Nikon 800mm PF - My First Impressions!

In this week's video, I give my first impressions as I have finally gotten my hands on an 800mm PF to test!
MY CAMERA GEAR
Nikon Z9 - amzn.to/44OC2x6
Nixon ZF - amzn.to/4agHuev
Nikon 500mm PF - amzn.to/3Oaz7aH
Nikon 800mm PF - amzn.to/4e2671c
LINKS AND SOCIAL MEDIA
My Website: www.alanyoung....
Follow me on Instagram: @alanyoung.wildlife
#photography #birding #nikon #nikonz9

[@KungPowEnterFist]

I've had my Z 800 PF since April 2023. The only lens that is sharper at 800mm+ of any system with or without TC's is the F 800 f5.6 FL ED VR. However, the Z 800 PF beats it in every other way, and in some ways by a huge amount. Not to mention it costs substantially less than the F mount 800 lens and any other lens/TC combo that comes close to it. If you shoot birds/BIF's, especially small and mid-sized birds, this is hands down the best option out there. I have done short hikes (1 mile or less each way) and can hand hold this with the Z8 no problem for up to two hours. A third of a stop slower is not a thing for me, and in fact I am often shooting at f7.1 and f8 because this lens is even sharper if you stop it down a little bit. This lens has excellent resolving power in less than good light, which unfortunately is not a specification that is published (has more to do with the particular elements inside the lens). I also have the Z 600 PF, and that is another great option. Although, it is not as sharp with the 1.4xTC at 840mm f9 as the Z 800 PF is at f6.3. And the Z 800 PF gets even sharper at f7.1 and sharper still at f8. The Z 600 PF gets less sharp if you stop it down. The Z 600 PF has the same level of excellent resolving power in less than good light, the AF is faster, VR is better, and obviously it is much lighter, smaller, and less expensive. Canon and Sony have nothing that can even remotely compete with these two Z lenses. Or the Z 400/600 TC pro lenses. Nikon is easily ahead of Canon in the 400mm+ game, and both of them are far ahead of Sony.

[@woodymallory9058]

Nice addition to your kit,I know you will make it work for your style of photography

[@Ben_Stewart]

I've had the 800PF since last fall (wish I waited for the discount) but overall it made photography fun for me. It weighs as much as the 180-600 and feels great in the hands. I deal with telescopes so 800mm is kinda in the middle of what I use for Astrophotography. The only issue I think this lens is a victim of is heat. Summer time here I doubt I will be able to use the lens as often due to heat distortion. Otherwise like the 400 4.5 it's a keeper.

[@Just_Me-p9w]

I have this lens , I agree about the tripod foot on the Nikon super tele lenses, it is very comfortable to hold. I bought third party feet for this lens and the 500 F4 FL, and ended up going back to the Nikon foot because of how comfortable it is to hold.

[@alanyoungphoto]

I very much appreciate little touches like that which show that the engineers understood the assignment.

[@stevewaycott]

@@alanyoungphoto I replaced the stock foot on my 800pf with a Leofoto foot that has the Arca-Swiss grooves and also the padded underside for gripping. I find it is just as comfortable for carrying as the Nikon foot, if not more so because the base of the foot is longer and therefore there's more to hold onto to. And it was considerably less expensive than some of the other better known brands. I love it!

[@AstairVentof]

Definitely, feel you with the big lens/camera comments. Sigh. I'm only using the RF 100-500 so really must be tough with something like the 800 PF

[@craut1809]

Nice initial feedback. Will wait for a detailed review. Hopefully, it will come soon.

[@nikhiltrama]

What are your views on heat or atmospheric distortion with this lens ?

[@ryancooper3629]

The biggest concern I'd have with that lens is when you are working at 800mm or beyond, I just find it can be really tough at times to lock onto small subjects because the DoF is so small and the compression is so intense. You get disoriented in the frame. I find with my 500PF I can easily lock onto small birds quick, but when I stick my 1.7TC on it, things get really tricky. My other fear with the lens is that because of that huge minimum focusing distance that I will miss out on some golden opportunities because subjects show up too close. Gorgeous lens though! I certainly kinda still want one! haha

[@pentagramyt417]

You are right. MFD is sometimes a surprise. Like I had with my Sony 200-600, If I had a prime lens at one time, I would NEVER photograph a wild pheasant in a city, who jumped from behind random wall in a park, exactly 2.5-3 METERS in front of me. I was as same surprised as he was. Just by the fact I had the zoom I could make photo on ~250-300 mm + MFD is 2.5 at the long end so I had some room to operate.. Normally he would get the fk out of there in a second, but by the fact I immediately stayed still he just moved forward and keeping his eyes on me :D I was NEVER so close to pheasant, usually it's not smaller distance than 20-30 meters.. Sometimes I hate this heavy zooms, but then we talk about 4-5 meters MFD on prime lenses and lack of zooming..

[@Chris_Wolfgram]

Some people (the ones with very expensive prime lenses) get mad when I say this, but in my personal opinion, "sharpness" is just getting to mean less and less nowadays. What I mean by that, is that "most" of the modern lenses made for mirrorless, are getting to be really sharp. I can't really use Nikon as an example, as they make nothing else in the 800mm range. But I'm a Canon guy anyway (not a fanboy, just the way it worked out) So, is there a difference between the $17K, RF 800 F5.6, and the $1k RF 800 F11... Or the $1900 RF 200-800 ? Well, I sure hope so. However, if each of these lenses is used to its fullest, and then the images are sized down to 4 or 5 mp's for digital viewing (99% of folks uses these days) people will have a very hard time being able to tell which photos came from the $17K lens, or the $1K or $2K lens. It's just an uncomfortable fact which I have learned from first hand experience. Btw, that PF 800 was my dream lens for about a year. But I've come to believe the versatility of a zoom is a bigger deal, than the almost imperceotastable difference in sharpness (shrunk to 4 or 5 mp) of expensive Primes and say the Canon RF 200-800.

[@JFANDAPMFung-wp4jp]

I love this lens. I changed the lens foot to an arca swiss to avoid using a plate. Very much agree with all the comments you get from strangers when using it 😂

[@NikonDave]

Please share if you come up with a bag solution. That's been my only issue thus far.

[@alanyoungphoto]

Will do!

[@travislucas7483]

Vertex photographic will make you a backpack for it.

[@Bikerbeest]

Think Tank Firstlight 46L is the bag you need My 800 mm F6.3 fits perfect in my bag even with my Nikon Z9 attached

[@AlexanderYoung-fw9de]

When you pulled out the camera at the start, to me it looked like a gun😅 😂

[@dominiclester3232]

Bleeding edge? Leading edge is the common phrase or is this a new phrase?

[@Ben_Stewart]

Are we talking about airplanes?