Has anybody had any experience with the Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6D ED AF VR lens? How is the sharpness/quality of the images? I am debating between this lens and the 70-200mm F/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR and get a longer telephoto later on down the road or get a teleconverter. ... My subjects usually include Landscapes/cityscapes, portraits, night photography and surfing.
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You are in luck. I have owned the 80-400mm VR for at least three years now, the 70-200mm f2.8 VR since last June, and......I am mostly a night photographer this time of year. Here's my thoughts.
The 70-200mm f2.8 VR is a much better quality lens. The focus is much faster thanks to AFS, and image quality is slightly better. The lens is also better built. Last summer I went to Hawaii again, and had to choose between the 70-200mm and the 80-400mm. I ended leaving the 70-200mm home. Yes, that's right, I didn't take it. Here's why. The 80-400mm is a much more useful range as a general purpose lens. I got some dynamite windsurfer and board surfer images with it that would not have been possible with the shorter 70-200mm. I saw some cool crabs darting around a volcanic formation at the ocean's edge, and again used the lens racked out to 400mm. The 80-400mm is shorter and fits into my LowePro Offtrail waist pack, the other lens doesn't. The 80-400mm lens is lighter and easier to have all day long. Yes, I tried a Nikon 2x on the 70-200mm VR, and the quality just wasn't there. The image quality on the 80-400mm is very good, better than the 70-200mm with a 2x. I used the 80-400mm VR on my last trip to the Grand Canyon--it's long length pulled in and isolated distant formations.
The 80-400mm is slower to focus, but is a more useful range. I use it most of the time. I use the 70-200mm VR mostly when I have to have a faster lens, such as photo'ing Chicago Loop trains at night etc. I probably use the 80-400mm 75% of the time, the 70-200mm 25% of the time. I'm outdoors taking photos pretty much ever day (and in winter I mostly photo at night.) I think I have enough experience with both lenses to have a fair opinion. For what you say you want to photo, all in all the 80-400mm would slightly edge out the shorter lens. Especially if you travel with it. If you photo surfing at night, then the f2.8 lens would be a better bet if you can get close to the action.
Kent in SD