Advice on Nikon 400f4.5

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Tarsna

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I need help please. Ive been shooting with a D4s with a 300 f2.8 and converter. As I get older its becoming heavy to handhold. I shoot greyhounds racing and coursing so the Autofocus needs to be snappy. However ive upgraded to the Z8 and trying the 300pf results are just ok. The PF is great on slower things but misses a beat on fast twist turns and changes of directions. The Z8 is fine with the f2.8. im trying to convert to lighter stuff as im 72 now.
I'm looking at getting the 400 f4.5 s. But worried the auto focus wont be as good as the 300 f2.8 . Living in Ireland I cannot rent one....there is only two camera shops in Ireland and they don't carry this lens. Anyone out there who can tell me about the Autofocus speed of the 400 please ?
 
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Great question and I've never come across any comparisons against the older 300 PF. FWIW, I own the 400 f/4.5 and have experienced no issues with AF speed or accuracy. Here is one review which is indexed and I believe that AF speed is discussed around the 19:00 mark. FWIW, I also own the 180-600 which may AF a tad slower. Even so, the 186 is fine for BIF. If I am not mistaken, Steve produced a video which confirmed that the 186 was more than fast enough. Hope this helps.

 
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Tarsna said:
excellent thankyou. £2500 is alot of money to spend if the results arnt what you need you have put my mind at rest :)
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No chance that you can borrow one from another photographer friend to use? I have the 300mm f/2.8 VR and it is a very fast at focussing. I also have the 400mm f/4.5 but hard to compare since the focussing settings are so different between the Z8 and my DSLR. But definitely appreciate the lighter weight of the 400mm f/4.5!
 
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Tarsna said:
Anyone out there who can tell me about the Autofocus speed of the 400 please ?
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From Thom Hogan:
"In terms of focus speed, the 400mm f/4.5 VR S is one of the fastest focusing telephotos Nikon has that work on the Z system. It's tough to measure, but I believe the f/4.5 to be slightly faster than the f/2.8 version of the lens, despite not having the fancier and more expensive voice coil motor of the latter."

Nikon 400mm f/4.5 Lens Review | Thom Hogan

Review of the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 S lens for Nikon Z mirrorless cameras
www.zsystemuser.com
 
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JAJohnson said:
From Thom Hogan:
"In terms of focus speed, the 400mm f/4.5 VR S is one of the fastest focusing telephotos Nikon has that work on the Z system. It's tough to measure, but I believe the f/4.5 to be slightly faster than the f/2.8 version of the lens, despite not having the fancier and more expensive voice coil motor of the latter."

Nikon 400mm f/4.5 Lens Review | Thom Hogan

Review of the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 S lens for Nikon Z mirrorless cameras
www.zsystemuser.com
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I think the conditions of any test would affect this conclusion. For example, in lower light the 400mm f/4.5 struggles whereas the 300mm f/2.8, as one might expect, can grab focus faster since it lets in 2.5 times as much light.
 
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JAJohnson said:
From Thom Hogan:
"In terms of focus speed, the 400mm f/4.5 VR S is one of the fastest focusing telephotos Nikon has that work on the Z system. It's tough to measure, but I believe the f/4.5 to be slightly faster than the f/2.8 version of the lens, despite not having the fancier and more expensive voice coil motor of the latter."

Nikon 400mm f/4.5 Lens Review | Thom Hogan

Review of the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 S lens for Nikon Z mirrorless cameras
www.zsystemuser.com
Click to expand...
This is true but unless light is low I mainly use my 300at f4. . Id have the 300 with me if light gets bad
 
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