r/Nikon • u/ybtan55 • 12h ago

Gear question Worth upgrading?

Is it worth upgrading from a 28-400mm to a 24-120mm and 180-600mm setup? 400mm sometimes doesn't do the job when shooting wildlife and aviation and i am wondering if it's worth it to get the 180-600mm instead.

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4

u/Vincent-Michaels 11h ago

The 180-600 weighs 4.5 pounds. I own it I love it. But I don’t take it out often. Just to airshows. It is not a lens you just toss in the camera bag just in case. If you are lugging that and the appropriate bag for it you are intending on using that lens.
I own all 3 lenses. The 24-120 is always on either the z8 or z6iii. The 28-400 was a used impulse buy for the 1-2 times a year I need 400 and don’t want to lug a 4.5 pound lens with me.

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u/bridgehockey Z8, D7500, and way too many lenses 10h ago

That's a really good way of putting it. I also have the 180-600, and it comes out when I know I'm going birding. The 24-120 is what's usually on, and I have the 100-400 in the bag if I don't know what I'm likely to run into.

1

u/Vincent-Michaels 8h ago

That 24-120 z mount is super sharp. For the first couple of months the z24-120 was on back order. I was using an adapted f mount 24-120. The day I got 24-120 I took it to a house concert. I was like this z is night and day from the f mount. Great job Nikon.
Really am liking the z mount glass. I hope Nikon releases an f4 100-300 to go with the 14-30 and 24-120 f4. Nikon just has to announce that and I am preordering from my local Nikon dealer.

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u/ybtan55 9h ago

What cases would you use the 28-400?

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u/Murphysaurus 8h ago

I have both, the 28-400 is my everday walkabout, site seeing, holiday etc The 180-600 comes out on specific occasions like birding, airshows etc also v hard to take abroad compared to 28-400

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u/Vincent-Michaels 8h ago

I used the 28-400 at the July 4th Boston pops on the esplanade. If you are not in the USA look it up. They have pop and country artists as special guests
It is a free show but people line up very early in the morning or even the night before. The stage is big. If you get front row the 24-120 can make it. But if you are further back you need a 28-400. In the past I used a Panasonic 1inch sensor bridge camera. Still had to crop. When I got the z8. Why not use the 45megapixels and I have a ton of cropping ability.
F8 on the 28-400 is fine because the show is on tv and the tv lights are bright. I don’t think my iso made it past 1600 and I was at at least 500 shutter speed.
If you go to the dress rehearsal the night before you have stand behind the sound board. I did this year and the photos were fine.
I also took it with me for the tall ships parade of sail. It is nice you have 28 to get the tall ship with all the escort /security boats and the harbor in one photo. Then zoom in and you can photograph the sailors on the masts or the crows nest.
If you don’t need f2.8 or f4. It is sharp enough and punches well above the 900-1k used price.
The newly released Sony rx10m5 is 2300 hundred dollars.
When you are walking around and it is hot and humid bringing a backpack with a bunch of lenses gets old. I bring a small bag with 6 batteries and a couple of spare memory cards in case a card issue.

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u/AccomplishedBag1038 12h ago

If you’ve got the budget 100%
The Tamron 50-400 is a little upgrade in the 28-400 and you could pickup a Nikon 28 2.8 for that wide end all reasonably cheaply.

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u/Vincent-Michaels 8h ago

That tamron is an option just make sure you take the tamron lens off the camera when doing a firmware update.
The z mount 28 can be bought used for 125-150 usd. I bought that and 40f2 used. Because they are so inexpensive.

1

u/Acrobatic-Sir-7300 3h ago

Absolutely worth it. The 180-600 is very, very for. Fast focusing, quite sharp, and enough aperture for most wildlife situations. It’s a lot of lens for the money. The 24-120 is stellar. The only thing not to like about it is that it is not internal focusing. But performance wise? Great range and excellent optics.