Nikon 180-400mm f/4 TC1.4 Field Test: An excellent telephoto zoom lens, but is it worth the high price?
posted Friday, April 27, 2018 at 12:45 PM EDT
Click here to read my Nikon 180-400mm f/4 Field Test
With the Nikon 180-400mm f/4 TC1.4 FL ED VR supertelephoto zoom lens, Nikon has created a very versatile and very high-end optic that's directly aimed at wildlife and sports photography. In my case, I tested the lens with wildlife and paired it with both the Nikon D500 and Nikon D850 cameras.
Wildlife is challenging for many reasons, not the least of which is that it's simply often hard to get close to your subject. That's where the new 180-400mm f/4's new built-in teleconverter comes into play. It's a nice ace in the hole to have a built-in 1.4x teleconverter for the times you need extra reach but don't need the maximum f/4 aperture. Overall, the 180-400mm f/4 is very sharp, particularly in the center, and sharpness even with the teleconverter engaged remains quite impressive.
The autofocus performance is very good with this new exotic zoom lens, proving to be fast in a wide variety of situations and even at the 400mm focal length, where I most often used the lens. The lens is built to Nikon's highest standards and is very much a flagship professional telephoto zoom lens. However, with this performance comes a high price tag of $12,400 USD. Can the lens' versatility and performance justify the price? Find out in my Nikon 180-400mm f/4 Field Test.