Today I would like to share a few thoughts on lenses again. My photo bag has changed in the last six months. In particular, this time I've got rid of lenses that I actually think are pretty good. I recently received some questions about this, which I would like to answer in today's blog.
- Why did I sell the Nikon Z 400/4.5 first?
- Why did I also sell the Nikon Z Plena 135?
- And finally, why do I now also own a Nikon Z 600 PF alongside the Z600 TC-S?
So let's start, one after the other...
Nikon Z 400/4.5:
This little 400mm was simply a super lens. I reported on my impressions in this blog article, among others. Nevertheless, I sold it six months ago. The thing is: I had bought the lens especially as a supplement to my 600 TC-S, so that I could cover the 400mm. However, after almost one and a half years of use, I have to realise that 400mm is simply not ‘my’ focal length range. I like photographing birds far too much and mammals too rarely.
The only place where I could have used 400mm was Dovrefjell last year and the year before last, with its large animals. But that didn't work for me in practice, or rather in combination with a larger telephoto lens. I took it with me several times in addition to the 600, but in the really good moments you couldn't start changing camera or lenses and switching between the 400/4.5 and the 600/4 TC. The moments were too short for that and then it would have been necessary to immediately switch to the larger equipment again. That's why it was also unused here.
I would recommend a 400/2.8 directly to anyone who mainly likes to photograph mammals and not the combo of 2 different telephoto lenses.
When it was used, I actually used it for birds at 560mm during some landscape photography tours.
My conclusion: the lens was ultra-sharp and the weight and stabiliser were impressive, but it just didn't suit me, even though it had great bokeh as well as great resolution. If someone really needs 400mm, it's a brilliant piece in my eyes.
Nikon Plena 135:
I only recently sold the ‘Plena’. I found it even more difficult to sell this lens than the 400. If you have the right subjects in front of the lens, it delivers very special results. See also my experience report at the time.
Above all, the rounding of the out-of-focus circles right into the corners is truly unique on the full-frame format. But I carried the lens with me too often without using it. Christina also used it here and there, but it was too heavy for me to take it with me just to be on the safe side.
I used to photograph plants a lot more often (that's what I bought it for), but in the last year I've realised that I now have a strong focus on landscapes, birds and abstract subjects and am almost only active in these three areas of nature photography...
We therefore decided together to save the weight in the bagpack. I actually wanted to wait for the ‘plant months’ from March to June, but I already have such a full ‘bird calendar’ with different projects for the next 8 weeks that I decided not to.
I would recommend it without reservation to any portrait or plant photographer, it really is a great piece of technology.
Nikon 600/6.3 PF
This purchase came as a complete surprise to me too 😉 First of all: I realise that it's a bit weird to buy a second 600mm lens in addition to a Z600/4 TC-S 😅
When the lens came out, I didn't understand the range of applications for this lens at first and didn't find it very useful. I first took a closer look at it when I saw the review by Jan Wegener in the context of bird photography, who was quite taken with this lens...
Why another 600?
Anyone who reads my blog regularly knows that we often devote ourselves to landscape photography, especially when travelling. Since selling the 400/4.5, I have realised several times that although I hardly ever need 400mm, there are always opportunities during landscape photo sessions where I could have used 600m or 840mm.
Of course, it's not an option to take a 600 TC-S with me on a landscape tour - I don't want to carry it around in terms of weight either. I do use the large 600 when travelling, but these are places or excursions where I know that the focus will be on wildlife photography, such as in Iceland at the puffin cliffs, the tern colonies or the Odin's grouse. Or there are good opportunities ‘at the side of the road’ and I quickly grab the big one from the case.
My ‘pain’ tends to occur when I set off with landscape focus and the appropriate equipment and good telephoto opportunities happen to arise. I also found the large telephoto lens annoying when taking birds-in-flight-shots, especially if you spend more than 30 minutes in one place. And the TC-S is also too big for ‘scouting tours’.
So I decided to tackle the subject again. Unlike with the 400/4.5 at the time, I wasn't looking for a lens to supplement the focal length of my large telescope, but rather an alternative in situations where the weight and dimensions of the Z600/4 TC-S were not practical.
The search and alternatives
The core requirement was accordingly: to find a very light telephoto lens around 600mm with the smallest possible pack size. I hadn't even think about converter suitability at first.
Well, the search results were quite limited and I decided in favour of the Z600/6.3 PF. But why? In principle, there are only 2 alternatives. Let's start with the Z180-600 for comparison.
The difference in weight alone compared to a Nikon 180-600 is bigger than the total weight of an additional Nikon Z 24-120. And the dimensions of the zoom are also noticeably larger. For me, the decision was therefore quickly made, especially as the 600 is clearly supposed to perform better at 840mm, as I had already read several times in reviews. Makes sense in view of zoom vs FB. I had already realised that I didn't need the zoom range before the 600mm with the 400mm, see above.
Let's move on to the second alternative. The 400/4.5 (which had already been sold for half a year at that time) would have been suitable for this purpose - I would have always had to use it with TC.
However: I have now used the 600 PF several times on the winter drive and for the last 2 weeks on Mallorca and still have 4 significant advantages over the 560mm of the 400/4.5:
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Better AF performance: I found the 400/4.5 with TC only mediocre in low light or, let's say, in nice and soft light; and I find the AF of the 600 PF faster
- not at the level of my big 600, but very fast. Somehow logical, we are comparing a lens with TC with one without TC.
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Better bokeh - even if there is only a 40mm difference at the same aperture. If you are interested, see this good comparison video by Steve Perry (minute
16:20) and I can only confirm these impressions, Steve also visualises it well. Nevertheless, the bokeh cannot be compared with a 600 TC-S, I would like to emphasise that🤫
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Practical usability around 800mm - in my personal opinion, the 400/4.5 with 2x TC was no longer really suitable for practical use, especially because of
the AF in soft light. This is different with the 600 PF with 1.4 TC, I'll go into this in more detail in a moment. This means that I effectively have 240mm more available with the 600
PF
- Extremely good sharpness performance. Definitely even better than the 400 with TC. This is also noticeable with TC on the 600 PF - I've produced some photos that are so sharp, even my big 600 TC-S on 840 can't do better...
Surprisingly practical
I would like to go into more detail on the third point, as this was a surprise for me. When it comes to converter use, I am always very critical. In my experience, many modern telephoto lenses can produce very good results with converters ‘under laboratory conditions’, but not under ‘real-world conditions’, for example freehand. In this respect, I was really impressed with the 600 PF. It delivers really well at 840mm - even freehand. Always remember, it is then f/9 - that means it is the wrong lens for an eagle owl series at dusk 😉
However, I was able to convert everything over 1/100th of a second very reliably to 840mm from the hand and this applies to the majority of my series.
In the following picture you can see how little space the 600 PF takes up in the backpack at the edge, here in an F-Stop Tilopa with XL-ICU.
On the left the 600/6.3, in the centre the Z8 on the Z14-24 with adapter ring, below the bag with all Nisi filters and filter holder. On the right a 10mm Laowa, above it a Z24-120 with adapter ring and above that an accessory bag, which sometimes also contains a 28-400 or similar.
I have noticed 2 disadvantages, although the lens also delivers without these characteristics - but in my opinion it could be even better:
Firstly, I don't find the image stabiliser as good as the stabiliser on my large 600 TC-S - this is particularly noticeable at 840mm. Nevertheless, I was able to capture the scenes in the soft morning light cleanly - it just annoys me a little when looking through the viewfinder with the TC, and the reject rate is probably a little higher.
On the other hand, I can't switch quickly between the focal lengths 600-840. Of course, this is also much better with my 600 TC-S thanks to the integrated converter. When you've been used to this for a good 2 years in the telephoto range, everything else seems pretty impractical. I would have put up with a little more weight for that, then it would be perfect from my point of view. But well, this will probably never be built into lenses of this size for reasons of size, weight and price, especially as the price is already quite high for an f6.3 lens.
My conclusion
All in all, a really nice lens that is simply fun to use. Almost too much fun 😅 - because here on Mallorca I currently have both 600s with me and the little one is so much fun and so good that I've just photographed a whole series of stonechats with just the little one at 840mm, as I often have to work freehand while standing. I'll show them in about 2 weeks, I just want to look over them once at home on the Eizo...
There are now some high-performance 800s in this focal length, but I'm not aware of any with these small dimensions and at 1690 g on full-frame format (I've already included the converter here).
Here is an example - photographed quickly from the hand, because the stonechat usually only sits in one spot for a few seconds...I think the bokeh is also impressive with this lens...
...and here is a crop - with Iso 6400 denoised with Lightroom, as I was looking for take-off shots:
Even at the moment, during our 1 month of parental leave, when photography is more of a minor matter - this piece is just right, as I can do it ‘on the side’ and with little effort. The weight and size are simply brilliant for so much focal length.
That's it for the news - now have a good day! My next blog report with the complete stonechat series will be published in mid-April when I'm back home...
Best regards 👋
Thomas