| Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Autofocus VR Zoom Nikkor Lens | 
 enlarge | Buy New: $1,369.00
Buy New/Used from $1,199.00
Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 24 reviews)
Category: Photography
Publisher: Nikon
Studio: Nikon
Brand: Nikon
Label: Nikon
Media: Electronics
Autographed: 0
Memorabilia: 0
Fragile: 0
Batteries Included: 0
Optical Zoom: 5
Maximum Focal Length: 400
Minimum Focal Length: 80
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 6.7 x 6.7
MPN: 1996
Model: 1996
UPC: 018208019960
EAN: 0018208019960
ASIN: B00005LEOO
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Compact, lightweight 5x telephoto zoom lens | | • | Vibration Reduction operation offers the equivalent of using a shutter speed three stops faster | | • | VR automatically detected during panning operation | | • | Three ED glass elements ensure superior optical performance | | • | Nine-blade rounded diaphragm achieves a natural blur for out-of-focus elements |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Nikon is a precision optical company with worldwide manufacturing, research and marketing capabilities. The Nikon name is equated with extraordinary photographic performance, innovation, precision and optical quality.PRODUCT FEATURES:Result of VR (Vibration Reduction) is equivalent to using a shutter speed three f/stops faster;VR is automatically detected during panning operation. Two modes of VR: Image plane and Viewfinder;3 ED glass for high resolution and high contrast even at maximum apertures;Filter does not rotate during zooming.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Great Lens and Superior Performance October 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This lens exceeded my high expectations! I read all of the reviews here and did extensive research before I paid this amount of money for the lens. The first thing I was worried about was the reports of slow focus because of the older auto focus in lens gear system. I use this lens on a D300, and though it is slower than an AI-s, I find it much faster than previous users mentioned. (This could be due to the camera, as I have read that on the newer models it does focus faster than the older models?) The lens focus is perfect in my pictures of lighthouses, sailboats and scenery. Admittedly I have not used it for fast action, and it may not be the best for that, but it is not what I bought the lens for. Most of my pictures are of my travels. It is heavy, without a doubt, but it is such a versatile lens for DX. It is a digital equivalent 120mm to 600mm that I can hand hold for sharp pictures even at 600mm. A trick I use with the D300 is to set my ISO with a low of 200 and a high of 3200 with the lowest shutter speed of 125 so with VR if I can take the picture and do my part, it will be sharp. It is a lot of money, but I think well worth it to be able to reach out that far.
80-400...a lot of lens for the money September 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this lens locally about five months ago and have used it extensively on both a D80 and a D300. I've been amazed at the overall sharpness, color and contrast delivered by this lens. At $1400-1500 it isn't cheap, but compare it to other options in the Nikon line-up that will get you to 400mm of reach, and you'll soon see that, relatively speaking, it is literally cheap!
Build quality is excellent. It's "older" technology, so it is a bit slower focusing, and a bit noisier than wsm lenses. I find that on the D80 it hunts for focus a bit more; the D300 handles the lens better, getting to focus sooner and more surely. Still, the D80 is perfectly capable of turning out great results with this lens, so you certainly don't "need" a D300 to use the 80-400.
Downside, other than slower focus, would be weight...it's a lot of lens to carry around, though you'll be tempted to do so because of the great shots it takes. I'm more into wildlife and landscapes, but find this lens gives great results when shooting portraits of animals. It might be almost too sharp for great human portraits. Bokeh is very nice at lower f/stops.
If you have the wherewithal to buy the long primes, then you probably aren't interested in this lens, but if you want a Nikon product, and want to get 400 mm of reach on a smaller budget, this is the way to go. You'll be amazed at the shots you get, though you will miss a few because of the slower focus.
One last set of comments. The 80-400 range can be very useful, depending on your type of photography. If you're photographing birds at a feeder from a blind, you know that a blue jay can be unexpectedly large in your viewfinder when you've been shooting chickadees! A quick turn of the collar, and you've backed off of 400 down to 280 very quickly; then when that squirrel comes in, another quick turn and you're at 80 mm.
I've not found a "weak spot" in the range of this lens. Photos are sharp and contrasty if you do your part. The lens isn't "fast"...so if you need f/2.8 a lot, you'll be disappointed. Otherwise, it's an excellent performer.
Buy it and enjoy it September 7, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have had this lens for several months now and have probably shot 5,000 or more images. I use it on a D300 and shoot mainly birds, butterflies,and nature (BunnHillPhoto on flickr for recent shots). It is a great walking-around lens; it is not for sports or rapidly moving objects (though with practice you can get sharp images of birds in flight by panning). The sharpness of this lens is incredible throughout the range. VR really works. I have shot handheld at about 1/125 of a second at 400mm and the image is still quite sharp. I removed the tripod collar, and the resulting weight and balance on the D300 are superb. The AF is slow and tends to hunt sometimes and I wish it would focus a little closer than the specified 7.5 feet, but otherwise this is an excellent product and truly worth the investment.
 Great lens but screames for an update August 29, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of Nikons 1st attempts at vibration reduction and although Nikon had the AFS focus technology at the time it was not included in the 80-400. The Nikon 300mm AFS f4 is of the same era but Nikon did the reverse on it leaving off the VR and including the AFS focus motor. I've had the 80-400 for a couple years before purchasing a 300mm AFS f4. I really love taking bird photos and the slow focus of the 80-400 leaves me with too many missed shots.
The 300 AFS f4 has replaced the 80-400 as the lens most often attached to my D200. The 300 AFS f4 focuses much faster, more accurately and being a prime lens is very sharp at f4 where the f5.6 on the 80-400 is a bit soft and I prefer to use at least f6.3. The 300 also has a closer minimum focus distance. I find that the 300 AFS f4 allows more keeper shots even if I have to crop a bit more. My results are that much sharper even hand held.
The frustrating part is that Nikon could improve both lenses by including AFS focus and their VR2 technology in both of these otherwise great lenses. Each time I see Nikon come out with another 18-whatever kit lens with AFS and VR2 I shake my head. Maybe Sigma's new 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 AF APO DG OS HSM for $849.00 will spur them on to an update. If I was looking for a reasonably priced zoom in this range and didn't want to wait for an update from Nikon I would certainly consider the Sigma.
Need a zoom.....this is it! July 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For bird watching and any distant viewing, this is the lens that will bring things in, clearly and sharply. Goes perfectly with my Nikon D300.
Love its manual focus capability, as well as its autofocus; VR (Vibration Reduction) feature works well.
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