Too good to be true?

With a long zoom range at a tempting price, Nikon’s AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens could be outstanding. Phil Hall tries it out on a wildlife photography trip

- Phil Hall

Despite advances in camera resolution that offer the option to crop images more aggressively, anyone who has tried to shoot wildlife or action will tell you there’s no substitute for filling the frame with your chosen subject.

In the past, this has meant using a large and expensive prime telephoto lens, which, unless you have very deep pockets, is only really for the realm of the professional. Moreover, the likes of a more affordable 100-400mm or 80-400mm zoom still doesn’t have quite the desired reach for many subjects. Both Sigma and Tamron have spotted a gap in the market and released 150-600mm superzoom lenses, and not wishing to miss out on this potentially lucrative market, Nikon has also come up with its own solution.

While not having quite the same staggering range as the third-party alternatives, the AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR looks as if it could hit the sweet spot for many photographers wanting a far-reaching telephoto lens that’s not going to break the bank.

Little owls

The Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 is undoubtedly a lens that’s going to appeal to wildlife photographers, so when award-winning nature photographers Elliott Neep and Richard Peters invited me to Eastbrook Farm in Wiltshire – the 1,400-acre home of Helen Browning Organic – to try out one of their professional wildlife photography hides, I jumped at the chance.