On receipt of this lens despite being aware of the weight I was slightly disappointed by the size and weight. I had previously rented a Sigma and the Canon 100 to 400 to evaluate with my Canon 50D but I need a lens for my Nikon D300 so I bit the bullet and bought the Nikon 200 to 400 without a trial. Despite my early disappointment I am overwhelmed with the physical quality and image quality of the product. I have given it five stars because the image quality, VR and focussing etc are excellent, but in all honesty unlike the Canon it is too heavy for hand held shooting, a tripod or other support is a must, however the few hand held images I have taken are excellent even with a Tamron 1.4 extender. My photographic interest is mainly birds and wildlife and again ... MoreOn receipt of this lens despite being aware of the weight I was slightly disappointed by the size and weight. I had previously rented a Sigma and the Canon 100 to 400 to evaluate with my Canon 50D but I need a lens for my Nikon D300 so I bit the bullet and bought the Nikon 200 to 400 without a trial. Despite my early disappointment I am overwhelmed with the physical quality and image quality of the product. I have given it five stars because the image quality, VR and focussing etc are excellent, but in all honesty unlike the Canon it is too heavy for hand held shooting, a tripod or other support is a must, however the few hand held images I have taken are excellent even with a Tamron 1.4 extender. My photographic interest is mainly birds and wildlife and again unlike the Canon 100 to 400 it is difficult to maneuvre this lens quickly for in-flight birds but the static images are spectacular at 400mm and with the 1.4 extender. I have since done some Photoshop work to remove twigs and branches etc but the focus out of the camera is virtually as shot on the attached images. In summary I am pleased with the lens and would recommend it highly despite its weight.

I have had this lens now for little under four years. I have taken this lens every where with me from Alaska to South Africa for wild life and just got back from Tanzania yesterday Feb 15 2017. Shot over 10,000 frames in Tanzania and very happy with the results. I also shoot high school football games at night under very poor light and still get fair results but then again I have it married to the Nikon D5. I suggest you rent before you buy. I also have a Nikon 2.8 300mm lens I bought for doing the night football games. The 300 ended up sitting on the shelf at home.

The Nikon AF-S VR G 200-400 mm f/4.0 zoom is a pro lens by any means. You may also call it a "tool", so you should buy it if you have a job in mind for it. I bought mine for airplane and airshow photography. I have a Nikon 300 mm f/2.8 prime lens that I use a lot and it is excellent for me under most circumstances, but there are times when a fixed focal length lens is less than optimal. At most airshows the photographer's move relative to the airplanes is limited. Often times the planes fly across my field of view, at a relatively constant distance from me, but the military demo teams such as the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels may fly directly overhead at me or away from me. These are the times when I wish I had a zoom to follow them, and that this zoom be as good ... MoreThe Nikon AF-S VR G 200-400 mm f/4.0 zoom is a pro lens by any means. You may also call it a "tool", so you should buy it if you have a job in mind for it. I bought mine for airplane and airshow photography. I have a Nikon 300 mm f/2.8 prime lens that I use a lot and it is excellent for me under most circumstances, but there are times when a fixed focal length lens is less than optimal. At most airshows the photographer's move relative to the airplanes is limited. Often times the planes fly across my field of view, at a relatively constant distance from me, but the military demo teams such as the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels may fly directly overhead at me or away from me. These are the times when I wish I had a zoom to follow them, and that this zoom be as good as a fast prime lens. For me, the Nikon 200-400 f/4.0 serves exactly this purpose. I can photograph the planes when they are flying down the runway or when they are flying across it, directly towards me. The 200-400 f/4.0 lens is sharp, it has incredible details and it is virtually free of the so annoying color fringes and distortions that less capable lenses suffer from. The autofocus is extremely fast as you would expect from a lens designed for sports and wildlife photography. You can read the detailed technical reviews of this lens at various photography web sites, so I'm not going to go into those details here. I only want to say that this lens can do all the things that the reviews say it can. Of course, this lens is heavy. I recommend using a tripod with a gimbal head, especially for fast paced sports, like airshows, boat or car races and such. You may try using a monopod but be careful with the traditional ball heads. I have used monopod with my 300 f/2.8 but the 200-400 f/4.0 is longer and heavier than the 300, so be careful how you set the friction of the ball. There is one thing you must know if you buy this lens. Some versions of its carry bag, the Nikon CL-L2 case, is under recall because the bottom of the old style case can fall out. An accident like that almost certainly would destroy your investment. I followed the instructions on the Nikon web site to request a replacement bag, and eventually got the new style case. Customer service lost track of my replacement request along the way, so it took a few phone calls and emails to sort this out, but finally I got a new style carry case that I can trust. I am looking forward to the new air show season with this lens. Based on my limited tries at my local airport I am very confident that I won't be returning this beauty to the seller.