The 400mm f 2.8 S lens

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Activert

Activert

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Hey Photographers! I need some advice. I just received my Z9 and its my first mirorless camera. I have 3 DSLR body camera and some F mounted lenses: 500mm F4, 300mm F2.8, 70-200 mm f2.8 and macro and wide angle. I am thinking to sell all my lenses and my DSLR except the 300 mm F2.8 and my D850. I am really interested in the new 400mm S F2.8 . I wanted to order it this week or when I am sure, that is the best lens choice I need. I travel a lot and it is big problem to carry everything in the plane and worry each time about it. I photograph every living thing from the tiny one to the big one. I love bird photography a lot. So can you advice me if I should go ahead and buy the 400mm or wait for the new 600mm? I know the 400mm would be more useful for big animals, but is it good for the tiny birds? I know we can use teleconverter, but I also want the best photo quality. Thanks for giving me your thought. It will help me a lot
 
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Activert said:
Hey Photographers! I need some advice. I just received my Z9 and its my first mirorless camera. I have 3 DSLR body camera and some F mounted lenses: 500mm F4, 300mm F2.8, 70-200 mm f2.8 and macro and wide angle. I am thinking to sell all my lenses and my DSLR except the 300 mm F2.8 and my D850. I am really interested in the new 400mm S F2.8 . I wanted to order it this week or when I am sure, that is the best lens choice I need. I travel a lot and it is big problem to carry everything in the plane and worry each time about it. I photograph every living thing from the tiny one to the big one. I love bird photography a lot. So can you advice me if I should go ahead and buy the 400mm or wait for the new 600mm? I know the 400mm would be more useful for big animals, but is it good for the tiny birds? I know we can use teleconverter, but I also want the best photo quality. Thanks for giving me your thought. It will help me a lot
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Inquire your retailer about deliveries. I'm told 18-24 months.
 
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Nikon have yet to announce the other long glass in the Z series. There's the 400mm PF, 800mm PF, 600mm f4 and the 200-600mm zoom to come so I'm waiting to see what these will be like until I make a choice. Until then I'm happy to use my 500PF with the FTZ. Works very well on my Z9. The 800mm is the one that interests me the most.
 
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jcgamble said:
You got a lot of heavy stuff. My travel backpack will be a Z9, FTZ II, and 500 f5.6 pf attached, a Z6 II and a 100-400 f4.5-5.6 attached, a TC 14E III and a 24-70 f4. That takes care of all of my wildlife shots, big and small, and some landscape photos as well.
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Thanks for your advice!
Nimi said:
Inquire your retailer about deliveries. I'm told 18-24 months.
Click to expand...
Thank you !
 
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If I could get the 400 f/2.8 S I would do so. I suspect that I can't so I would order it, sell everything and purchase a 500pf and a ftz to tide you over till the 400 f/2.8 arrives. All that f mount glass will lose value over the time that you wait for the 40 f/2.8.
 
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What a great position to be in.
I think you're right keeping the 300mm f/2.8 & D850, but would invest in the 500mm PF lens purely for the weight factor.
Keep us in the loop as to what you decide.
Good luck (y)(y)
 
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The 500pf would be a great lens to carry around, I have it and love it! That said I ordered the 400/2.8TC S and should probably get it very soon now, maybe next week but I'll be on the road. It will be awesome for most things except the small birds assuming you can't get close enough. Using the 100-400 with the new TC-2.0X was amazing to me I never thought a 2X could look decent on a zoom lens. I can only assume it will work better on a prime f2.8 lens. So bottom line is if you want the best possible lens for the smallest possible birds yes the 600 or even the newer 800pf may be best for you. There will be tradeoffs no matter what! If you get the 600 or 800 they may not be optimum for larger birds or animals whereas the 400/2,8 with converters may suffice enough to get a good shot, maybe not the ultimate sharpest possible image. Anyway who ever gets that all the time with one lens?

Just for the record these 2 images are with the 100-400 with the TC 2X converter (800mm) at f11 on the Z9. Perfect, heck no.....usable sure but will be much better on the 400/2.8 with the Z9 where it will be 800mm at f5.6!

backyard020422__0071.jpg
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I think if you find 560/600mm enough then the 400S makes sense. However, if you think you will want 800(840) a lot then waiting on the 600S (which may also have built in TC would be better for smaller birds). Depends which end of the focal length scale you value more...do you want 400/2.8 or will you have that TC engaged all the time? If 400 is going to be too short most of the time then the 600 may be better. However, 400 is going to travel much easier due to shorter length. If the 600 does have TC it is going to be pretty long.
 
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arbitrage said:
I think if you find 560/600mm enough then the 400S makes sense. However, if you think you will want 800(840) a lot then waiting on the 600S (which may also have built in TC would be better for smaller birds). Depends which end of the focal length scale you value more...do you want 400/2.8 or will you have that TC engaged all the time? If 400 is going to be too short most of the time then the 600 may be better. However, 400 is going to travel much easier due to shorter length. If the 600 does have TC it is going to be pretty long.
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Any idea on how much length that converter will add? They seem like they shortened the 400 a little and may do same with the 600 but yeah for sure will not be short for travel.
 
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gdecamp said:
Any idea on how much length that converter will add? They seem like they shortened the 400 a little and may do same with the 600 but yeah for sure will not be short for travel.
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I would look at the length of the 400E compared to the 400S. Then that would probably be the same for the 600E and 600S. If the 400S is shortened from the 400E then that is great and then the 600 would likely be shortened a little from the 600E despite the internal TC.
 
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As I switched over to mirrorless, I sold my 300 mm F mount. I have the 70-200 mm f/2.8 S and the Z TC14 usually mounted on my Z7 ii. Together this isa 98 - 280 zoom at f/4. For deer sized animals, this combination is just right for reasonably close critters. I have the 500 mm f/5.6 PF mounted on my Z9. Good enough for almost everything. The song birds can be a bit tough to get. I love the 500 mm lens on sunny days, but we don't have many sunny days in Washington State. I have the 400 mm f/2.8 TC14 on order. 400 mm at f/2.8, 560 mm at f/4 and 780 mm at f/5.6 adding the TC1.4 externally. I'm not sure if image quality would be OK with the external TC. 580 mm at f/4 will let me shoot on a lot more days without pumping up the ISO quite so far.
 
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Patrick M said:
The z 1.4xTC reportedly shows no degradation of IQ. The z 2xTC softens a little. For my use on a z6, the 2x on the z70-200 is very sharp still.
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I agree that using the TC 1.4, even larger size prints are excellent. I tried the TC 2.0. but did not keep it. For on-line viewing, it was more than good enough. Softness showed up enough to bother me with larger prints. Other may find the performance with the 2.0 good enough for their work.
 
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Thanks for you All! Your reply helped me to make my choice. I don't want to buy the 500mm PF since it is, if I am not wrong, F mount lens. I want from now on buy Z mount lens. Between waiting for the 600mm F/4 Z or getting now the 400mm Z f/2.8, it is better for me to get the last one. With it internal 1.4 TC i can get close to 600mm F/4 and at the same time will be more useful with big animals and with low light. Maybe later on, if the 800mm PF is affordable, I can added it to my equipment. We will see. So Yesterday, I ordered the 400mm. I know, I won't get it before 6 month as my dealer told me but I think it is worth the wait.
I do really appreciate all your comments and I very happy to be part of this wonderful group of helpful Photographer. Big thanks for Steve for this Forum!
 
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Activert said:
Hey Photographers! I need some advice. I just received my Z9 and its my first mirorless camera. I have 3 DSLR body camera and some F mounted lenses: 500mm F4, 300mm F2.8, 70-200 mm f2.8 and macro and wide angle. I am thinking to sell all my lenses and my DSLR except the 300 mm F2.8 and my D850. I am really interested in the new 400mm S F2.8 . I wanted to order it this week or when I am sure, that is the best lens choice I need. I travel a lot and it is big problem to carry everything in the plane and worry each time about it. I photograph every living thing from the tiny one to the big one. I love bird photography a lot. So can you advice me if I should go ahead and buy the 400mm or wait for the new 600mm? I know the 400mm would be more useful for big animals, but is it good for the tiny birds? I know we can use teleconverter, but I also want the best photo quality. Thanks for giving me your thought. It will help me a lot
Click to expand...
I'll be keeping my D850 too but my Z9 may eventually replace it.
If you can afford it then the 400mm f2.8 is a great choice - small and powerful.
Being a Z lens the 400mm f2.8 Nikkor could be the sharpest 400mm ever made.
Although i'm not a fan of teleconverters and I haven't tried it yet - others say you can also stack a second teleconverter to the 400mm.🦘
 
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Roy said:
I'll be keeping my D850 too but my Z9 may eventually replace it.
If you can afford it then the 400mm f2.8 is a great choice - small and powerful.
Being a Z lens the 400mm f2.8 Nikkor could be the sharpest 400mm ever made.
Although i'm not a fan of teleconverters and I haven't tried it yet - others say you can also stack a second teleconverter to the 400mm.🦘
Click to expand...
Yes you can stack ie add either the 1.4x or the 2x …. … and if you switch to DX

400 x 1.4 x 2.0 x 1.5 is a whopping 1680mm

Take a look at Matt Irwin‘s latest
 
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RoyC said:
That last 1.5 is not focal length it is angle of view and what is the attraction in switching to DX in a Z9?
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I agree that the 1.5 is not focal length and people quoting the lens length after crop factor is one of my pet peeves on photography forums and YT videos. I mean why not quote the 1.835x crop FOV, why not the 1.19x, or why not the 4.5x and really impress us?? Sorry for the rant. The crop factor is just changing FOV...it is arbitrary number based on traditional DX sensor but then Canon uses 1.6x so why not quote that all the time? The crop factor has no context unless combined with the pixel density of the sensor. It is such a meaningless metric and really means nothing in the end because you can do that in post to any crop factor you so choose.

But, now back to why you'd want to shoot DX on Z9. Personally, I make use of the DX feature of high-MP FF cameras a lot of the time. The benefits I've found:
1) You get the magnified view in EVF or LCD that allows you to see better and even pinpoint the AF better
2) On some cameras, the Z9 and R5, going into DX increases the chance of BEAF activation. (not so much on the A1 I've found).
3) Deeper buffer and more files on your memory card
 
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jcgamble said:
You got a lot of heavy stuff. My travel backpack will be a Z9, FTZ II, and 500 f5.6 pf attached, a Z6 II and a 100-400 f4.5-5.6 attached, a TC 14E III and a 24-70 f4. That takes care of all of my wildlife shots, big and small, and some landscape photos as well.
Click to expand...
For most of my trips, I ditch carrying the backpack and instead load them onto the base of a component baby stroller or a baby jogger that also holds my tripod, water and a folding chair.
 
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Image below refers to how the image is framed on a FX vs DX sensor using the same lens on the subject.

The expression I invoke often is Pixels/Duck using D500 and D850 as the cameras, with almost identical coverage of pixels/duck (all else kept equal except crop factor).

I'm less familiar with your #2. What might shooting in DX mode underlie increase "the chance of BEAF activation"? Is this birds-eye mode kicking in i.e. activating, or does it refer to successfully grabbing the eye(s)?

Cropping Factor DX in FX on telephoto lens.jpg
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arbitrage said:
I agree that the 1.5 is not focal length and people quoting the lens length after crop factor is one of my pet peeves on photography forums and YT videos. I mean why not quote the 1.835x crop FOV, why not the 1.19x, or why not the 4.5x and really impress us?? Sorry for the rant. The crop factor is just changing FOV...it is arbitrary number based on traditional DX sensor but then Canon uses 1.6x so why not quote that all the time? The crop factor has no context unless combined with the pixel density of the sensor. It is such a meaningless metric and really means nothing in the end because you can do that in post to any crop factor you so choose.

But, now back to why you'd want to shoot DX on Z9. Personally, I make use of the DX feature of high-MP FF cameras a lot of the time. The benefits I've found:
1) You get the magnified view in EVF or LCD that allows you to see better and even pinpoint the AF better
2) On some cameras, the Z9 and R5, going into DX increases the chance of BEAF activation. (not so much on the A1 I've found).
3) Deeper buffer and more files on your memory card
Click to expand...
 
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