informations on Nikkor Ais 200/400:4 ED

[massimo_benenti]

I'm writing from Italy (sorry, my English is not very good)and I am

an enthusiast of nature photography.

I would like to know if anyone could tell me how the Nikkor Ais

200/400:4 ED works . I already own a 500:4 P and I think that the

zoom would be perfect fit. in the past i used a Nikkor Ais 50/300:4.5

ED but I wasn't really satisfied.

I hope someone will give me some information because here in Europe

is almost an unknown lens. Thanks a lot.

Massimo Benenti

[drc]

This lens has been discontinued for many years Massimo, i have seen a couple and they are big, heavy, very expensive and even harder to find. The lens is extremely sharp wide open, and every person that i have met that has owned one raves about its versatility and optical ability. Photographer Art Wolfe had one, you might find information in one of his older books about this lens. Good luck.

[birdsofearth]

<A HREF='http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00034w'>read this for a previous 200-400 discussion!</A><P>

I guess it will be very difficult to find and get feedback from a person who has actually used this lens!

[william_deaton]

I saw an ad (January 2000 or Dec 1999) in Shutterbug for a used 200-400 f/4 for $8,500 (or close to it). Sorry I don't remember who had it. Sounds like a great, but large and heavy, lens.

[george_hager]

I used one of these lenses for a number of years. It is extremely sharp, even with a TC-14. The zoom allowed me to get pictures that fixed length lenses would not have. That said, it is a heavy, akward and poorly balanced lens. Contrast is not all that great. Focusing is next to impossible because there is no internal focus. You have to move 8 pounds of glass and infinity to minimum focus is only about 260 degrees. It took me and others I have spoken with, 1-2 years just to learn how to focus this beast.

If you are young enough to carry it, rich enough to buy it, and have good enough eyes to focus it, this lens is capable of great results. I wish there was a modern autofocus zoom lens in this range that could compare optically to the old Nikor, but I have not seen one.

 

What happened to mine? I sold it to Art Wolfe!

[Brian P Bower CamraScapes]

I've been a satisfied user of this lens for 9 years. When used with the gimble type wimberley head, the balance and handling is superb.

I had the 500 F4P lens but I traded up to a 600 F4 because it was too close to the 200~400 range. Now I use the 800 F5.6 with the 200~400.

Nikon has just announced the introduction of a 80~400 F4.5/5.6, lens. This could be a great alternative to trying to find the older 200~400 F4 ED. Go to this site to look over this lens. http://www.klt.co.jp/Nikon/Press_Release/vrlens.html Price unknown.

I'll be glad to answer any questions you have about this lens.

Take care, Brian

[bill_oneill]

Geroge, there is an autofocus zoom lens made today that (almost) covers the range of the 200-400 AND the 1.4TC! Pentax have a 250-600/5.6 ED IF that is razor sharp wide open. It is even cheaper brand new than the 200-400 is used. The only draw-back is the 1 stop loss from 250-400 which might be more than made up for by being able to go all the way to 600 without stopping to put a TC on. I know it is not compatible with a Nikon body, but for less than $500 (a pittance when compared to the cost of these lenses) you can add a PZ-1p and leave them permanently mated and ready to go. BTW, the PZ-1p is an absolutely fantastic bargain at its current price.

 

No, I don't work for Pentax, and I do own Nikon, so I'm not product bashing or pushing. Just suggesting a good viable alternative.

[sjhein]

FYI, I just noticed this morning that Del's Camera in Santa Barbara, California has one of these listed in 9- condition:

 

200-400 f4.0 ED AIS very very rare (9-) $6450

(122x) Big and heavy but very sharp, fast, and flexible: works great with TC-14B and TC-301 converters; you can have 200-800 without removing the lens from the tripod.

 

http://www.delscam.com

 

Good Luck,

-Scott

[ken_hawk]

As you have allready heard, the Nikkor 200-400 mm 4.0 ED is not available any more. You better check out the new Nikkor VR ED 80-400 mm 4.5-5.6 on any Nikon site (www.nikon.co.uk for example). This newest lens has the VR technology which is similar to the IS technology from Canon. Prices are not yet available but it sure is a very good lens. The only thing is that you will need an Nikon F80/F100/F5 or a D1 camera to get it working. If you don't have any of these camera's the F80 is also one of the newest camera's and not all that expensive. Again check it out at www.nikon.co.uk .

[richard_debari]

Sigma has just released a new Super Zoom, the AF 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO EX RF HSM. It is available in an HSM version for Canon and Nikon! I had the priviledge to try an early store demo of this lens a few days ago on a Canon EOS 3. This lens looks real nice. Lots of metal and well built. The images appear sharp and contrasty and the autofocus is quite fast due to the HSM focusing motor. Having a 50-500(10-1) zoom range is mind boggling at first and one really sees the great photographic possiblities unfold. It is a heavy(4 lbs) and long(13.7" fully racked out to 500mm)lens but marginally handholdable. This may be a reasonably priced alternative to the 200-400 and with the addition of fast autofocus. I was told the street price will be around $1199. http://www.sigmaphoto.com/html/news/pixb_50-500mm.htm

 

PS: I haven't seen the new Nikkor 80-400AF yet but it may be another one to consider, if the price is right(no focusing motor though)...