Which lens is best for my wildlife photography trips? I'm testing the Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II with teleconverters vs. my 200-500mm f/5.6E VR with my Z7 to find out!
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Equipment I used in this video (full list available here: http://www.tapiopix.com/Equipment.html)
Nikon Z7 FX Mirrorless Camera: https://www.nikon.co.uk
Nikon FTZ Adapter: https://www.nikon.co.uk
Nikon AF-S 200-500mm F5.6E ED VR Lens: https://www.nikon.co.uk
Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8G VR II Lens: https://www.nikon.co.uk
Nikon Teleconverter TC14e III: https://www.nikon.co.uk
Nikon Teleconverter TC14e III: https://www.nikon.co.uk
Nikon WR-R10/WR-T10/WR-A10 Wireless Remote System: http://tinyurl.com/3bev4vzp
Ulanzi LED Video Light: http://tinyurl.com/297e9yjk
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Description: I wanted a fast prime lens for low light photography (we're hoping to watch bears in Finland later in the Summer) so I managed to get hold of a Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8G VR II lens second hand. It was always going to be sharper and faster than my old faithful Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E VR lens at 300mm, but I wanted to know how it would compare at 420mm f/4 using the TC14e III 1.4x teleconverter, or at 600mm f/5.6 with the TC20e III 2x teleconverter... Is it worth carrying the extra weight and having the faff of changing teleconverters out in the field, or is the 200-500mm still better in those scenarios? I don't usually do gear testing videos, doing actual wildlife photography is just more fun, but I thought I'd share my findings.
Time-points for the test images so you can easily find them:
00:00 Introduction
05:51 Daylight, 200-500mm @ 300mm f/5.6
05:55 Daylight, 300mm @ f/5.6
05:59 Daylight, 300mm @ f/2.8
06:03 Daylight, 200-500mm @ 420mm f/5.6
06:07 Daylight, 300mm + TC14e III @ 420mm f/4
06:12 Daylight, 200-500mm @ 500mm f/5.6
06:16 Daylight, 300mm + TC20e III @ 600mm f/5.6
06:18 Corner Sharpness, 200-500mm @ 500mm f/5.6
06:20 Corner Sharpness, 200-500mm @ 500mm f/8
06:22 Corner Sharpness, 300mm + TC20e III @ 600mm f/5.6
06:24 Corner Sharpness, 300mm + TC20e III @ 600mm f/8
06:28 Low Light, 200-500mm @ 300mm f/5.6
06:32 Low Light, 300mm @ f/5.6
06:37 Low Light, 300mm @ f/2.8
06:41 Low Light, 200-500mm @ 420mm f/5.6
06:45 Low Light, 300mm + TC14e III @ 420mm f/4
06:49 Low Light, 200-500mm @ 500mm f/5.6
06:53 Low Light, 300mm + TC20e III @ 600mm f/5.6
06:57 Low Light, 300mm + TC20e III @ 600mm f/5.6 1sec exposure
07:04 Table of autofocus lock-on speeds
The bottom line in my opinion is that there's no clear winner to this test for all scenarios. The 300mm f/2.8G VR II is optically superior, even with the teleconverters, but the autofocus speed suffers badly with the 2x. It is also heavier and TCs make it more complicated to use, so for opportunistic walk-around shooting the 200-500mm f/5.6E VR is probably better. However, the the sharper images and the faster aperture (or more reach with the 2x converter) mean that the big prime is going to be better for fixed locations and low light.
Disclaimer: Results are likely to vary between different camera bodies, especially for the autofocus speed tests. I don’t have any other camera bodies to test with so I can’t comment.
Please like, share and leave a comment and let me know what you enjoyed / found useful, or suggest where I could improve for next time. If you don’t like it, feel free to hit the dislike button twice 😉 Don't worry, I'm not turning into a gear review channel - more wildlife photography vlogs from the Scottish Highlands featuring mountain hares, seals, divers and deer coming up in the next two weeks... just as soon as I find time to edit all the footage! Cheers!
You can find more of my photographs on my website at www.tapiopix.com - the site has just been reconstructed and went online in December 2018. Also, check out my Facebook / tapiopix and Instagram / tapiopix
Music: "Lots of Candy" by Ian Post & "Last Countdown to the End" by Mikki Aglaganov. Music from https://www.artlist.io & https://www.epidemicsound.com
#nikon30028vrii #nikon200500 #wildlifephotography #behindthescenes #nikonz7 #lenstesting #teleconverters
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