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Go to great lengths with Nikon’s new AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lens and dedicated teleconverter (29.01.2013)
Nikon today launches a new super-telephoto, single-focal-length lens with dedicated teleconverter. The AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR lens with AF-S TELECONVERTER TC800-1.25E ED uses high-end components and advanced technologies to lower weight, improve handling, and enhance image quality. It’s the first NIKKOR lens to use sophisticated technologies and materials like electromagnetic diaphragm control and fluorite lens elements, alongside tried-and-tested features like Vibration Reduction and Nano Crystal Coat.
Boasting the longest focal length in the NIKKOR range, this premium lens is an ideal choice for professional sports and press photographers. When moving nearer to the subject is not an option, the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR delivers the extra reach that brings the subject closer to the camera.
“We developed this lens with the demands of the most discerning professional photographers in mind,” says Zurab Kiknadze, Product Manager, Lenses, Accessories & Software, Nikon Europe. “Not only did we reduce the weight of the typically heavy super-telephoto, and pack the lens full of new to NIKKOR technologies, we also went further—designing a custom-tuned teleconverter to extend the lens’s focal length and ensure that it rightfully occupies the flagship role in our super-telephoto lens lineup.”
Nikon announced the development of the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR in the summer of 2012. Prototypes of the lens were displayed at Photokina in Cologne and tested at major sporting events, where they received highly positive reactions.
Lightweight body with fluorite elements
For a lens that delivers such extreme reach, the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR is surprisingly light and well-balanced. This has been achieved by manufacturing the body from a lightweight, rugged magnesium alloy, and by crafting an improved optical construction that includes two fluorite elements.
The optical system contains a total of 20 elements in 13 groups, including two fluorite and two ED elements. Using fluorite for the front two elements makes the lens’s front portion lighter, and shifts its center of gravity to the rear, ensuring comfortable handling and stable operation. The fluorite elements also deliver superior optical performance, achieving high transmission rates with minimal chromatic aberration and much lower dispersion properties than even super ED glass. Nikon’s antireflective Nano Crystal Coat is employed to ensure clear images with minimal flare and ghosting.
The lens also includes a curved meniscus protective glass, and is supplied with a 52mm NC filter. There’s even a convenient slip-in 52mm filter holder located at the back of the lens.
Highly accurate electromagnetic diaphragm control
The electromagnetic diaphragm reliably achieves highly accurate aperture control with an extremely low incidence of errors.This precise mechanism also provides enhanced stability in auto exposure control during continuous shooting, and increased accuracy—especially when the lens is used with its teleconverter, requiring double aperture linkage.
To improve stability, the VR (Vibration Reduction) mechanism provides compensation equivalent to a shutter speed approximately four stops faster. Normal and Active VR modes deliver stable shooting for different amounts and rates of camera movement, while automatic tripod detection reduces vibration from shutter release when the camera is mounted on a tripod. The AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR also has an integrated tripod foot for improved balance when attached to a tripod.
The lens incorporates SWM (Silent Wave Motor) for fast, accurate focus acquisition. Three focus modes are employed: A/M (autofocus with manual override, AF priority mode), M/A (switch from autofocus to manual operation in any AF mode instantly), and M (manual).
Dedicated teleconverter
Every AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR is supplied with an AF-S TELECONVERTER TC800-1.25E ED—the first teleconverter to employ an ED glass element to correct chromatic aberration, an issue to which long focal length lenses are especially prone.
Developed exclusively for use with the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR (not sold separately), each teleconverter is custom-tuned with the individual lens in order to maintain its superior optical performance, while extending the lens’s focal length to 1,000 mm.
The lens and its dedicated teleconverter are supplied in a hard carrying case (TC-801) for convenient, safe transportation.
Specifications
- Focal length: 800 mm
- Max. aperture: f/5.6
- Min. aperture: f/32
- Lens construction: 20 elements in 13 groups (plus one protective glass)
- No. diaphragm blades: 9 (rounded)
- Closest focusing distance: 5.9 m (19.4 ft) in AF mode; 5.8 m (19.0 ft) in MF mode
- Filter/attachment size: 52 mm
- Diameter x length: Approximately 160 x 461 mm (6.3 x 18.1 in.)
- Weight: Approximately 4,590 g (161.9 oz) or 4,725 g (166.7 oz) with the teleconverter attached
- Remarks: Dedicated AF-S TELECONVERTER TC800-1.25E ED supplied
