Nikon 180-600 Sharpness And AF Speed Tests!

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JanH said:
PS. I should add that Steve's comparison with the Z 100-400mm was very helpful to me.

I was considering this lens with the TC 1.4 because it is much more portable (if more expensive). But Steve's comparison confirms to me that the 180-600mm is the way to go, at least for wildlife (for landscape the 100-400mm would have the edge IMO because it has shorter focal lengths and is at least as sharp in the 100-2xxmm range)
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I will keep my 100-400. If I need 600mm I switch to DX mode which still has enough resolution for posture prints.
 
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Steve said:
It was just one that was laying around :)

Looking at it, it look about 3 , maybe 3.5 inches long. What I really want is a replacement collar from RRS or Kirk.
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My laying around plate was a 6" RRS. Chris Hejnar told me that he did not plan on making a replacement collar since he was concerned that people would not to pay the price for that on a lens at this price level. So I will probably consider a replacement from the sources you mention if they bring one out.
 
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Ken Miracle said:
My laying around plate was a 6" RRS. Chris Hejnar told me that he did not plan on making a replacement collar since he was concerned that people would not to pay the price for that on a lens at this price level. So I will probably consider a replacement from the sources you mention if they bring one out.
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When the 200-500 came out, it was the same thing - for awhile it didn't look like anyone wanted to do one. Then, they did :) (Kirk was first, I think).
 
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RichF said:
totally agree but that will likely be 3-6 months out
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Yes, and like most things it will likely be worth the wait. We could debate back and forth why manufactures don't license Arca-Swiss plates, though it really doesn't change anything. Until Kirk, RRS, or some other company releases a collar with an integrated A-S base, the alternative is a plate. Incidentally, it may take 3-6 months for many mortals to land this lens. :rolleyes:
 
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ajrmd said:
Yes, and like most things it will likely be worth the wait. We could debate back and forth why manufactures don't license Arca-Swiss plates, though it really doesn't change anything. Until Kirk, RRS, or some other company releases a collar with an integrated A-S base, the alternative is a plate. Incidentally, it may take 3-6 months for many mortals to land this lens. :rolleyes:
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Concur. I may just wait to order it until they're actually in stock somewhere, as opposed to lodging an early order and figeting about when it will arrive :)
 
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eaj101 said:
Concur. I may just wait to order it until they're actually in stock somewhere, as opposed to lodging an early order and figeting about when it will arrive :)
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you're likely honestly going to be waiting until next year sometime, if the current rate is going to be consistent. Maybe one decent batch a month out.
 
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How's the focus breathing compared to Sony 200-600. I've read somewhere that when focusing at targets 7.5-10m away 200-600 is more like 550mm on the long end (if not less). Is 180-600 better in that regard?
 
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Steve said:
When the 200-500 came out, it was the same thing - for awhile it didn't look like anyone wanted to do one. Then, they did :) (Kirk was first, I think).
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I exchanged e mails with RRS today and they are waiting to get a lens so they can do a plate let along a collar/foot assembly ... they said that when they get the lens they will look at design for collar/foot assembly but no ETA. Hmm it is only about a 6 hour drive from here to RRS and I have a lens :)
 
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Hello everyone here in this forum.🖖
And hello Steve
I've been following you Steve on YT for a few years now.
Thank you for all the great videos.

I signed up here to see if there were similar reviews of the 180-600 that I saw.

Unfortunately I sent my lens back
and hope to replace it with a new one soon.

The lens I had showed visibly more blur at 200/500 and 600 mm compared to my old 200-500.
My 200-500 was also sharper cropped to 600mm.
300 and 400 mm were comparable
I wasn't able to achieve comparable sharpness performance in many test series. During my 2 days of trials.
My copy clearly contradicted what Cameralabs says and also what Riccy Talks or Steve show in their videos.
It would have to be significantly sharper than the 200-500 in the telephoto range.
So there seems to be significant fluctuations in quality.

The lens itself is worlds better than the 200-500 in terms of handling. The focus area that can be controlled with one hand is a dream and the manual focus is a blessing compared to the old one
The focus is super fast compared to the old one and very reliable.
The only thing I find worse than the 200-500 is the tripod collar
It cannot be adjusted so finely that it remains just rotatable.
I will replace this if alternatives are available.

reg. mark
 
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lukemeup said:
How's the focus breathing compared to Sony 200-600. I've read somewhere that when focusing at targets 7.5-10m away 200-600 is more like 550mm on the long end (if not less). Is 180-600 better in that regard?
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I haven't tested it - this was just sharpness. For this lens, I'll likely have more to come. Not sure if that's in the form of single-topic vides or a full review (since my preview review still reflects my thoughts about the lens accurately).
 
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RubberduckMark said:
Hello everyone here in this forum.🖖
And hello Steve
I've been following you Steve on YT for a few years now.
Thank you for all the great videos.

I signed up here to see if there were similar reviews of the 180-600 that I saw.

Unfortunately I sent my lens back
and hope to replace it with a new one soon.

The lens I had showed visibly more blur at 200/500 and 600 mm compared to my old 200-500.
My 200-500 was also sharper cropped to 600mm.
300 and 400 mm were comparable
I wasn't able to achieve comparable sharpness performance in many test series. During my 2 days of trials.
My copy clearly contradicted what Cameralabs says and also what Riccy Talks or Steve show in their videos.
It would have to be significantly sharper than the 200-500 in the telephoto range.
So there seems to be significant fluctuations in quality.

The lens itself is worlds better than the 200-500 in terms of handling. The focus area that can be controlled with one hand is a dream and the manual focus is a blessing compared to the old one
The focus is super fast compared to the old one and very reliable.
The only thing I find worse than the 200-500 is the tripod collar
It cannot be adjusted so finely that it remains just rotatable.
I will replace this if alternatives are available.

reg. mark
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Thanks for joining and welcome :)

Hopefully it was just a poor copy. It happens and I think it's more common for the more budget friendly lenses than the higher-end ones.

FWIW, I didn't get a good copy of the 200-500 until my third try! (Photography Life mentioned in their review of that lens that they has the same issue).
 
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If Nikon is having difficulties with QC, it doesn’t bode well for us mortals who will likely be waiting for some time to obtain a copy of this ghost lens. It took 9 months to secure a copy of the 800 PF and I was fortunate that it is near perfect in every way.
 
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ajrmd said:
If Nikon is having difficulties with QC, it doesn’t bode well for us mortals who will likely be waiting for some time to obtain a copy of this ghost lens. It took 9 months to secure a copy of the 800 PF and I was fortunate that it is near perfect in every way.
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I agree with @SCoombs - this is the only report I've seen and it could have been jarred around in shipping at some point between here and the manufacturing plant. I think Nikon is really trying to get this one right. If we start seeing a lot of problems, that's when I'd be concerned.
 
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Steve said:
I agree with @SCoombs - this is the only report I've seen and it could have been jarred around in shipping at some point between here and the manufacturing plant. I think Nikon is really trying to get this one right. If we start seeing a lot of problems, that's when I'd be concerned.
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@Steve if jarring around can cause this wouldn't this be a problem when traveling?
 
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Steve said:
Thanks for joining and welcome :)

Hopefully it was just a poor copy. It happens and I think it's more common for the more budget friendly lenses than the higher-end ones.

FWIW, I didn't get a good copy of the 200-500 until my third try! (Photography Life mentioned in their review of that lens that they has the same issue).
Click to expand...
It happens for sure. My 200-500 went back and forth to Nikon 3 times under warranty before they got it working :cool: I replaced it with a Sigma 150-600 sport and a Tamron 150-600 G2, I always want a back up birding lens around and replaced the Sigma 150-600 sport with a 500 pf :). I also added a Sigma 60-600 sport to my quiver and it had a mother board failure after 30 days. Sigma could not get parts so after 30 days of waiting for them they just sent me a new lens.

Now all Z lenses and so far so good with all of them including my Z180-600. Here is the first bird that showed up when I took the Z180-600 out as the only lens for the day on a Z9 . One with no crop and the other cropped.

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It's not that you can't shoot with my bad version of the 180-600.
And if you don't have a direct comparison, it would pass as OK.
But if I pay 2000€ for the lens and together with the x1,4 converter and the insurance for 3 years a total of 3000€,
then I expect an increase in quality compared to my old 200-500.
And as the Cameralabs test of the lens show, this should also be clearly present.
For me, unfortunately, this is a lot of money for my hobby and I had to save up for it for a long time.

I just hope that I really only got a bad version and that the next one will be super fine.
The only question is how many months I have to wait for it.

Attached is a picture from a short walk
There were only a few flowers with bees and a dragonfly.
Picture is a jpeg direct from the camara neutral profile and completely unedited.
cropped down to 1200px Due to the forum restriction

(Edit: These pictures are not to judge sharpness! This was done using test charts under clinical conditions.
The pictures just show that you can definitely take photos with the soft lens and if you have no comparison, the pictures can be considered OK)
HZF_6274-1.jpg
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HZF_6256-1.jpg
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