What is the best lens? The best lens is the lens you had taken with you. I took pictures of storks in Marchegg ( a place near Vienna which is famous for its "on tree breading " storks ) and didn´t plan do shoot closeups. So I took only my D1 with the 80-400VR attached plus a second flashcard and battery. As I walked the trail I didn´t find any storks but a lot of giant dragonflies. My closeup-lens and tripod were far away in my car. What to do? I hold my breath, zoom in, turn focus to manual and open up wide to get 1/125sec. I took 5 shots to make sure that one of them is in focus. At 400mm/5.6 there is not very much depth of field. Handholding such a setup is not the best idea. It was very hard to find the dragonfly and keep its position in the viewfinder. I slighty cropped the image because this lens has a closest focusing distance of 2.3m. Will I shot all my closeups with the 80-400VR and without a tripod in the future? No, but now I know that it is better to try to get the image.

A review of this lens can be found HERE.