Nikon 200-500mm/f5.6 E Shipping in Taiwan

<p>Saw a link to this Taiwanese blog (in traditional Chinese): http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=248&t=4525712&p=1<br>

The blogger received his 200-500mm/f5.6 on September 5. There are a lot of questions back and forth. So far the blogger is happy with the lens.</p>

<p>In the US, Nikon is scheduled to start shipping on September 17, which is 10 days from now. So hopefully there won't be any delay.</p>

<p>Glad to hear the blogger likes it. The most important thing to me is to see it sharp at 500mm.</p>

<p>Got an update from B&H a few days ago that it is still "out of stock" - well they never had any stock to begin with. ;-)</p>

<p>PS - Just read it. And now the guy is thinking of selling his 80-400mm? No way! Wonder which version he meant.</p>

<p>Why am i not aloud to post here?????????</p>

 

<p>Huh!!!???</p>

I called my local store at 9am the morning after the new lens announcement, as soon as the store opened. I visited the

store a couple of weeks later, and I found out that I was like #15 on the waiting list. Hopefully I'll be able to get one soon.

This is likely going to be a very popular lens for amateur sports and wildlife photographers.

The blogger seem to say the lens is better than the 80-400.

 

I was just at B&H yesterday. Even their Nikon rep havae still never seen the lens in person. So it definitely hasn't arrived

here in the states yet.

<p>It looks good. Shun, is there a comparison between 150-600 Tamron and Sigma's "C" here non PN or elsewhere ? Sure, it would be nice to compare the Nikon 200-500 to the two above, as well. Just curious.<br>

Les</p>

 

<p>This large JPEG of a pigeon looks pretty good: http://attach.mobile01.com/attach/201509/mobile01-41f71a565cbd553454420e6c5936632d.jpg<br>

although his lighting is on the harsh side. And clearly depth of field is still pretty shallow even @ f5.6. The head of the pigeon is sharp, but the body is already way outside of the depth of field.</p>

<p><br />A few months ago, I had some small interest in the Tamron 150-600mm/f6.3 lens, but that lens is big and I don't trust any lens whose maximum aperture is below f5.6. With this new Nikon 200-500mm/f5.6 E lens, I wouldn't consider those Tamron and Sigma options at all.</p>

<p>I believe within the next 2, 3 years, Nikon will provide mirrorless options for its sports and action cameras, and that will come with a different mount that has no mechanical aperture control. Obviously there will be adapters to mount our old F-mount lenses, but any non-E lens is going to require an adapter that has a built-in motor to control the aperture mechanism, similar to the current FT1 adapter for Nikon 1 mirrorless. Any further investment on non-E lenses, especially the long teles, will likely lead to a lot of inconvenience down the road.</p>

If the mirrorless body requires an adaptor, then E lenses will be in much the same shoes as any other f-mounted lenses.

But if the adaptor can support all current lens functions, and the new system/adaptor allows existing lenses to be used

with their intended field of view (ie basically the same sensor size), then I don't think the inconvenience would be very

great.

<p>Chuck, there are a lot of way Nikon can play this. Recall that Sigma now offers to convert the mount on some of their new lenses so that you can switch among Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc.? Potentially Nikon could do the same thing, e.g. you pay $200 and they'll convert your E lenses into the future mirrorless mount, a bit similar to the AI conversion from 1977 and on.</p>

<p>Any adapter that includes a motor inside is going to be big and will consume battery power, not good for those small mirrorless batteries.</p>

<p>Another issue is FPS. One of the reasons that Nikon uses electromagnetic aperture control is to improve aperture control at high frame rate. Currently even the Canon 1DX, Nikon D4S, etc. are limited to 11, 12 fps due to the mirror. In a couple of years 20 fps, 30 fps could be common and the mechanical aperture control may not be up to the task. Meanwhile, you still would like to open the aperture between frames for better AF performance.</p>

<p>Now in 2015, I would stay away from 1959 mechanical technology if you shoot sports and wildlife. I believe I have purchased my last non-E lens in 2014. If you mainly shoot landscape or studio stuffs, maybe you don't need to be concerned about E at this point.</p>

<p><em>If the mirrorless body requires an adaptor, then E lenses will be in much the same shoes as any other f-mounted lenses.</em></p>

<p>Precisely. Any adapter that Nikon makes will have to support all AF-S Nikkors, and preferably most other F mount lenses as well. Otherwise Nikon will lose any customer confidence they had left. Without full compatibility with most older lenses in new cameras, Nikon would likely quickly lose most of their DSLR customers and risk bankruptcy.</p>

Shun, Sigma lenses were likely always structurally designed to be easily adaptable to all three major mounts, so as to

minimize the cost of offering each lens with three different mount options. This is likely why it is easy to convert a sigma

lens from one mount to another.

 

For Nikon, canon and Sony/Minolta, that is probably not the case. Their lenses were probably structurally optimized for

their own mounts, and we're not designed with easy conversion to another mount in mind.

 

I don't think any adaptor with a stepper motor for the aperture lever would have to be particularly big. I believe it would

only be a little bigger than the Nikon 1 adaptor.

 

I think the requirement for fast acting aperture only applies to SLR. it would not apply to mirrorless bodies. This is

because accuracy of contrast detection AF is indifferent to aperture size. Only phase detection AF needs a wide open

aperture for best performance. A mirrorless body that relies on contrast detection focus can operate in aperture stop

down mode with no ill effect.

<p>Ilkka, nobody says Nikon will stop supporting old F-mount lenses. However, now in 2015, it will be much easier to integrate all electronic connections than marrying some 1959-style mechanical connections to modern electronic cameras. With Nikon adding 6 new E lenses in the first 8 months of 2015, the transition is well under way.</p>

<p>If the 200-500mm is as sharp as the 80-400mm AFS, and as quick to focus, I and probably a lot of others would switch. However, I have doubts that the new lens will be better. I was using the 80-400mm AFS daily in Yellowstone last month, and it was excellent! I'll wait to see how DxO etc. rate it. I won't dump the 80-40mm AFS until I see some solid measurements. I think the slightly faster aperture potentially does give Nikon a big edge over the Sigma and Tamron.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>I am really anticipating this lens. I have not ordered one yet as I want to see how it stacks up against the 80-400mm and the Sigma 150-600mm though I have not seen very many reviews about the sigma 150-600 C or S. </p>

<p>I am in need of a new telephoto and my three options right now are the Sigma 150-600 Sport, Nikon 80-400mm, and the new Nikon 200-500mm.</p>

<p>I noticed that a large online store in Finland had received four copies of the 200-500 today, so the lenses are shipping.</p>

<p>Thanks Ilkka. The main message I got from the earlier shipment in Taiwan is that apparently the 200-500mm is not delayed like the 24-70mm/f2.8 E AF-S VR. But a "large" online store only got four of them? The 200-500mm is priced to sell in fairly large numbers. I am kind of concerned that there will be shortage for a few months.</p>

<p>The verkkokauppa.com store is large compared to the size of my country (we only have 5 million people), but of course they're not of the same scale as the big NYC camera stores. They have a nice camera department (i.e. you can see demo copies of most of the high end lenses by each major manufacturer) but they also sell home appliances, computers etc. so they're not specialized to cameras only. What is nice about verkkokauppa.com's web site is that they show how many lenses are in stock (minus the number of orders they have received) and the dates when they have received and sold lenses. They still have two unfulfilled preorders for the 200-500/5.6 Nikkor (the number of lenses in stock reads -2, while yesterday it was -6). I think in a short while they should have fulfilled all the preorders and I can go and have a look at the lens in their demo shelf.</p>

<p>I think when a lens is new, Nikon ship out a small number of lenses to each store that has placed an order. In stores which have a large international clientele, such as B&H and Adorama, there might be hundreds of preorders that take a long time to be fullfilled. In smaller stores the situation is easier because they have fewer preorders. For the 24-70/2.8E, verkkokauppa.com have 8 preorders. However, the easiest place for me to get a new Nikon lens has been a small local store - they often get a couple of samples really early and usually have no preorders or only a few (and their prices are highly competitive). On the other hand these small stores cannot hold large inventory over the long term so once the initial demand has been fulfilled, they don't have most specialized lenses in stock whereas it is easy to find such lenses at B&H or other very large stores at that time.</p>

<p>Here is a review of the 200-500</p>

<p>http://www.cyberphoto.se/info.php?article=200500vr</p>

<p>which is in Swedish but you can put the link to Google Translate to read the review (since English and Swedish are part of the same family of languages, the quality of translation is better). All the early reviews I've seen of the 200-500 suggest it is excellent value. This particular review also notes good things about the tripod collar which is a nice surprise.</p>

<p>I suspect if the quality of the lens is consistent with the early reviews, it will be a popular lens. So I would not be surprised if there is shortage. In Finland one thing that holds back orders is that we have a long and dark winter. During this time (October to February) it is difficult to use an f/5.6 supertele. In the summer, there is a lot more light and more opportunities for using such lenses. Nevertheless the camera stores in my area have always had stock of the Sigma and Tamron long zooms even before the latest generation, and at large outdoor events (airshows and outdoor concerts in particular) I often see those in use during the summer, so it is clear that Nikon has missed a fairly significant business opportunity by not making this kind of a lens before. I look forward to seeing how the 200-500/5.6 works in practice. </p>

I notice B&H still hasn't taken it off of pre-order

<blockquote>

<p>I notice B&H still hasn't taken it off of pre-order</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That is pretty much meaningless. The 300mm/f4 E PF AF-S VR is also still on pre-order from B&H, as it has been in the last 8 months or so: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1111442-REG/nikon_2223_af_s_nikkor_300mm_f_4e.html</p>

<p>Meanwhile, as of the time I am posting this, Amazon has 6 in stock: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-AF-S-NIKKOR-300MM-4E/dp/B00RUBKAS4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442533614&sr=8-1&keywords=nikon+300mm+f4</p>

<p>Hmmm, I would think that is not an oversight by B&H's web master. Has anyone bought the 300E from B&H? Is Nikon distribution network favoring retail channels other than B&H in the allotment of initially limited supply of new products?</p>

It just means they have so many orders for the 300/4 that they haven't had a situation yet where the nunber of lenses they have exceeds the number of unfulfilled orders.

<p>According to this thread over on DPReview, it looks like a bunch of folks who placed their pre-orders early with B&H are getting notifications that their lenses are on their way: http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56490768</p>

<p>So it looks like B&H is getting a fairly large initial shipment in this case, unlike the 300mm/f4 E PF. Early this year, I asked B&H to notify me when that 300mm PF is in stock, and I have never received any notification. So apparently that lens has never been in stock at B&H. My impression is that Nikon is shipping the 300mm PF in small numbers, partly affected by the VR issue early on. However, last month I managed to just walk into my local store and bought 1 of the 2 they had on the shelf, and Amazon has it in stock on and off. I am glad that availability for the 200-500mm seems to be much better.</p>

<p>I have received a notice from B&H dated Friday 9/18/15, that the 200-500mm lens has been shipped; and the scheduled arrival date is 9/21/15 (Monday). </p>

<p>There seems to be adequate supply all around for the 200-500mm. Anticipating long waiting lists at B&H and Adorama, I had called another trusted online store on 9/8 and was told that they had a fairly short waiting list, so I pre-ordered on the same day. I received email notification on 9/17 that my lens had shipped via UPS and that I should get it mid-week. I'll probably take it out for a spin late next week at a couple of local birding sites.</p>