Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm 1:5.6 E PF ED VR N Lens (f/5.6)

Overall Rating:

This made-in-China lens is 6 years old and it debuted at $3600 (USD). It has nine aperture blades and a gold ring on it possibly signaling that it is a pro caliber lens. (It's hard to explain what the significance of the gold ring is, but Nikon have been adding it to some of their better Z lenses now.) It has VR technology built-in which, with its lightweight, makes it easy to achieve sharp shots handheld. What stands out is its compactness for a 500mm lens, plus the price is reasonable.

This lens was introduced about a year after the 45MP Nikon D850 so Nikon surely designed it to accommodate high megapixel sensors.

This is an "E" lens meaning that it lacks a mechanical coupling between the camera and lens for controlling the diaphragm/aperture. The "E" stands for electronic and that is how the aperture is controlled.

It features three ED elements and one PF element. PF elements have greater chromatic aberration compensation performance and shrink the size and weight of the lens. There are no aspherical elements which are uncommon in telephoto primes. This makes for a very modern telephoto lens design. This lens also features internal focus.

This is probably the last of the telephoto lenses for the Nikon F-mount. It was a bit of a surprise when it was announced, as the world was moving to mirrorless at the time.

This AF-S 500mm/5.6 PF lens is not really a replacement for another design because of its PF element, but Nikon have a long history of making f=500mm lenses. The last before the lens in this review was the AF-S 500mm f/4 E FL ED VR which is now 9 years old and, while a good performing lens, is but much larger, much heavier and more expensive ($10,300). This AF-S 500mm/5.6 PF lens is roughly twice the weight of the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 300mm/4 PF lens.

The angle of view of this lens on a full-frame camera is 5° which is not too, too great. On a DX body, the angle of view is only 3°10' which is small enough that it becomes hard to find the subject.

Size Compared

Breathing

Just like with the AF-S 300mm/4 PF lens, this lens exhibits very little to no focus breathing, which means a depth of field calculator works, more or less, as expected.

Performance

There is neither color fringing in the center nor the corners, and about a third of a stop of vignetting can be found. Concerning vignetting, the lens has it wide open but stopping down totally eliminates it up. Distortion is almost nonexistent.

It is very sharp wide open and until diffraction begins to set in after f/8. The corners are very sharp. The lens the sharpest at about f/8, but it is hardly sharper than at f/5.6.

The autofocus is fast, but not blazing fast on a Nikon Z7, and it's silent. With the right camera, this lens does a great job tracking subjects.

Color fringing detail at 3-to-1:

This lens is compared to the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6 E ED VR.

Vibration Reduction

Nikon Z mirrorless cameras with IBIS increase the effectiveness of the VR in this lens. A shutter speed of 1/20th sec. is possible. Perhaps even better is possible for someone with steadier hands.

Using the TC-20E III Teleconverter

This 2× teleconverter makes for an effective f=1000mm/11 lens. While not as detailed as a f=1000mm lens would be, this combination does very well. A Nikon mirrorless camera is required for autofocus to function, and the autofocus takes a noticeable hit with this teleconverter attached.

This combination does lose a little contrast, making it appear less sharp. Here, the lens is focused on a distant object which is how most people will use it. The warning label is the point of focus.

The TC-20E III teleconverter works great! Not a lot of lens and teleconverter combinations can say that. There is a slight amount of color fringing along the edges, though it is extremely minor.

Using the TC-17E II Teleconverter

This 1.7× teleconverter increases this lens to a f=850mm/9.5. The TC-14E III teleconverter can also be used (see below) making it a f=700mm/8.

Just like with the TC-20E III, there appears to be slight color fringing along the edges. Given that this teleconverter has less magnification, unfortunately, it has more color fringing than the TC-20E III. The aspherical element of the TC-20E III likely is the reason.

The point of focus is the warning label on the transformer.

Using the TC-14E III Teleconverter

This 1.4× teleconverter increases this lens to a f=700mm/8 which is probably what most will opt to use.

Yes, it appears this teleconverter was designed around this lens, or this lens was designed around this teleconverter. Sharpness and contrast are high. Color fringing is very well controlled.

The only down-side to this teleconverter is its price due to demand. A used copy is more expensive than a used TC-20E III, for example.

The bottom line is that teleconverters love this lens, just as they do the AF-S 300mm/4 PF lens.

TC-14E III, TC-17E II and TC-20E III Compared

The below images are focused to approx. 100ft/30m and cropped to 600×400 pixels.

While being more magnified, the TC-20E III teleconverter seems almost as sharp as the TC-14E III teleconverter. The TC-17E II teleconverter performed the worst when used on this lens. This was not the case for the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/4 G ED VR N lens using these teleconverters.

Even though a f=1000mm/11 lens is hard to use, there is no problem recommending the TC-20E III teleconverter. A mirrorless camera is required for the autofocus to function.

If the absolute greatest sharpness is required then the TC-14E III teleconverter is recommended as it does not degrade sharpness very much at all. This teleconverter also has the least color fringing.

AF-S 300mm/4 PF + TC-17E II Compared

Here, both lenses are shot stopped down some. Both are shot at f/8, and the below images are cropped to 600×400 pixels.

The AF-S 300mm/4 PF + TC-17E II (f=510mm) is — not suprisingly — not as sharp as the AF-S 500mm/5.6 PF, but it holds up quite well and is considerably more compact.

Infrared

For infrared photography, it does pretty well. There is a very faint hotspot at f/32.

Ghosting & Flaring

Yes, flaring is a problem because of the PF element. Ghosting and flaring are both very problematic. The flaring is not pretty. It is best to avoid bright lights unless you like what they do to images when using this lens. Like with the AF-S 300mm/4 PF lens, wildlife photography does not often present a problem, but sunsets might present a one.

Bokeh

The bokeh seems pretty good. Of course, depth of field is so little that everything is so out of focus so it is harder to determine. See the car below, there does appear to be a very slight double-vision in the bokeh. It's not a big deal. This lens does NOT exhibit longitudinal chromatic aberration (LoCA).

Compatibility

Because this is an "E" (1:5.6 E) lens, it is compatible with all Nikon DSLR's except the D3000, D40/D40X, D60, D70/D70S, D80, D90, D100, D200, D1 series and D2 series. It is fully compatible with Nikon Z cameras using the FTZ adapter.

Construction

As mentioned, this lens is light and compact for a 500mm prime lens.

Even though this is mostly a plastic lens, it is very solid feeling. The manual focusing feels good and there is no slop in the focus collar. The lens is weather-sealed and does focus beyond infinity probably due to manufacturing tolerances.

This lens has a focus scale but, curiously, no depth of field scale.

The 95mm filter threads do not rotate.

Specifications

Images

Related links:

• Nikon Nikkor Lens Reviews
• All Lens Reviews