I bought this lens to use on my Z9 replacing a 200-500 f/5.6. I was happy with the sharpness of the 200-500 but I found the AF a little slow for birds in flight. I had read many good reviews on the 500PF so I finally decided to give it a try. The lens greatly exceeded my expectations. While I was happy with the sharpness of the 200--500, this lens is much sharper and the contrast and color rendition is also much better. With careful post processing and good light I could get the 200-500 images to look close. But the real game changer was the AF speed. This lens focuses at least twice as fast as the 200-500. It grabs the initial focus much faster and stays locked on. Shooting at 20 fps, I'll often get a burst of 20-25 images all sharp. The 200-500 never came close to this.

I debated this lens against the new 400mm Z f/4.5. I liked the idea of a Z lens, it would be my first, and having f/4.5 at 400mm. But for my needs 400mm is a little short. So the decision became the 500PF or the 400mm f/4.5 with a TC-14 giving 560mm but at f/6.3. I decided that 560mm wasn't much of an improvement over 500 especially at f/6.3. Also with the TC-14 the AF would not be as fast, it actually would be about as fast as the 200-500. With the 500PF and a TC-14 I would have a 700mm f/8.0, great for still subjects. If I only need 400mm the 400 would have been my choice. But for me, the 500 was a much better choice.

I have been waiting a long time for this lens and very happy that performance and weight have met my expectations. I shoot hand held, and the lighter weight and slimmer barrel allow me to hold steadier and for longer. This is a game changer for me, as I photograph wildlife , mostly birds, and usually am walking. I am a petite but strong 63 yo , and would carry my 200-500mm (which I love), but after a couple hours, found it challenging to maintain a steady hold due to arm fatigue. I’m pleased with the performance of this lens too. Quite crisp and fairly fast focus. Single point is excellent, continuous a little less so, but not so significant as to frustrate me. I also like the creamy backgrounds it has produced, which is smoother and less crinkly than the 300mm PF (which is my go to lens for most everything). It’s too bad Nikon had this long delay in supply, and of course f4 would have been preferred, and a lb. less, and $1500 less. Overall, if you have the money and the use for a 500mm, this lens is great.

I ordered this lens in October 2019 and received it in June2020. B&H kept me informed and my trip was canceled anyway so I did not have a deadline. It is a great lens and there are plenty of reviews that are more comprehensive. It focuses very quickly, even with a 1.4X converter on the back (f8 then is the widest aperture). Images taken with 500mm and cropped to one-sixth the area are still sharp. I am completely pleased with the quality and performance.

I sat on a waiting list for almost a year for my 500/5.6, worried that it wouldn't live up to its notices. I'm pleased to report that image quality is great. I use it mostly for birds and crop heavily. Image quality holds up well under severe cropping. My other telephoto is a Nikkor 300/2.8. I miss the extra light gathering power, but the trade-off in weight and price was worth it. It doesn't focus as fast as the 300/2.8, but fast enough for large birds in flight. Smaller and much lighter than the other lens, it seems almost magical to pack around. The lens doesn't seem very forgiving at high ISO. I haven't been happy with noise in dark images in particular at ISO greater than about 2000 (Nikon D850). The attached image is about 10% of the original frame, not processed other than cropping. Overall, if you aren't concerned about low light conditions the 500/5.6 is a great, economical choice that will make super-telephoto photography affordable for a lot of people.

I've tried to get by on the least expensive route to shoot birds in flight. I've tried the Nikon 300mm f4 VR with extender, the Nikon 200-500, the Sigma 100-400, 300mm Olympus, and Sigma 150-600mm. The Sigma is cheap and pretty good, but very big and heavy. The others are just OK. Once in awhile I can get a sharp image, but the conditions and my technique have to be just so. This 500 is small, compact and sharp. There is a reason it is 3x the cost of the other lenses. It is a joy to use. Even when cropping a bird down to 1000 pixels wide, I still have a very sharp image. Amazing. The 1.4x extender doesn't seem to support tracking, but that is something I'm willing to live with.

I've been using this lens for several months now on a D500 body. Here are my findings:
AutoFocus speed is very fast on the D500. As fast as anything I have used (mostly Canon L telephotos).
Sharpness is excellent. I tested it indoors, on a tripod, with a cable release using live view focusing. It’s razor sharp edge to edge.
VR modes - normal mode gave me inconsistent results and overall slightly soft images regardless of shutter speed. Not terrible, but not nearly as good as what my controlled test had shown the lens was capable of.  With VR off, shots were very sharp (if using a fast enough shutter speed to offset any blur from handholding). Luckily VR Sport mode worked great and gave sharp results. Some professional reviewers have had the same experience. Not sure why but in any case, once I set it to VR Sport mode, I was getting excellent and consistent results. I recommend testing the VR modes on your copy. With reviewer comments out there on VR performance ranging from bad to perfect, you might find one or the other mode works better for you or is better on your lens copy.
Bokeh is probably the one drawback on this lens. Simply due to the long focal length, it can produce nice bokeh despite being f/5.6, but sometimes out of focus highlights can look rough.
Size / Weight - very small and light for being a 500mm lens. Makes handholding a lot of fun.

PROS  - very sharp with good contrast, small and light weight, fast AF, a real joy to use this lens. I highly recommend it.

CONS -  f/5.6 can be a disadvantage when shooting in low light and when needing to really blur the background, but in my opinion the size/weight tradeoff is worth it.

It's worth the wait for this lens, and did not disappoint. Too perfect for my style of shooting, the weight is just right for an aging guy like me...

Love it!!! Thank you, Nikon!

Oh my word. How did I live without this lens? So sharp and so fast. I have paired it w/ the D850 and I am loving it for birds. I haven't really even taken it out that much. I uploaded some pics from my feeder (and hawk by the side of the road) and am super happy with the sharpness and detail. Amazing lens.

Great lens for Nature Photography, super detail!!

I rented this lens and did extensive side-by-side comparisons of photos taken with this lens and my prime 500 mm lens (Nikkor AF-S 500 MM 1:4G ED Lens) in challenging shooting conditions in Peru. I was entirely satisfied that I could give up my heavy prime lens and begin carrying the PF lens as my only 500 mm lens. I followed through with this plan and again rented the PF lens for a bird photography workshop in Ecuador (while waiting for the lens I had ordered to be delivered). I am amazed that this much smaller, much lighter, much less expensive lens met my needs in every shooting situation--with and without a 1.4x teleconverter. I shoot with both a Nikon 810 and a Nikon 850 with similar results. As and added bonus I got shots I would never have achieved with my prime lens as I can easily hand-hold the PF when a tripod is just not practical.

The only downside to the lens is that it is a f/5.6, making low light situations more challenging and sometimes impossible. A small price to pay for all the advantages the lens provides.

Be prepared to wait a long time for your lens. Mine was backordered for 7 months before delivery (admittedly Covid-19 might have had something to do with the delays).