What's Cotton Carrier's Favorite Lens

What's Cotton Carrier's Favorite Lens

Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 ED VR

When it comes to a lens we had to pick something versatile and practical. Something that fits in your carry-on while holding enough zoom to capture subjects we don't want to disturb. The 200-500mm fit this category plus its a whole lot of fun and works great with the Harness system. 

Image quality is something we hold dear and near as at Cotton Carrier headquarters we have a 24 inch canvas printer and print a lot of our work. When the photo gets big, the quality is really put to the test. This beast holds true when printed at enormous sizes. Even with F/5.6, the 4 stops of VR keep the smallest details tac sharp when enlarged.

Overall we are super happy with the Nikkor 200-500mm F/5,6 VR ED lens and would recommend it across the board. For what it's worth it is reasonably priced (We know camera gear isn't always the cheapest) and are happy to give it our A for approval.

What we liked:

- Light enough to carry around all day and fits well in a bag
- Great for birding, wildlife, sports, where zoom is required
- F/5.6 allows to blow out background with a nice bokeh
- Using a DX Sensor it is an equivalent 750mm
- Massive VR that goes up to 4.5 stops of reduction (amazing for handheld)
- ED or Extra Low Dispersion glass cuts the glare of bright sunlight
- Strong and robust lens collar 
- Not the cheapest lens but value for dollar is great

Cons:

- Slightly limited with f/5.6 
- Not the best with teleconverters

 

A few photos taken with the lens by @GregKleinPhotography using the lens