Lens Testing - Nikon 80-400vr versus 300F4 with Nikon 1.4 TC - June 5, 2011 - page 5

I now have a new Nikon 300 F4 AF-S with Nikon 1.4 TC. Like my previous test with a borrowed 300F4, I ran a comparison test against my 80-400vr. The test was simple. I mounted each lens on my D300, which was set on a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead on top of a Gitzo 3550 tripod. Mirror-up with a corded remote release was used for each shot. No settings, except ISO, were changed on the camera. The focus point should have been on the owl chick. No post processing or sharpening has been done. I ran this test after performing an AF fine tune on the lenses as the 300F4 and TC were front focusing noticeably at first.

This is a series of shots at different F-stops, from F4.0 on up to see how sharpness varied. Converted from NEF to JPG with ViewNX2. For more information, view the EXIF data. Images are not resized. The tripod position was not moved, so the 300 with 1.4 tc (effective 420mm) puts a few more pixels on the subject.

There was wind blowing the feathers a lot at times. And the sun was quite harsh and directly overhead. And it was hot...

The first set of images is with the 300F4 alone. The second set of images is the 300F4 with the Nikon 1.4TC (420mm focal length). The third set is with the 80-400vr at 400mm.

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