If you're interested in a photographic discipline that requires big, long lenses—wildlife and sports are the two obvious examples—you're used to the prospect of carrying a big, heavy lens to bridge the distance between your camera and distant subject matter. The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR ($3,599.95) is another answer: It weighs about three pounds, unheard of for a lens this long, and offers very strong image quality. It's also one of the lowest priced 500mm primes on the market. Put it all together and you have a lens that's easy to recommend as our Editors' Choice. The Lightweight Super Telephoto Telephoto lenses are big. And they're heavy. That's the rule. A typical 500mm, like the Sigma 500mm F4 DG OS HSM Sports, weighs around seven pounds. Zooms that cover the extreme telephoto range are lighter—the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR can approach five pounds—but sacrifice light gathering and make compromises on image quality compared with prime lenses. The...
You won't find a lens like the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR elsewhere—it's a lightweight super telephoto prime with excellent optics, an attractive price, and a narrow angle of view that's ideal for capturing distant subjects.
Lightweight build; Long reach; Excellent optical stabilization; Sharp optics with no distortion and minimal vignette
Relatively narrow maximum f-stop; Not compatible with some older cameras