Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR review

The Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR delivers excellent performance at a high price and a hefty weight

Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR
(Image: © Nikon)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Most of us don’t have deep enough pockets to buy this lens, let alone carry it, but it’s a mighty super-telephoto prime. There’s no getting away from the fact that combining a 400mm focal length with a fast f/2.8 aperture is going to result in a big, weighty build but handling, performance and image quality are simply epic through and through.

Pros

  • +

    Spectacular image quality

  • +

    Refined handling characteristics

  • +

    Fast f/2.8 aperture

Cons

  • -

    Big

  • -

    Heavy

  • -

    Expensive

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The Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8E FL ED VR sits alongside very similar 500mm f/4, 600mm f/4 and 800mm f/5.6 lenses in Nikon’s F-mount stable. As such, it’s the shortest in terms of focal length and the fastest for aperture. Indeed, at f/2.8, it helps to maintain fast shutter speeds for freezing the action even under dull lighting conditions, as well as enabling a tight depth of field for isolating the main subject within a scene.

Specifications

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.