Decisions, decisions

[aftertherain]

I'm hoping to buy a lens for wildlife photography.
My two contenders are the Nikon 500mm f4 and the Nikon 200-400mm f4.
It will have to be a secondhand lens so I'm guessing the 500mm won't have VR but I can't hand hold anyway.

At the moment I have a half share in a 400mm f2.8 a superb lens but, I'm not strong enough to haul it about (arthritic wrists)

Has anyone used both of the contender lenses, I'm leaning towards the 200-400mm because it weighs less and it has a close focus distance of 2m.
I'd like to hear what your experiences of these lenses are please.

[marvin]

hi

hope this helps.

Expensive kit doesn't buy you good photo's, but...

cheers
tim

[aftertherain]

Thanks for that, I'm also using a Tamron 200-500mm lens and it's great for shots where the birds are fairly close.
Anything at a distance though and there's no detail.
I'm defiantely veering towards the 200-400mm I do like a zoom lens.
If I can work out the Gallery system here I'll upload a photograph.

[marvin]

hi again

i'm sure you've already seen these too but just in case.

Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G Lens Review by Thom Hogan

NRFOTO Bjrn Rrslett

Nikon 200-400 VR vs Nikon 500 f4 - PlanetNikon Forum

some interesting stuff to consider. good luck with your decision. looking forward to seeing the results.

tim

[aftertherain]

Thanks that was very interesting and useful.

I'm still dithering so I think that hiring both lenses to see how they perform and far I could carry them is the way forward.

I do love using the 400 f2.8 but it's alot of lens to be solely used in a garden hide.

I'm put off a bit by the 500's 4m close focus distance but using it would let me see if that's going to be a problem.

I did own the Nikon 80-400 but that hunted continuously even on a bright day, so was sold.

I really need to get it right this time around.