Nikon 200mm f/4 QC Lens Review

Image © KEH.com

Background

Another lens picked up for a little bit of nothing.   I figure, why not check it out.  For the price let's see what this very light 200mm f/4 lens can do.

Handling/Size/Weight

Long and slim, this 200mm f/4 QC lens may look a bit odd when compared to modern lens standards.  Heck even compared to the legacy Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED lens, it looks way different.   It does handle relatively well, with everything you'd want in very familiar places.

Given it's relative size, you'd expect this metal lens to weigh more than it feels like it does.  It is very deceptive in that way.

Image Quality

One would hope that the wide open performance of this lens would be acceptable.   What great find it would be to have a 200mm f/4 on a DSLR or even a 400mm f/4 field of view on a Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera.

How does the lens perform?  See what we were able to pull from it below.

Some samples of the lens adapted to the Olympus PEN-F and Fotodiox adapter.  We are looking at a 400mm field of view.  Processed in Lightroom.

1/400, f/4, ISO 200 

1/160, f/4, ISO 200

1/160, f/4, ISO 200

Now, let's look at what it can do on the Nikon Df.

1/500, f/4, ISO 100

1/400, f/5.6, ISO 100

1/200, f/4, ISO 560

1/400, f/4, ISO 100

1/500, f/8, ISO 4500

1/500, f/8, ISO 5000

1/500, f/8, ISO 1800

1/500, f/5.6, ISO 5600

Focusing

I found the manual focusing of this lens to be a bit better than that of the Nikon 300/4.5 AI.  It is similar in feel to the Nikon 105/2.5 and the 135/3.5 Q.

It gets the job done for you with a decently dampened focus ring, and at the end of the day that is a testament to the Nikon build quality.

Bottom Line

If prime lenses are your thing, like or don't mind using manual focus lenses check this one out.  For the price you pay, you still get one heck of a lens that will probably still be working long after most of us are no longer breathing.