Product Description

The AF-S VR 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED is a high-performance super telephoto zoom lens that has been designed to meet the demands of both digital and 35mm format SLR users. It offers a 4.3x zoom with a range of 70-300mm (105-450mm on a DX Nikon D-SLR) and features ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements that ensure superior optical performance. This lens incorporates Nikon's second-generation vibration reduction system (VR II) that allows flexible hand-held shooting by stabilizing the image to the equivalent extent of using a shutter speed that is four stops faster when compared with a conventional lens (as determined by Nikon performance test). The SWM (Silent Wave Motor) and IF (Internal Focusing) ensure fast and quiet focusing action, and the nine-blade rounded diaphragm makes out-of-focus elements blend smoothly to produce natural-looking, harmonious backgrounds.

Product Details

• Brand: Nikon
• Model: B000HJPK2C
• Released on: 2006-10-25
• Dimensions: 3.10" h x 3.10" w x 5.60" l, 1.64 pounds

Features

• 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens with f/4.5-5.6 maximum aperture for Nikon digital SLR cameras
• Vibration Reduction (VRII) minimizes effects of camera shake to produce sharper images
• 2 Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements delivers super contrast and resolution performance
• Internal Focus (IF) system provides fast and quiet autofocusing; 4.9-feet close focus range
• Measures 3.1 inches in diameter and 5.6 inches long; weighs 26.3 ounces; 5-year warranty

From the Manufacturer
The Nikon 4.3x, 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor lens is ideal for telephoto shooting opportunities. It incorporates many of Nikon's most advanced lens design attributes such as Extra Low Dispersion (ED) glass, Silent Wave Motor technology (SWM) and Enhanced Vibration Reduction (VR II), in a design engineered for use with both Nikon DX format digital and 35mm film SLR cameras. With a high-powered 70-300mm focal length range, the lens is ideal for sports, action, wildlife, travel and portrait photography, among other telephoto applications. When used on a Nikon DX format digital SLR, this lens approximates the picture angle performance of a 105-450mm lens on a 35mm SLR camera.

Beyond the lens' incredible optical versatility is the benefit of Enhanced VR II Vibration Reduction--an innovation that makes it possible to take substantially sharper handheld pictures at slower shutter speeds than would otherwise be possible. This provides the distinct advantage of being able to shoot more effectively in a much broader variety of challenging conditions. With the new Nikon VR II advantage, users can take pictures at shutter speeds as many as 4 stops slower than they ordinarily could shoot without the image degrading blur associated with camera shake at slow shutter speeds. Nikon's advanced VR technology further enhances picture taking potential with a choice of two modes to match most shooting conditions. VR Normal Mode primarily compensates for camera shake, and includes automatic panning detection, as well as automatic tripod detection. VR Active Mode effectively compensates for vibration in situations where it is more pronounced and more frequent, such as when shooting from a moving vehicle.

To further ensure outstanding optical performance, the 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor features two Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass elements and three complex aspherical lens elements that provide for higher resolution, high-contrast images while minimizing chromatic aberration, astigmatism and other forms of distortion. The lens also features Nikon's compact Silent Wave Motor technology (SWM), which combines fast and precise autofocusing with super-quiet operation, as well as Internal Focusing (IF) construction that allows the lens to focus without changing its external size, improving balance and handling characteristics.

Customer Reviews

Very Nice Lens But it Has its Quirks
After exhaustive research on many lens, I finally decided to plunk down the $500+ (at the time this was written) to purchase this lens. It may not be the best on the market but it compliments my Nikon 18-70mm DX lens nicely. I was looking towards Nikon's 18-200mm DX lens, however; the price pushed me to choose this one (as it was nearly half the price and my two lens can nearly cover all the range of the one 18-200mm).

QUALITY/WEIGHT:

build quality is cheap yet sturdy... the plastic is a little chinky but cuts down on the weight. My Nikon D200 has no problem handling the lens weight, however; I have heard (unconfirmed) reports that this lens is a little heavy for the lighter cameras (D80, D70, D40, ETC). The Ring Connector is metal and has a rubber gasket on the outside so as to provide minor protection (for the lens mount) from the elements.

You also have to keep this in mind, when discussing weight, quality & price; the bulk of the price of this lens is going into the glass elements (all 17 elements of them). It gets expensive when you place that many high-quality optics into a tube. I'm really not that surprised a the price, although $400 price-range would probably be more suitable for this lens

FOCUSING/LENS ATTRIBUTES:

Focusing can be quite fast... at times. You'll find, at the Max 300mm focal range, that the lens has a pretty hard time auto-focusing in on a subject. At times it would focus pretty quick, at the 300mm range, while at others it cannot focus at all. You can get around this quirk by bringing the subject into near focus (manually) then letting the auto-focus take over; it works every time. I find this focus problem disappointing especially given the price of this lens.

The quality of the Bokeh (Out of focus areas of the photograph) is very nice and pleasing. The images are sharp, vignetting (dark areas in the corner of your photos) is hard to find and lens flare rarely a problem.

VIBRATION STABILIZATION:

All I can say is that it works... it can come in handy. It's not going to stop the image guaranteed for you; it's only meant to slow down the rate at which the camera moves (vibration from holding). You can notice the difference; with it off you'll see that the image (at say 300mm) really bouncing around; then you flick on VR. It takes a sec or two but then the image smooths out, it still wobbles around, but much more slowly.

With VR enabled, you can usually go 2-3 (sometimes 4) stops down, then what you'd normally be able to do when hand holding.

THE "SHOCK" TEST:

I haven't "shock tested" my lens yet (IE dropped it) but I have heard (again unconfirmed reports here) that it holds up pretty well to a drop... although I would never recommend testing that out.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

The 70-300mm range should be noted: Although the lens states that it is a 70-300mm zoom, this lens was intended for a 35mm camera or full-frame CCD/CMOS sensor Digital Camera. All (or at least the majority) of Nikon's DSLR (D200, D80, ETC) are NOT Full-Frame sensors. They are approximately 1.5x factor of a full-frame sensor (due to the smaller sensor size).

What does this all mean?

Well it's simple, since this is a 35mm lens and not a DX lens (ie built to account for the 1.5x factor in most nikon digitals) you have to apply the 1.5x conversion. This means that the Nikon 70-300mm on a Nikon DSLR will give an apparent zoom equivalent to a 105-450mm lens. I actually do not mind this apparent zoom and this should also cut down on vignetting; as what the lens projects onto the sensor is larger then the area of the sensor itself. In short: parts of the image spills over the sensor, since this lens was meant to project onto a full-frame sensor/35mm film.

CONCLUSION:

Pros:
Pleasing Bokeh
Fast Auto-Focus (when working properly)
Vignetting is minimal
Image Stabilization (VR)
Flare is minimal
1.5x factor (105-450mm) makes for nice zoom
Colors are very good

CONS:
Plastic Casing
Near Inability to Auto-Focus at 300mm range
Price (even though it is cheaper then the 18-200mm DX)
1.5x factor (105-450mm) might make it more zoom then you need
Lens could be faster (F/4 would have been nice)

I love this lens, even for it's quirks, however; you may want to wait till it drops in price a little more (it falls almost bi-weekly). It may not be the fastest on the market, but it's size, optics, image quality and VR make this a must have lens for Serious Nikon users!

Turns to mush above 200mm
My chief problem with this lens is that it loses so much performance above 200mm that I am actually better off shooting at a lower focal length and then cropping the resulting image. Most telephoto zooms, especially inexpensive-to-moderately-priced consumer zooms, lose sharpness near the long end of their focal range, but the 70-300 VR is the only lens I've owned that does so to this degree.

I purchased the 70-300 VR thinking it would be a good replacement for my inexpensive 55-200 VR. The additional range is potentially useful, and the 70-300 adds improved VRII and better focusing, including instant manual-focus over-ride, a better-located focus ring, and quicker AF performance under most conditions. Alas, I think I actually prefer the 55-200 despite its abbreviated feature set and its cheapness, because it is light and easy to use and offers very similar, sometimes better, image quality, depending on focal length.

It's possible that my sample is below average in this regard. However, the various online tests of this lens do tend to corroborate my impressions - only the degree to which it is a factor is really a surprise. At the very least, my experience indicates that one should be very careful to test a sample of this lens before buying it, to make sure that performance in the upper ranges is adequate. If my copy is representative, this lens should really be limited to 200mm or so and sold as a 70-200mm lens. I suspect a lot of samples really are somewhat better, and I have a hunch that in order to produce this lens profitably, Nikon has simply had to sacrifice enough production quality that there is a larger than normal variation between samples.

Notes:

- My sample is not exceptionally sharp at any focal length. I see aberrations within the image field at all settings. Most people might not notice, but if you are seeking excellent sharpness from your lens, I would advise looking elsewhere. It is very acceptable at 70mm but degrades noticeably by 135mm. It is probably still acceptable for most uses at 135-200mm, but not, in my opinion, above that. If large reproductions of detailed shots are in your plans I would avoid this lens altogether, or at least thoroughly test the sample you buy to make sure it will give the results you are looking for.

- The zoom ring is very wide, which makes it easy to find and use, but it suffers from excessive static friction. This means the hand holding the camera has to "fight" the hand zooming the lens while framing, and that you will tend to overshoot your desired framing and need to re-zoom back and forth to get a precise shot. The 55-200 VR shares this quality, but not to the same degree.

- Focus seems fairly good and quite quick, but it does depend on the focal-length setting of the lens, and of course the available light level. While shooting birds to test the lens shortly after receiving it, I found that it was almost impossible to get good quick focus above perhaps 180mm or so. The focus would immediately hunt towards the near end, turning the scene into a blur, and then lock up. Manually turning the focus ring towards the long end did not always help. The best results were obtained by zooming out to lock focus, then zooming back in, at which point the lens would hold focus. Focus is accurate on my sample.

- It was when taking these bird shots that I noticed the poor performance above 200mm. Zooming in on an apparently crisp shot revealed a lack of detail every time, even when the subject was in perfect focus (such as, for example, the one perfectly-focused bird in a tight grouping). These shots were taken in good light, with shutter speeds typically well above 1/1000 and at various apertures. I have since made many tests of static objects, with good technique and at various apertures, and confirmed these observations.

- Most casual photographers, especially if they are looking to shoot sports and action, will probably be very happy with this lens, because critical detail is not as important as getting good shots in the first place. This lens is well suited to this type of use. When you zoom in or crop, you may find that your sports figure has a fuzzy face, but that will depend on where he is in the frame. Many shots will be quite excellent, especially if you avoid the 200-300mm range or if yours is a better sample.

Final note: This is an honest review of a lens I've actually owned and used, in comparison with other lenses that I've actually owned and used. Unfortunately, there are always people who click negative reviews as unhelpful no matter how accurate the review, and that does a dis-service to other Amazon customers as those reviews wind up at the bottom where they are not seen. I wish more honestly critical reviews were available to help me make purchasing decisions, and I hope you think so as well.

Other Lenses:

I've had the opportunity to own and use many different Nikon lenses and have posted my impressions of some of them here on Amazon. For those interested, here are short summaries. I have used all these lenses on Nikon DX-sized DSLRs, most recently my current D90. Refer to the full reviews for further detail.

Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AF-D: *** Competent, sharp lens is a good fit as a bargain DX "normal" prime. Slow f/2.8 max aperture poor. Very inexpensive in used market.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM: *** Poor focusing consistency and below average large-aperture acuity combine for disappointing real-world performance. Fast max aperture, very capable if used with appropriate care.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-G: ****1/2 Terrific lens at a bargain price. Not without flaws, but excellent in all important respects. A pleasure to use.

Nikon 35mm f/2 AF-D: **** Sharp, especially at large apertures, moderate contrast. Classic "normal" lens for DX but consider new 35mm f/1.8 AF-S instead.

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D: *** My sample was unacceptably poor at large apertures. Perhaps a below-average sample. Focal length not ideally suited to DX.

Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AF-D ****1/2 Very good short-to-moderate telephoto on DX. Acceptable at large apertures, very sharp stopped-down, moderate contrast. Potentially excellent for portrait use.

Nikon 16-85mm VR ***** Very sharp at all settings, excellent contrast, very useful zoom range including true wide-angle at 16mm. Excellent VR. Best-kept secret for DX users.

Nikon 28-200mm AF-G *** Of two samples, one was excellent and one poor, so watch for sample variations. Very good contrast. Not ideal hand-held due to lack of VR. Not ideal for tripod use due to design.

Nikon 55-200mm VR **** Very good lens, very good sharpness and contrast, no fatal flaws. Cheap feel and feature-challenged, but has effective VR. A bargain.

Lens Rocks! Discard the poor reviews due to shipping etc.
I am very impressed with this lens. It is wonderfully sharp. The auto focus can hunt slightly in dimmer conditions but you would probably expect this with a 4.5 lense. Don't let this stop you at all. I would by it all over again for sure. By the way, I bought mine from ritz camera (.com) on Sunday and delivered on Thurs. (I paid $504 due to the $25 off for using paypal plus free shipping and no tax). Many photos are better than my 18-200mm VR lens. I'm so glad I bought this as the extra reach is going to help me out on the softball field where my 200mm was just short. One other thing I noticed was it is slightly noisier than my 18-200mm VR (but not terribly much more). It is enough to notice, but no show stopper. Your going to love the photos you get from this. I'm thrilled to have it and now be in the 300mm range. What a keeper. I plan to keep both my 18-200 and my 70-300. Mine comes with a 5 year warranty directly from Nikon.