AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR

I bought this lens from a friend who wanted to purchase a 200-500 for Birds. I am a nature photographer so the big zoom range, lightweight, compact body was a major attraction. Since the day I received the lens I was impressed. I use it in conjunction with my 300 f2.8 vr2 that I always use with the TC 2.0iii. The image quality is very good, light to use, very flexible, great as a hiking lens. I shoot day events, family shoots and sport with it. On a recent trip to Kruger National Park in South Africa, I was restricted to take 1 camera and 2 ´´lightweight´´ lenses. I took the 24-120 f4 and the 80-400 with D810. Coming back from the trip I seriously questioned some of my equipment choices. It is a very good lens. I have a very good copy and is sharp, focus is fantastic. The first lens I pack for a trip.

Bought this lens as an upgrade to my 55-300mm. Only negative thing about it, it´s quite heavy but worth it. It´s great at any distance and amazing for wildlife, I get that extra reach that I needed. I don´t use a tripod much but I do handheld quite a bit and this lens sure holds up to it.
It´s worth the money, pricey but in the long run you´ll have some amazing photos. After reading reviews and some research I´m glad I bought this lens. It is my go to lens. I would definitely recommend buying this if you are thinking about it, it´s a great investment.

I purchased this lens from Samy´s camera. I bought the Demo version with some reservations, however the lens has impressed from the start! WOW!!!! Every photo looks Amazing! The VR option works Fantastic when the camera and lens is hand held. Checkout the following photos taken on my first afternoon with my new lens. I am not a Professional photographer but really enjoy the hobby!

I got this lens two months ago and I absolutely love it. It´s just the right weight for me to carry around for a good 6 hours hike (I´m a pretty small girl) and its reach gives me a good composition to work with. However, there are some problems with it - the main one being its inconsistent autofocus. Sometimes the autofocus can be spot on and accurate, but other times the lens stops focusing altogether and I end up missing the shot.

I Bought the lens for its range and size. I shoot 90% of my nature and wildlife from an SUV here in Southern Africa. I also own a 300 f2.8 vr2 that I use with TC´s. Love this lens. But I needed a zoom with great range on a second body. I bought mine used from a dealer in top condition. I shoot this lens on a D4s and D500. In my view it produce better images on the D4s than the D500 as the FX sensor bokeh is better than the DX sensor. I also love this lens at shorter distances. So the combination of this lens on a D4s and the 300 f2.8 any of the TC´s make for a really great high quality wildlife set up. I had my lens calibrated at Nikon with both Bodies and the results are really stunning. during 30 yrs of photography I learned that to many people worry too much about gear. All Nikon products are fantastic, find a combination that works for you and learn to optimise. I am looking at adding the 200-500 f5.6 for bird photography.

I bought a refurbished unit from Nikon. When I received it the lens I was quite surprised of the size and weight. I´m pushing 70 and carrying this around is very tiresome. BUT the images are astounding and when you view them on your computer you forget how heavy it is. I´ll post a few images so you can see. The egrets and blue herons are approximately 75 feet from where I was standing. The eyes are tack sharp!!

This is a great lens for anyone who wants to be able to get stunning photographs of wildlife. The ease of use is fantastic. Easy to understand user manual, and the lens does what you need it to do, first time, every time. 80-400mm is a nice, wide range; out at 400 lets you get incredible detail of small and distant subjects. I use a D90 camera with this lens, and everything works, all functions supported. I love the two settings for autofocus, so that if you know your subject is out at greater than 20 ft., set it to the 6m-infinity setting and it autofocuses very quickly. Great for fast-moving birds. It´s still very fast autofocus on the ´´full´´ setting, too. This lens is really worth the price.

I know zoom lenses get softer as the focal length increases, but past 250 mm this lens sharpness is unacceptable. So I invested another $500 in the TC 14E iii, now I have $3,052 with tax into it, not to mention $650 for my gimbal head, but I already had that. With the TC, I can get out to 385 mm before things go south. The difference in sharpness from 250 to 400 is extreme. I bought this through Amazon ´´just in case´´ and I´m glad I did, it´s getting returned.
Too bad Nikon doesn´t make a $3000 400 mm f4.

Got this lens to replace (supplement) my 70-300vr and I am amazed at the sharpness and the VR capabilities. I took it out in the evening for a trial and took a couple of frames in crazy low light just to see if it would work -- I was shocked. I was shooting at 1/3 second with my D610 at ISO 3200 with lens zoomed out to 400mm. You can see the result- (other than tiny back-focus, my bad) no camera movement. Have also done a few nature/bird snaps - so sharp. Only drawback is the size and weight- what you would expect from a professional super-zoom - but still massive.