The Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 zoom lens is a fantastic choice for zoo photography, letting you get up close and personal with any outdoor habitat you might come across at a zoo. I’ve been using this lens for the last several trips I’ve made to my local zoo, and can share my appraisal of its strengths and weaknesses which hopefully will be helpful if you are considering this lens for zoo or wildlife photography. I’ll also provide a long-term review in a few months, so stay tuned.
Image from Nikonusa.com
Prior to getting this lens, I was using the Nikon 70-200mm f/4 zoom lens. This is a great lens for zoo photography, and I’ll touch on it’s advantages over the 200-500mm lens below. However, when visiting the larger habitats such as the big cat, bear, elephant, giraffe and monkey habitats, I found myself having to do some really severe cropping to zero-in on the animal. The 200mm just didn’t have enough reach and I was having to crop out sometimes three-quarters or more of the image to isolate the subject. Obviously, I wasn’t using the full potential of my Nikon D750 to capture detail if I’m throwing away most of an image.
So, I ordered the Nikon 200-500mm to get that extra reach, and I couldn’t be happier. However, first things first, I do not have any affiliation with Nikon. I am partial to Nikon DSLRs but I’m trying to be as objective as possible in my review in case it can help other Nikon shooters.
Ok, just a quick review of its spec and features…
Model: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
Focal range: 200-500mm
Maximum aperture: f/5.6
Format: Full-frame (FX)
Vibration Reduction Image Stabilization: Normal and Sport
Auto-focus: AF-S (Silent Wave Motor)
Dimensions: 4.2 inches (108mm) by 10.5 inches (267.5mm)
Weight: 81.2 ounces or 5.075 pounds (2.3 kilograms)
Retail price: $1,259.95
Some context on how I use this lens
My style of zoo photography is to zoom tight onto the animal, often just photographing their faces. This style is hard to pull off if the subject is half a football field away. A zoom that goes up to 500mm was the perfect solution for this.
In a separate blog post, I go into detail on my lens and camera settings (link here), but, for this lens, I always use autofocus (especially with my lousy eyesight), “Full” autofocus range because sometimes the animal moves closer than 6 meters to the barrier, VR is on, and the VR mode is set to Normal.
Lion enjoying the morning sunshine. Image taken with Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 at 500mm and f/5.6.
First impressions
As you can see in the specs above, this lens has a lot of hefty glass, weighing in at over 5 pounds (2.3 kilos). Fortunately, it comes with a metal tripod foot, and I use this as a handy carry handle since I never bother with tripods at the zoo. The lens is typical Nikon quality, very well-made and seems quite durable. The tripod foot and mount are metal, and the rest of the lens feels incredibly sturdy. It could do some damage if you swung it around and hit a hapless bystander in the head.
The zoom ring is very large, smooth and easy to grip and rotate—great qualities when trying to keep a moving animal in frame. It feels very tactile with rubber grooving. Also, you can lock the zoom at the 200mm setting. Similarly, the focusing ring is large and grooved, so it’s easy to find and get a secure grip. Finally, the switches have very positive engagement, and don’t feel flimsy at all.
Image from Nikonusa.com.
At the Zoo: Strengths
Carrying this lens, I almost feel like every animal is now reachable from almost any distance. I rarely have to worry about cropping. Monkeys hanging out from the tallest pole, lions eyeing visitors suspiciously from across the expanse of their habitat, ostriches strutting in the far distance of the giraffe habitat…this lens gets them all.
Another perk of a big telephoto…fencing is much less of a problem. Shoot at its widest aperture and close to the fence at a distant animal on the other side, and fencing will entirely or largely disappear from the image.
I’ve read concerns from other reviewers that this lens is a little slow in focusing. However, for zoo photography, I haven’t noticed this as an issue. You can also speed up focusing by flipping the switch that restricts the focusing range to 6 meters to infinity. I’ve found the focusing speed to be fast and very accurate.
Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 VR Modes
VR seems great. I avoid shooting this lens at a shutter speed less than 1/500, but will drop this to 1/250 in the evening and still have surprisingly sharp photos. There are two VR modes, Normal and Sport. I can only speak to the Normal mode since I haven’t had an opportunity to try out Sport. Sport mode is generally used if you’re moving the camera, e.g., to pan, in order to photograph a moving animal. For most zoo habitats, I think Normal mode should be fine.
As far as images taken with this lens, they are very sharp, though I’m not really a pixel peeper. There are other technical reviews of this lens which do a good job in testing sharpness.
At the Zoo: Limitations
Although I have a very positive impression of the Nikon 200-500mm, the lens still has some limitations a zoo photographer needs to be aware of. First, the lens is awesome at really getting tight on the animal, but it obviously works best for larger habitats, especially if you want to capture the entire animal or some of its environment. When the animal moves close to its barrier, I’ve had to backpedal quickly to keep her in frame. In this case, though, any fencing will start to become visible as both the animal moves closer and you move farther from the fencing. So, a photographer shouldn’t replace a 70-200mm with this. Both lenses will complement each other.
In addition, the combination of this lens and the D750 makes for a heavy kit. Your arms will end up getting a workout as you leisurely stroll around the zoo all afternoon. I don’t use a lens strap, but maybe a Black Rapid strap would help, though you’ll still have basically a small log banging against you as you walk. Luckily, my local zoo is moderately sized, but I wouldn’t look forward to an all-day trek through the Columbus Zoo.
Finally, this lens isn’t waterproof, so don’t plan on visiting the zoo with it on rainy days.
Take Aways
I’ve been very happy with the images taken with it. It’s a great tool for zoo photography. To me, the lens’ limitations are far outweighed by its incredible reach, sharpness and durability.
Given its strengths, I consider this lens a bargain at about $1,300, particularly for a big Nikon zoom. By comparison, Nikon’s 80-400mm f/4.5-f5.6 is over $2,000. I would recommend renting one to try out for a week and see how you like it before purchasing if you’re on the fence. That being said, I will still bring my Nikon 70-200mm f/4 with me every once in a while to photograph the smaller animal habitats.
If you have the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 or are considering one, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I will also update this review as I use this lens longer term and let you know if my opinion still holds.