200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens

200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens
An informal comparison with some of Nikon’s most highly regarded glass… 
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III 500mm f5.6 1/1000 sec 450 ISO
Every so often a piece of photographic equipment comes along that just catches my imagination, at this
point in time it is the new 200-500mm f5.6 zoom lens. I consider myself a passionate nature and wildlife
photographer but with a chronic disease, I have been infected with a severe case of NAS (to those who
may not be familiar with the acronym NAS, it stands for the dreaded Nikon Acquisition Syndrome).
NAS manifests itself by completely transforming an otherwise normal photographer into Nikon
equipment fanatic, everything and anything Nikon should be acquired. Now that I have cleansed my
soul by confessing to you that I am infected with NAS, you should use your own judgment as to whether
this is a piece of equipment that will satisfy your needs. Please don’t put too much trust into my opinion,
keep in mind that I have been infected with NAS and it can be contagious! 
I am really fortunate to have a very good friend that allowed me the use of his new Nikon 200-500mm
f5.6 VR III lens (yes, I was finger printed and bonded before I was allowed to take his lens, but hey, he
did allow me take the lens… although he did insist on my wearing an ankle tracking bracelet also while
I had his lens in my possession  ).
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III 500mm f8 1/1000 sec 720 ISO
On first examination, one immediately notices that it is a comparatively light lens. It seems to be a lens
that one can somewhat easily carry, weighing 81.2 oz. (2,300 g), which translates to just a little over 5
lbs. Nikon’s 200-400mm f4 VR tips the scales at 118.5 oz. (3,360 g), approximately 7.4 lbs. The new
200-500mm lens is almost 2 ½ lbs. lighter and provides an additional 100mm focal length advantage,
going all the way to 500mm. One might think the advantage in speed belongs to the Nikon 200-400mm
lens, after all, it does sport a maximum aperture of f4. If one adds a tele-converter to the 200-400mm,
however, it can reach 500mm (yes, the 200-400mm with the 1.4x reaches all the way to 560mm). If you
shoot the 200-400mm @ 500mm (or 560mm), it now has effectively become a f5.6 lens, directly
matching maximum aperture of the 200-500mm f5.6 lens.
OK, now let’s see how the new Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III compares to some of Nikon’s best prime
lenses (Yes… I know it might not be fair to compare a “Prosumer” zoom lens to Nikon’s best primes,
but who said we had to be completely fair). 
We will be comparing the new Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens to the 200mm f2, 300mm f2.8,
400mm f2.8, 600mm f4, and Nikon's 200-400mm lens. In an attempt to eliminate most variables, the
same camera body was used throughout for all exposures and was focused for each lens using the
D800E’s Live View mode. All lenses were zoomed out to their longest focal length to acquire focus,
thus insuring the most accurate focus possible for each lens. The camera was mounted on a Gitzo 3
series tripod. The camera’s delayed shutter release was used and set for a 3 second delay while the
lenses VR (Vibration Reduction) feature was turned off. An aperture setting of f5.6 was mostly used
since this is the maximum aperture setting for the 200-500mm lens.
The camera and tripod were placed approximately 30 feet from the subject. Lighting came from
incandescent kitchen lights. The test subjects were a micro-focus adjustment target and a couple of food
boxes found in the kitchen pantry. Since most lenses tend to resolve their highest in the center, we
thought we would make the test a little more challenging by examining and using the off center area for
comparison.
All images used for our comparison tests are straight out of the camera (no sharpening was applied and
no image manipulations of any kind were done). All images were shot in RAW format, converted to
JPEG in Adobe Camera RAW using ACR’s default settings, then cropped and resized (when necessary)
for comparison analysis.
We are going to start the competition off strong! In the first series of photographs, we will compare the
200-500mm lens to some of most legendary lenses in the 200mm range: the 70-200mm f2.8 VR II lens,
the 200-400mm f4 VR I lens, and the Nikon 200mm f2 VR I lens. 
Below is the TEST SETUP
The yellow box above highlights the off center section of the original image crop used to compare the lenses.
The 200mm Showdown…. 
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 200mm f5.6
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 200mm f8
Nikon 200mm f2 AF-S VR I at f5.6
Nikon 200-400mm VR I @ 200mm f5.6
Nikon 70-200mm AF-S VR II @ 200mm f5.6
The 300mm Challenge! 
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 300mm f5.6
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 300mm f8
Nikon 300mm f2.8 AF-S vers. I @ f5.6
Nikon 200-400mm VR I @ 300mm f5.6
Nikon 400mm Shoot Out…. 
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 400mm f5.6
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 400mm f8
Nikon 400mm f2.8 AF-S vers. I @ f5.6
Nikon 200-400mm VR I @ 400mm f5.6
500mm Face Off….. 
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 500mm f5.6
Nikon 200-400mm VR I with 1.4x lens set at @357mm = 500mm f5.6
Do you believe in Miracles????
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens @ 500mm f5.6 *** HAND HELD AT 1-40TH OF A SECOND
Ok, so maybe it doesn't qualify as a true miracle, but who could have imagined just a few short years
ago that you would be able to hand hold a 500mm lens at such a slow shutter speed (1/40th of a second
as shown in this example) and get highly useable images. This lens, in my opinion, is a game changer
for wildlife, action, outdoors, children, and sports photographers! No more is it absolutely nessary to use
a tripod to get sharp images with a long lens. The wildlife and sports photographers have finally been
liberated to move about feely, handholding their equipment and quickly moving to vantage points that
may not been possible before!
600mm Knock Out Round….   
We decided to see how the 200-500mm VR Nikon lens fares against one of the Nikon’s best (the
600mm f4 AF-S VR II). To get an effective focal length of 600mm, we set the zoom lens to a focal
length of 428mm and mounted a 1.4x tele-convertor, finally capturing our shot with the lens mounted
on a tripod.
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens with 1.4x lens set @428mm = 600mm f8 WIDE OPEN
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens with 1.4x lens set @428mm = 600mm f11
Nikon 600mm f4 AF-S VR II @ f5.6
When we earlier used the 200-500mm f5.6 VR III handheld at 500mm, the lens performed incredibly
well. It simply amazed us that it could be used handheld at the 500mm, using such a slow shutter speed
and yielding such fine results; so naturally we started to wonder what might this lens be able to deliver if
we use it handheld without a tripod at 600mm? Why wonder… it does not take very long to dismount
the camera / lens combination from the tripod, turn on the Nikon's 200-400mm VR III feature and fire
away!
The photograph below illustrates the outstanding vibration reduction that this lens is capable of! A hand
held 600mm effective focal length lens with a shutter speed of 1/20th of a second yielding a sharp image!
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III lens with 1.4x lens set @428mm = 600mm 1/20th of a SECOND
Our shutter speed for the lighting conditions for this exposure were 1/20th of a second. At that slow of a
shutter speed and such a high image magnification, I was still able to get a sharp useable image. I am
simply amazed at what can now be achieved with the newer VR technology… Absolutely Incredible!!!!
Thank you Nikon for the VR III technology…
Mmmmm.... 
I feel the Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 to be a game changer! No, it is not the perfect lens, but it seems to be
an outstanding lens in many regards. Optically, it produces some very sharp and saturated color image
files. When we compared it against some of the most highly regarded Nikon prime lenses, it pretty much
held its own in most comparisons (as you are free to review) and it delivers excellent results in real
world use. The 200-500mm f5.6 VR III may have had some difficulty comparing against Nikon's other
200mm lens, but all in all, it did pretty well. At times I felt Nikon's other 200mm lenses may have
outperformed it, but the 200-500mm lens seemed to compete strongly, providing excellent results
considering this is a moderately priced zoom lens.
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III 200mm f5.6 1/500 sec 1600 ISO
Considering the focal length and image magnification it offers, the lens is very reasonably priced, fairly
light in weight, and relatively easy to carry! Build quality appears to be good but is not in the same
category as Nikon’s premium glass, however, neither is it's price. It does (and this is very subjective)
feel like a well-constructed modern piece of glass.
There has been some talk on the internet forums about the focus speed of the lens; I have no way of
accurately testing the focus speed of the lens, but I can state that in the short time that I used the lens,
shooting in very low light and low contrast fog conditions, the lens locked on focus quickly and
accurately and did not search.
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III 230mm f6.3 1/500 sec 1100 ISO
What excites me most is that now we wildlife and action photographers now have a very versatile, high
image-quality, Nikon made lens that offers us much creative flexibility in the field. Image magnification
can be quickly and easily adjusted to suit the subject by easily zooming the lens. The photographer’s
point of view can also be almost instantaneously adjusted by the photographer handholding the
camera/lens combo and moving freely without a tripod. We now have the ability to run through thick
woodlands unencumbered by a tripod-mounted lens in pursuit of deer (or quickly run from a bear while
keeping our camera gear safely with us… Just kidding, don’t run from a bear!). The ability to handhold
this long focal length lens and get sharp images using slower shutter speeds may change the dynamics of
wildlife and action photography. I think that the 200-500mm offers the photographer enough advantages
in the field that this lens may become the go to lens for many of us wildlife, action, and sports
photographers.
Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 VR III 500mm f6.3 1/1000 sec 560 ISO
I am certainly am looking forward to adding this lens to my camera bag… but remember I am a
confessed sufferer of the very contagious NAS!     