Nikon 500mm PF

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Adam
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Has anyone on here actually got one yet if so what’s your thoughts, seems to still be pre-order everywhere still even worse than when the 300PF came out?
 
I have two, with more on order.
 
If they get a 600 f5.6 coming then I will get one but with the flexibility of the 200-500 I have then I don’t see to many benefits for myself in getting a 500f5.6 prime
. I have a 600f4 just now so a 5.6 could save me a lot of size and weight when travelling.
 
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If they get a 600 f5.6 coming then I will get one but with the flexibility of the 200-500 I have then I don’t see to many benefits for myself in getting a 500f5.6 prime
. I have a 600f4 just now so a 5.6 could save me a lot of size and weight when travelling.
600mm f/4 G - 445mm long, 5.06 kg
600mm f/4 E - 432mm, 3.81 kg

500mm f/4 G - 391mm, 3.88 kg
500mm f/4 E - 387mm, 3.09 kg

500mm f/5.6 PF - 237mm, 1.46 kg

200-500mm f/5.6 - 267mm, 2.09 kg

The 500 PF really is astonishingly small and light. If they could make a 600mm f/5.6 PF, I estimate that it would be about the same size and weight as the 200-500.
 
600mm f/4 G - 445mm long, 5.06 kg
600mm f/4 E - 432mm, 3.81 kg

500mm f/4 G - 391mm, 3.88 kg
500mm f/4 E - 387mm, 3.09 kg

500mm f/5.6 PF - 237mm, 1.46 kg

200-500mm f/5.6 - 267mm, 2.09 kg

The 500 PF really is astonishingly small and light. If they could make a 600mm f/5.6 PF, I estimate that it would be about the same size and weight as the 200-500.


That would suit me, the 200-500 is a good light weight sharp lens for the money. The zoom is priceless for me but nothing beats the 600f4 for quality so would keep my lenses and add in a 600f5.6 if brought out.
 
I've been waiting since December for one. Starting to feel like I'll never get one.

Gary
It is not good that's for sure, spoke to a couple of the bigger mainstream suppliers and first one said they are lucky to get 1-2 per major Nikon shipment so could not give a date for availability, the second who were great when the 300 PF's came out and were like rocking horse sh*te said "Thanks for the email and really sorry do not have any dates at all so not even able to say if we will get them within 3 or 4 months"
 
It is not good that's for sure, spoke to a couple of the bigger mainstream suppliers and first one said they are lucky to get 1-2 per major Nikon shipment so could not give a date for availability, the second who were great when the 300 PF's came out and were like rocking horse sh*te said "Thanks for the email and really sorry do not have any dates at all so not even able to say if we will get them within 3 or 4 months"

I moved from shooting Canon for 30 years to Nikon specifically for this lens. I was having really bad elbow and arm problems and using my Canon 500 MM F4 Mk2 was becoming a serious problem for me. I'm coming up to my 4th trip away without the PF and it's frustrating the crap out of me (especially with having paid full price for the lens when ordering it). It's taking all my willpower to not just say sod it and cancelling the order and picking up a 500 F4 G. If I do that I might as wall have just stayed with Canon. Grrrrrr.

I was at No4 on the list when I ordered and now at No3.

Gary
 
It's taking all my willpower to not just say sod it and cancelling the order and picking up a 500 F4 G. If I do that I might as wall have just stayed with Canon. Grrrrrr.
It's worse than that.

Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4 G ED VR ..... 3.88 kg
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS II USM ..... 3.19 kg

Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS III USM ..... 3.05 kg
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS III USM ..... 2.5 kg possibly? (My estimate based on what canon have done with the 400/2.8 III and 600 III.)
 
It's worse than that.

Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4 G ED VR ..... 3.88 kg
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS II USM ..... 3.19 kg

Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS III USM ..... 3.05 kg
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS III USM ..... 2.5 kg possibly? (My estimate based on what canon have done with the 400/2.8 III and 600 III.)

Thankfully the weight of the 500 G is what has stopped me cancelling the order. Knowing what I know now if I could turn back the clock to December I wouldn't be swapping systems. The D850/D500 are great but the lenses have left me very disappointed. The Nikon 24-70 is no match for my old Canon 24-70 F2.8 Mk2. The 16-35 F4 and Tamron 15-35 F2.8 G2 aren't on the same page as my Canon 16-35 F4 was. The Nikon 200-500 also doesn't stack up very well against my Canon 100-400 Mk2 (haven't tried the Nikon 80-400 but most people seem to prefer the 200-500 anyway). The Nikon 70-200 F2.8 is the only lens that I don't feel like I've lost anything over the Canon 70-200 F2.8 Mk2. I'm just hoping the 500 PF turns out to be as good as most people make it out to be and pray that another 24-70 comes along that offers better quality at the wide end than the one that I have.

Gary
 
It's worse than that.

Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4 G ED VR ..... 3.88 kg
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS II USM ..... 3.19 kg

Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS III USM ..... 3.05 kg
Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS III USM ..... 2.5 kg possibly? (My estimate based on what canon have done with the 400/2.8 III and 600 III.)

Should you not compare the Canon 500 IS II USM with the newer Nikon 500 FL ? which is 3.09kg ? that aside still incredibly frustrating when they launch a new lens with such limited stocks and the balance between "hyping it up" and upsetting customers is a fine balance
 
Should you not compare the Canon 500 IS II USM with the newer Nikon 500 FL ?
Well maybe, but Gary did specifically say he was tempted to pick up "a 500 F4 G".

that aside still incredibly frustrating when they launch a new lens with such limited stocks and the balance between "hyping it up" and upsetting customers is a fine balance
Agreed. And it's not as if Nikon don't have previous on this score, either.
 
Having just had my monthly check up to see how my order is proceeding (still No3 on the list) I have been informed that Nikon have temporarily stopped production of the 300PF so that they can try and increase supply of the 500PF. Here's hoping.

Gary
Ah that explains why that seems to be out of stock at some locations now, good news hopefully if they really can ramp up production now
 
Just had a look at some images from them on Flickr due to reading this thread , looks like one to be watched
 
I've got a couple more of these on order, and the other day I asked my supplier how the supply situation was looking. The answer was that I'm currently 30th on their list, and they're getting about 2 per month.....
 
I've got a couple more of these on order, and the other day I asked my supplier how the supply situation was looking. The answer was that I'm currently 30th on their list, and they're getting about 2 per month.....
WOW that's not good !! no wonder they trying to ramp up manufacturing
 
My lens finally arrived today after ordering in January. A week late for the Air Tattoo but just in time for a 10 day road trip to inc. The Silverstone Classic, Heathrow,RAF Lakenheath and then the BTCC at Snetterton. Looking forward to giving it a good test.

Gary
Look forward to initial reports :)
 
My lens finally arrived today after ordering in January. A week late for the Air Tattoo but just in time for a 10 day road trip to inc. The Silverstone Classic, Heathrow,RAF Lakenheath and then the BTCC at Snetterton. Looking forward to giving it a good test.

Gary
Hey any feedback yet :)
 
I'm still away atm but have taken a lot of images with the lens over the weekend. The handling is excellent and feels much better to use than the 200-500 that I have been using while waiting for the 500 PF to arrive. The IS seems to work very good - better than the 200-500 and much better than the 70-200 F2.8 VR2. One of my main concerns was how it would handle the 1.4 tcon. I have been pleasantly surprised. The images look sharp and the AF worked better than expected (for motorsport). I found the 200-500 unusable for moving subjects so I breathed a sigh of relief when the 500 PF seemed to work so well. So far so good.

Gary
 
Now back from trip and have to say that the 500 PF was a pleasure to use and a lot easier to carry about than the Canon 500 F4's that I've been using for the last 4 or 5 years. I would actually go as far as saying that my keeper rate is up compared to what I would normally expect when using the 500 F4's. That is down to being able to hand hold the lens continuously rather than needing to put a 500 F4 on to a monopod or gimbal for prolonged shooting (which I always end up doing for motorsport). I'm much smoother hand holding compared to a monopod or tripod with gimbal.
I was really interested to see how the lens would handle when shooting through catch fencing at places like Donington Park and Silverstone. I was pleasantly surprised and it seemed to be almost as good as the 500 F4's. The AF worked as good as I've been used to with the only downside being the fence being slightly more visible in the shots when the sun was catching it.
Nikon D500 + 500 PF , ISO 100, 1/200 sec, F8 through catch fencing
i-VQDrXbs-XL.jpg


Nikon D500 + 500 PF , ISO 100, 1/200 sec, F10 through catch fencing
i-SbxrQLZ-XL.jpg


Nikon D850 + 500 PF , ISO 280, 1/1250 sec, F5.6
i-vwwR5VC-XL.jpg


Nikon D500 + 500 PF , ISO 140, 1/200 sec, F5.6
i-7468VTT-XL.jpg


Nikon D500 + 500 PF , ISO 100, 1/200 sec, F11
i-w438Gs9-XL.jpg


Cheers
Gary
 
Trying out the 500PF with the 1.4 Tcon was also a priority. Once again I was pleasantly surprised. The AF took a hit but the IQ was still very good (way better than I had experienced with the Nikon 200-500). Overhall I'm very happy with the purchase and glad that I toughed out the wait. A Nikon 500 F4 was nearly in the bag at numerous times during the 6 month wait!

Nikon D500 + 500 PF + 1.4 Tcon , ISO 125, 1/200 sec, F8 Through catch fencing
i-qh6dTKr-XL.jpg


Nikon D500 + 500 PF + 1.4 Tcon , ISO 1100, 1/640 sec, F8 Through a fence and in very poor light
i-KHvLsHf-XL.jpg


Nikon D500 + 500 PF + 1.4 Tcon , ISO 320, 1/200 sec, F8
i-d6qDfGJ-XL.jpg


Nikon D500 + 500 PF + 1.4 Tcon , ISO 320, 1/320 sec, F8
i-3WhxL6m-XL.jpg


Nikon D850 + 500 PF + 1.4 Tcon , ISO 560, 1/400 sec, F8 - Not the best picture in the world but taken at long distance in very poor conditions. I wanted to see how the lens resolved from a long way away. Definitely impressed considering it was wide open and had a tcon attached. If anyone knows Heathrow airport the shot was shot from 27R of a plane taking off on 09R-a huge distance away.
i-WcgXWmf-XL.jpg


Nikon D850 + 500 PF + 1.4 Tcon , ISO 1000, 1/400 sec, F8 Same conditions as above with the weather slightly poorer.
i-ZjmGCG3-XL.jpg


Gary
 
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Well finally pulled the trigger on one, we move recently onto Exmoor so been busy getting the house how we wanted it, just waiting on woodburner in the next week or so (need it as snowed last night !) build a little bird feeding corner in the garden so really looking forward to getting back to taking some images soon :)
 
Back to the drawing board as supplier let me down, claimed the one they had was faulty so could not send it out *rolleyes*
 
Back to the drawing board as supplier let me down, claimed the one they had was faulty so could not send it out *rolleyes*
Disappointing ... they seem like hen's teeth unfortunately :(
 
Disappointing ... they seem like hen's teeth unfortunately :(
They certainly do :( I tried Cameraworld first as they showed stock but pushed hard on phone to make them check stock and low and behold they came back saying actually we do not actually have stock, next was an online retailer who said they had stock so I paid, waited the time they kept saying I had to wait then a few days after their quoted timeline and me chasing they said we will refund you as the lens came in and was faulty so cannot send it
 
Out of interest, I'm thinking of a long lens for the Z's and was looking at either the 200-500 F5.6 zoom or the 500mm F5.6 PF prime. At current pricing (as of today's date) - the cheapest in the UK for both (according to camera price buster) is £969 for the 200-500 (even cheaper Grey) and £3,699.00 for the prime.

I know the 200-500 is a little bigger and heavier than the 500, and being a prime, the 500 is no doubt going to be a little sharper than the 200-500 (which by all accounts is still excellent), but what justifies the 3.5x price for the prime ? They are both the same constant aperture, both have VR and I know the prime will probably be a little quicker to focus, and has weather sealing (that the zoom officially doesn't) but is it really worth 3.5x the price ?
 
Partly GAS there is no denying it and demand drives price but it doesn’t sound much different in weight but it does make a real difference as does since the 200-00 at full zoom is quite long but the 500 PF is size of 70-200 and fits nicely in bag too, don’t get me wrong the 200-500 is really impressive for its money and I’ve had great shots with it but the 300pf was so much nicer to carry and ended up using it far more even on a quick short walk for which I’m sure the 500PF would be same
 
Out of interest, I'm thinking of a long lens for the Z's and was looking at either the 200-500 F5.6 zoom or the 500mm F5.6 PF prime. At current pricing (as of today's date) - the cheapest in the UK for both (according to camera price buster) is £969 for the 200-500 (even cheaper Grey) and £3,699.00 for the prime.

I know the 200-500 is a little bigger and heavier than the 500, and being a prime, the 500 is no doubt going to be a little sharper than the 200-500 (which by all accounts is still excellent), but what justifies the 3.5x price for the prime ? They are both the same constant aperture, both have VR and I know the prime will probably be a little quicker to focus, and has weather sealing (that the zoom officially doesn't) but is it really worth 3.5x the price ?
Also should have said I’ve thought about the z with adaptor and 300pf as think it would make a great combo as in summer close up photography would be great with something so neat and small with long reach
 
I know the 200-500 is a lot bigger and heavier than the 500, and being a prime, the 500 is no doubt going to be a lot sharper than the 200-500 (which by all accounts is still excellent), but what justifies the 3.5x price for the prime ? They are both the same constant aperture, both have VR and I know the prime will probably be a lot quicker to focus, and has weather sealing (that the zoom officially doesn't) but is it really worth 3.5x the price ?

I've edited what you wrote. Perhaps the question isn't so difficult now?
 
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