| Joined: | Thu Apr 19th, 2012 |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
| Posts: | 4424 |
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The 80-400 is going back for a refund. Having done exhaustive tests this lens just isn't good enough.
At 400mm it's no where near as sharp as my 300mmP lens WITH the 1.4x teleconverter attached!
Now I know you get lens to lens variation. I myself tried 3 different 17-35mm zooms back in the day before getting a sharp one. So maybe the first owner of this found it was soft too late and took a big PX hit on it.
Hopefully they will refund my payment in full and I can start again.
I could buy a new one and keep trying/buying till I get a good one. But strangely the WEX technical support were at pains to point out that the zoom isn't as sharp as the new prime...especially with a teleconverter added. Now they could have been trying to persuade me to hang onto it...but as I said "why would I want to keep something that's not as sharp as what I have already, at half the weight?". Or they may just have been spouting conventional wisdom re zooms versus primes. Whatever the reasoning I wasn't buying their thinking, any more than buying an inferior lens.
My hope was to use the teleconverter on the 400mm...in fact it was my raison d'ªtre for buying it....I've already got 420mm! The drop off in IQ was significant on this lens even without the tc ...so no point.
I am tempted to bide my time before buying another and wait to see what the 500m P lens delivers. There is no doubt the weight of the 80-400 is noticeable walking round a reserve all day ...being twice the weight of the 300mm f4. And I never used the zoom wider than 400mm, as everything was typically too distant....even when an egret flew passed the window it was at 400mm. So it will be interesting to see what the 500 weighs in at...kg and ££.
In the meantime I will take my existing kit on holiday and decide course of action when I return. Who. knows...there may be a mirrorless Nikon to distract me this autumn while I wait the arrival of the 500mm.
Last edited on Wed Aug 8th, 2018 15:15 by Eric
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Eric