Nikon 200-400 f/4 VR AF-S

Nikon 200-400VR This is a gorgeous lens! Yeah, you could say I like it!

Targeted to the "nature" photographer market, it takes very little imagination to see the 200-400f4 VR used by any number of photographic genres. I've just finished shooting two weeks with one and I'm very excited to be able to add it to my camera bag!

Does the VR work? Well, the instruction book states that when using the 200-400VR on a tripod, the VR should be turned on. In the beginning, I wasn't really excited about using the VR, I didn't see any better image quality when shooting at 1/20th. Using standard long lens technique did a fine job in delivering sharp images. That was until a few days later when I was shooting in an awful wind. Long lenses were chattering something fierce. The VR really proved itself then producing very sharp results at slow shutter speeds.

The one thing that bugs me about the VR though is how the image "jumps" in the viewfinder at times when the VR activates. On a few occasions the image jumped enough to force me to recompose. I couldn't find a pattern in this so as to prevent it, I just had to mentally be prepared for it possibly happening.

Bald Eagle © Moose Peterson I did shoot with the 200-400VR handheld for a morning. Other than my wrist getting incredibly sore, the VR worked great. I was shooting from a vehicle and panning with the lens and the results were stellar!

The 200-400VR resurrects an old long lens feature, the Memory Set. Long ago in the old EDIF telephoto, a manual Memory Set was part of the lens. The Memory Set permits you to focus the lens at a specific distance. Obviously the distance is where you think the subject will be. With the old manual focus EDIF lenses (and some of the first AF lenses), this is the classic example of how you would use the Memory Set. You're shooting a baseball game from behind home plate. Getting ready for a potential steal at 2nd base, you prefocus on 2nd and use the Memory Set to create a focus preset. You photograph the game and then when the time comes, you turn the focus until the focus ring clicks into place at the Memory Set. You've got a sharp image of the steal at 2nd .

The 200-400VR has an electronic Memory Set and it works really slick. Focus on the point you want to set the focus point and then simply depress the Memory Set button. To have the lens focus back at that point you selected, depress either the AF-L or AF-ON or one of the four AF buttons on the lens barrel. The lens snaps into focus at the preset point. It's really sweet to have Memory Set back!

For over a decade, Nikon long lenses have had a filter built into the front. For some reason, for the first time Nikon enclosed a case for this filter. The case is empty inside the lens case for the 200-400 because the filter is where it belongs, on the front of the lens. While I've not experienced it myself, there is a possibility that this filter might create a hallo or ghost when shooting a bright subject. If this happens, you have a case to place the filter in.

One last little but important detail: The shade of the 200-400VR has a huge improvement when it comes to the attach points. Gone are the little knobs with two screws holding them in place. There is now a full circled ring that grabs onto the front of the 200-400VR. It holds securely in place the shade without the threat of breaking when it's removed.

When it comes to image quality, the lens is tack sharp! You can focus from 6.6' to infinity in a snap knowing the lens will deliver. The zoom is a twist-turn (would have liked push-pull) and is a true zoom. The 200-400VR works flawlessly with the TC-14e but not so with the TC-20e. VR works just fine, but you might have no AF operation with the TC-20e, even in bright light.

On a side note, we found the 200-400VR works very well on the Gitzo 1348 tripod. We still use the Wimberley head with it, but the smaller carbon fiber does an excellent job supporting the lens. The 200-400 is a smaller lens then you might think looking at the specs. Don't let its small size fool yeah, it delivers big time!

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Nikon 200-400f/4 VR AF-S