Not what the main reviewers say about its performance at 400mm. Lensrentals in their 400mm shootout:
"Commonly called the 80-400 VR II, this lens has been the Nikon 400mm zoom for some time now. It’s, well, it’s better up to about 300mm, but it’s just not that good when you stretch it out to 400mm. Not a great performance for a lens that demands a premium price."
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2016/08/the-sort-of-great-400mm-shootout/
And lenstip's measurements show it to be inferior to the 100-400mm II
https://www.lenstip.com/448.4-Lens_...400_mm_f_4.5-5.6G_ED_VR_Image_resolution.html
And there are various other reviews that don't rate it at 400mm that I have read and can't be bothered to seek out, but here is one I remember by ePhotozine
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon-nikkor-80-400mm-f-4-5-5-6g-ed-vr-ii-review-22065
Thanks for your reply, AlanF.
These test results are more or less unanimous, and that really puzzled me. Because this does not correspond with what I have seen over the last 1½ years in results from 3 people having a D500 with the 80-400mm and 4 people with the 7D Mk II (including myself) from my photo club.
So yesterday I have met with two of them and checked what these test results describe. And I think I have found the cause of the difference.
When comparing
raw image of the D500 with 80-400mm with raw images from the 7D Mk II with the 100-400 II, the raw images of the 80-400 do indeed become worse more quickly in the range from around 320 mm to 400 mm. At 400 mm the images from the Canon 100-400 II are indeed less ‘fuzzy’ (sharper and/or more detail) than those of the Nikon 80-400mm. I never noticed that, because I never directly compared the raw images of both cameras. That establishes the results of the tests that AlanF referred to and that was a surprise, to be honest.
But I also found that after post-processing, the situation is really different.
The
processed images of the D500 with 80-400mm are quite a bit better - but also with limitation as we have seen now. This is true only in a specific zoom range: it turns out that this is (only) applicable between 100 and around 250mm zoom.
The better Dynamic Range of the D500-body probably is important here (although many on this forum keep repeating that the difference in DR is minor or even that DR is hardly important: it is for action photography of air planes in less than ideal lighting). This gives the raw files of the D500 more room for correction in parts of the image with less-than-ideal exposure.
Also the Noise in the processed images from the D500 seems to be (a bit) better than in those from the 7D Mk II – although that can also have a relation with the DR because e.g. shades do not have to be pushed near the sensor’s maximum performance with the D500.
On the other hand: in more ideal lighting situations e.g. where the light comes from the rear of the photographer
and without hard shades (e.g. with only light, high clouds)
and at 400 mm zoom, the processed images of the D500 with 80-400mm are comparable to those of the 7D Mk II in detail and contrast. So they are not better any more when the light is very good. Because the sensor of the D500 is better than the sensor of the 7D Mk II, this can only mean that the performance of the 80-400mm at 400mm really takes a dive. And that is what the test results from AlanF's reply say.
It turned out that we often compared images that were shot at between 220 and 350mm zoom, and that probably explains why we did not notice that before although it was there all the time. All in all, these results have been a bit of a surprise to me.
Check the specs of those others, blows the D500 away.
Indeed: check the specs.
-Check the number of AF-points: the D500 has 153, the 7D Mk II has 65.
-Check the number of cross-type AF points: the D500 has 99, the 7D Mk II has 65.
-Check the number of f/8 AF-points: the D500 yes, the 7D Mk II no.
Because specs often do not tell the whole story (compare Sony specs to Canon specs and then how some of them actually perform), it is relevant to know how the AF system actually performs.
And then the better specs of the D500 are confirmed to give better AF performace in real life.
The AF system of the D500 is quite generally desctibed to be more advanced, more precise and more customizable than that of the (much older) 7D Mk II.
This is particularly the case for fast moving subjects.
And this is even more the case where the lighting is low or otherwise not ideal and/or where the subject has low contrast.