Preview of the new Nikon 180-600mm

Steve Perry shares his hands-on brief experience with the new Nikkor 180-600mm lens. Build quality looks surprisingly good.
If its anything like the old Nikkor 200-500mm, Nikon will have a winner.
Other more detailed reports by Ricci or Jan Wegener  are also online.
Exciting times for Z system users

Also announced was the new 70-180mm f2.8:

70-180 f2.8

The 180-600 sounds like a bargain at $1699. I ordered it as soon as it was announced, but I think it may be heavier than I want to carry around. I'm hoping it will be better than I expect.

Joe

Has anyone found a website with full-resolution raw files from this lens yet? I'm interested in this lens, but one reviewer I watched said it is a bit soft at 600mm, and the 100-400 with 1.4x was sharper. This lens doesn't appeal to me if that's the case.

Scott Fairbairn wrote: Has anyone found a website with full-resolution raw files from this lens yet? I'm interested in this lens, but one reviewer I watched said it is a bit soft at 600mm, and the 100-400 with 1.4x was sharper. This lens doesn't appeal to me if that's the case.

I haven’t found one yet, but the images posted in this thread are impressive, including many by George DeCamp:


https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1823063/0

I'll keep looking for RAW files.

Joe

SantaFeJoe wrote:

Scott Fairbairn wrote: Has anyone found a website with full-resolution raw files from this lens yet? I'm interested in this lens, but one reviewer I watched said it is a bit soft at 600mm, and the 100-400 with 1.4x was sharper. This lens doesn't appeal to me if that's the case.

I haven’t found one yet, but the images posted in this thread are impressive, including many by George DeCamp:


https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1823063/0

I'll keep looking for RAW files.

Joe

Thanks. I can't judge sharpness very well unless I have a raw file. Some people find images soft at a level I know I can sharpen up nicely. I'll keep looking.

Having seen quite a few reviews of varying quality, this is one that confirms some of the differences between the Nikon and Sony versions.  Fast forward to 21m 20s - 21.40s or so ...  

21.40m

The 70-180 f/2.8 is a rebadged Tamron 70-180 which has been available for Sony for about 3 years and it is a small lightweight but optically excellent lens.

E.J. Peiker wrote: The 70-180 f/2.8 is a rebadged Tamron 70-180 which has been available for Sony for about 3 years and it is a small lightweight but optically excellent lens.

According to rumours, Tamron manufactures the 180-600mm lens, so Nikon's decision to include third-party lenses is a smart one. It'll help fill out the lens line up. I hope that Sigma makes the 14mmf1.4 in Z mount soon.

Scott Fairbairn wrote: Has anyone found a website with full-resolution raw files from this lens yet? I'm interested in this lens, but one reviewer I watched said it is a bit soft at 600mm, and the 100-400 with 1.4x was sharper. This lens doesn't appeal to me if that's the case.

This site has a link to RAW files, but I don't know if they are at 600mm:

https://nikonrumors.com/2023/09/13/niko ... iews.aspx/

Joe

I picked up my lens last week. I haven't had much time to use it, but I did get out in poor testing conditions on Sunday(very dark, so high ISO, then pure high sun and few subjects to photograph) to try it out. My initial impressions are that it is acceptably sharp throughout the range without a 1.4x. With the 1.4x, I can't say yet because, at f9 and dark conditions, I was shooting north of 10,000 ISO. I think I'll shoot in crop mode on the Z8/Z9 for birds so that a converter won't be needed that much.

Scott Fairbairn wrote: Has anyone found a website with full-resolution raw files from this lens yet? I'm interested in this lens, but one reviewer I watched said it is a bit soft at 600mm, and the 100-400 with 1.4x was sharper. This lens doesn't appeal to me if that's the case.

I have the lens, would be happy to send a couple raw files to you to examine. Mostly photographed elk with it so far. Heading to Yellowstone Sunday…

Steve Perry does a fairly exhaustive sharpness test comparing this lens to other Nikons and the Sony 200-600.
The bottom line is the primes are better, but the 180-600 does very well against them(he tested it against the nikon 100-400, 400f4.5, 500f5.6PF with adapter, 600f4TC and sony 200-600). Compared to the Sony it's a wash, image quality is basically the same as the Sony, which is a good thing. From images I've seen, from his video and from others, here are my conclusions:
1) Sharpness is equivalent to the Sony with or without teleconverters in use, and better than the 100-400.
2) The sony on Steve Perry's test seems to show pincushion distortion whereas the Nikon does not. That might software related?
3) The Sony has substantial focus breathing, and at close distances, the Nikon gives a much larger subject in the frame due to the Sony's effective focal length loss.
4) The 180-600 autofocus speed compared to the other Nikon lenses and the sony is significantly slower. Whether that matters in real world use, who knows, and he didn't find it an issue tracking flying birds.

https://youtu.be/7loeXXUP4Ic?si=MrCwbsOd9lIY14kX

I did some test shots at about 75 yards and 150 yards (approximately) with the z8, ftz ll, TC14e lll, and 500 f5.6 PF and compared to the same subject taken with just the 180-600 f5.6-6.3 on the z8. The 180-600 at 600mm is far sharper than the 500 w/tc shooting both wide open. The detail at the farthest distance is incredible at 600. I hope it tracks BIF well, but I know it will become my favorite lens when I get a chance to do further tests. I'm impressed!

Joe

I will agree with Thom Hogan's review that this lens is a little sharper when stopped down 1/3 to 2/3 than it is wide open. It handles well and the weight is fine for me.