Nikon is Only Producing 1,000 Copies of the 500mm f/5.6 PF Lens Per Month

If you’re still waiting for the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens you ordered weeks or even months ago, we don’t suggest holding your breath. In a statement posted to a German NPS website, it seems Nikon is only able to produce 1,000 of these lenses every month.

The fact that Nikon has struggled to keep up with demand for the 500mm PF lens has been widely reported. Nikon Rumors finally learned why when a reader from Germany sent in the following screenshot from a German NPS website. “Delivery time: currently uncertain, as only about 1,000 copies per month are produced,” reads the translation. “We apologize for any inconvenience and accept every pre-order!”

Regional statements like this are a bit tricky, so we reached out to Nikon USA to see if they could confirm this information for the US market. They responded with the statement below:

Orders of the AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens have exceeded our expectations. We appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to fulfill orders as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, they would not confirm the 1,000 lenses number or comment on whether or not production capacity would increase in the future. However, if you’re interested in this lens—and plenty of people are, it’s an amazing piece of glass—you’re looking at a long wait if you order it today.

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