-600 at 400mm is slightly sharper the the 100-400 at 400mm.
Despite not having S designation the 180-600 is very sharp.
Assuming your threshold for "soft" is reasonable (there seems no reason to doubt this) your 180-600 was clearly defective.
You might get a modest resolution difference (below 10%) with both lenses at 500mm, though the zoom has more capable VR when used - and an often overlooked advantage of zooms is by zooming they can put more pixels on a subject than a prime of a less than ideal focal length.
 
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