The age of the relatively affordable super telephoto zoom lens is upon us. Nikon's entry into the foray, the AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR ($1,339.95), combines crisp optics with a narrow aperture that helps to keep its weight manageable and its price down to earth. It is, after all, a bargain compared with the shorter, but faster, AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II. The 200-500mm's development and release is no doubt in response to a spate of third-party zooms that are cut from the same cloth. Our favorite of those, and the reigning Editors' Choice for this class of lens, is the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary, which outguns the Nikon, while undercutting its cost.

Design
The 200-500mm is a hefty lens, which is not surprising given its range of coverage. It measures 10.5 by 4.25 inches (HD), has a huge front element that accepts 95mm filters, and weighs 5.1 pounds. It's heavier than some of the competition—the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary is lighter at 4.3 pounds—but handheld use is not at all out of the question. A reversible lens hood, front and rear caps, and a soft carrying case are included with the lens.

You may prefer pairing it with a monopod or tripod for extended outings. A rotating tripod collar is part of the design, so you can switch from landscape to portrait orientation quickly. If you're a purely handheld shooter, the collar is removable. Just remember to use it when you're employing a support system, as the weight of the lens can put a lot of stress on your camera's mount if you use the tripod mount on the camera body. Using the collar better distributes the weight, reducing the stress on the entire system.

The zoom ring sits behind the front element and occupies much of the barrel. It's covered in textured rubber, and is marked at 200mm, 300mm, 400mm, and 500mm. The lens telescopes when zooming, but there is a lock that can keep it in place at its shortest 200mm length to prevent gravity from causing it to creep to other focal lengths.

There are four toggle switches, including two to control the focus system and two to adjust the 4.5-stop Vibration Reduction (VR) system. To engage autofocus, with full-time manual focus override, switch the top toggle to the M/A setting; for full manual focus, set it to M. The focus ring sits between the switches and the locking mechanism, and is also covered in textured rubber.

There's a focus limiter function built in. You can set the lens to hunt across its entire range by moving the limiter switch to Full, or restrict it to hunting for focus at distance only by setting it to the Infinity to 6 meter position. The lens can focus on objects as close as 7.2 feet (2.2 meters), giving it a 0.22x (1:4.5) magnification ratio, slightly higher than the 1:5 managed by the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary.

The VR system can be turned on or off by another switch, located below the two that control the focus system. It's joined by the final toggle, which is used to switch between Normal and Sport VR operation. You'll want to use Normal most of the time, but if you plan on panning the lens to track subjects while shooting, switch to Sport.

The lens is designed for use with full-frame (FX) Nikon cameras, but can also be used on an APS-C (DX) body, where its field of view is narrowed. When used on a DX body like the D500 ($1,496.95 at Amazon) , it acts like a 300-750mm zoom on a full-frame system. But because it uses a newer, electronically controlled diaphragm, it can't be used with some older Nikon D-SLRs. If you own a D2, D1, D200, D100, D90, D80, D70, D60, D50, D40, or D3000, consider upgrading to a different lens.

Image Quality
I used Imatest to evaluate the image quality that the 200-500mm is able to muster when paired with the full-frame, 36-megapixel D810 ($1,996.95 at Amazon) . At 200mm f/5.6 the Nikkor delivers a strong center-weighted sharpness score, 2,830 lines per picture height, which is better than the 2,200 lines we hope to see from a high-resolution imaging system like the D810. That quality holds through most of the frame, but the periphery is noticeably soft, notching just 1,714 lines.

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Stopping down to f/8 improves the overall score to 3,162 lines, and edges sharpen to 2,330 lines. Peak resolution is at f/11 (3,723 liens), and results remain strong at f/16 (3,541 lines). Try to avoid shooting at f/22 (2,870 lines) and f/32 (1,817 lines). When tested with the same D810, the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary shows similar sharpness (3,073 lines) and edge softness at 150mm, but at 200mm is a stronger performer than the Nikkor. The Sigma scores 3,803 lines at 200mm f/5.3, with strong performance from edge to edge.

At 300mm, the Nikkor notches 3,243 lines on the center-weighted test, with strong performance at the edges (2,962 lines). There's improvement at f/8 (3,373 lines) and f/11 (3,603 lines), before resolution takes a slight hit at f/16 (3,276 lines). Again, avoid f/22 (2,769 lines) and f/32 (1,768 lines). The Sigma continues to outperform the Nikkor here, notching 3,986 lines at 300mm f/5.6.

The limits of our testing environment are met at 400mm, where the Nikkor manages 3,027 lines at f/5.6, with edges that lag behind the center, but are still fairly crisp at 2,791 lines. Stopping down to f/8 improves the score to 3,331 lines, and peak resolution is achieved at f/11, 3,599 lines. There's a dip at f/16 (3,220 lines) and a big drop at f/22 (2,442 lines) and f/32 (1,720 lines). The Sigma lens lags just behind the Nikkor here, showing 2,948 lines at 400mm f/6, with edges that lag behind the center (2,302 lines).

A visual examination at 500mm shows that image quality is on the same level as it is at 400mm. At 500mm, the Sigma lens shows results similar to what it did at 400mm, with edges crisping up a bit at f/8. Results from the Sigma are similar at 600mm, a focal length the Nikkor cannot reach.

Distortion isn't a big issue with the 200-500mm. It shows about 1-percent pincushion distortion throughout its zoom range. That will give straight lines the appearance of a slight inward curve, and can be noticed in field conditions if you look for it, but is really a minor issue. The Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary shows a little bit more (1.2 percent).

Conclusions
The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR is a strong performer overall, and would no doubt merit a higher rating if it existed in a vacuum. It captures crisp images, zooms across a long range for telephoto photography, and isn't so large or heavy that you'd avoid taking it with you on a hike. It's a solid choice for capturing sports, wildlife, and other distant subjects. But it's not peerless. I compared it heavily with the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary in this review for a reason. Third-party lenses may be a turnoff for some Nikon brand loyalists, and while in the past you could step on some landmines when choosing a lens that wasn't a brand name, the Sigma model simply outperforms the Nikkor, capturing photos that are sharper or just as sharp across a zoom range that both betters the Nikon in terms of wide and telephoto coverage, and doing so at a lower price point. That's why the Sigma is our Editors' Choice for super telephoto zoom lenses. The Nikkor is a solid performer in its own right, but one that's outclassed by its closest competition.

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