Calson
Well-known member
The only drawback to tht 500mm PF lens is needing to use the FTZ with a Z camera. The 400mm f/4.5 with the 1.4x is a good substitute but having owned both lenses there is no performance of IQ gain with the 400mm lens. Nearly the same weight with the 1.4x on the 400mm versus the 500mm lens. I sold my 500mm PF and bought the 400mm f/4.5 lens but not sure that I would do so if able to make the decision today.
A separate consideration is that one can use the 2x Z teleconverter on the 400mm f/4.5 for a 800mm f/9 super telephoto. The internal image stabilization of the Z9 compensates quite well for the long focal length of this setup.
I used the 500mm PF with teleconverters on the D850 and found I needed to focus manually so a different situation than using the FTZ adapter and a Z camera. I also did not like having to carry around 4 different teleconverters in my backpack to accommodate my AFS and Z lenses.
A separate consideration is that one can use the 2x Z teleconverter on the 400mm f/4.5 for a 800mm f/9 super telephoto. The internal image stabilization of the Z9 compensates quite well for the long focal length of this setup.
I used the 500mm PF with teleconverters on the D850 and found I needed to focus manually so a different situation than using the FTZ adapter and a Z camera. I also did not like having to carry around 4 different teleconverters in my backpack to accommodate my AFS and Z lenses.