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
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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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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 believe this to be true. other than maximum aperture, this lens will hold it's own with ANYTHING. and lighter than a 70-200 to boot.
 
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Have used the 300 f2.8 on a D4s, and now the Z 400 f4.5 on a Z9.

While the 300 f2.8 is fast it's also heavy. As far as IQ is concerned the Z I believe is superior in critical sharpness and that is saying something as the 300 f2.8 is no slouch.

Here's one with the 400 f4.5.

Z9_40313-topazAI2.jpg
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Tarsna said:
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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Here's a slide comparing various lenses, made by a friend, from Steve Perry's video about the 600PF.

400.jpg
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I rented the z400/4.5 a couple of years ago and was very impressed with it. I’m near London, so there are several rental companies. It performed well with the 2x TC as well, despite losing 2 stops, but I was in Spain on the Costa de la Luz…a bit different to Ireland possibly 😂😂
its wonderful to carry around…really light.

these are in Dublin: Conns Cameras … not a recommendation, just Google for renters.
 
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Thankyou.
Yes I know about Cons but the prices will scald you. Buying cameras and lenses in Ireland is savage :( id need to rent 3 days and thats 250 plus petrol....another 50. While they say ...they will knock it off the price they are €1000 more expensive then anywhere else in europe.

Even the 180-600 is €2249 on a sale at the moment :(
ps....we love our Irish rain
 
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Another positive vote for the 400mm f4.5.

I tend to shoot with lenses in pairs depending on subject and this one fits nicely between the 70-200mm f2.8 and the 800mm PF.

In my subjective experience it is harder to shoot with longer focal length lenses. It seemed to me that starting with 600mm all those things that conspire to rob a lens of sharpness seem to magnify in significance.

The nice thing about the 400mm f4.5 is that it is really compact, light weight and easy to handle. It also is just short enough to avoid the worst issues that plague the longer lenses, such as atmospheric diffraction. This lens is also really sharp and it handles cropping, dx and teleconverters very well.

This lens is really easy to use hand held.
 
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Tarsna said:
Thankyou all so many positives you have put my mind at rest. Im excited now🥰
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Have fun with your 400mm f/4.5 when you get it! I have used mine extensively for 2 plus years. It is great alone, with the 1.4TC and even works decently with the 2.0 TC. Definitely a fun lens to have.

www.flickr.com

Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5

Explore this photo album by ricardo00 on Flickr!
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
 
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