Customer Reviews

Nikon 300mm f/4.0D ED-IF AF-S Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

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I'm surprised that there are so few reviews for this lens.

I wanted a telephoto for years so I bought an old used manual focus Nikon 300mm f4 lens. I was able to get good sharp photographs when shooting outdoors in bright sunshine with the aperture closed down a few stops. But without the split prism focusing in less than very bright environments, I was never certain when I was in focus except by looking at the green dot in the viewfinder which is distracting while trying to keep your eye on a moving subject. Auto-focus is a must on a big telephoto.

I traded it in (the advantage of buying from a local camera store) and bought a new Nikon 300mm f4. Before leaving the store, I photographed a few items inside the store that had bar codes. I photographed hand held with the aperture wide open at about 1/100 second. I zoomed in on my D300 LCD and I could clearly read the tiny numbers at the bottom of the bar codes. The images were perfectly sharp.

I ponied up an additional $1K and bought it. Hey, it was my wedding anniversary and my wife asked what I wanted; this was it. I then took another series of photographs of a sharp barcode on a bottle. This time, I used a tripod for consistency. I do this test with each lens I buy. The only other lens that had this quality as the Nikon 85mm f1.4.

I could see no difference in sharpness or contrast regardless of aperture. I then photographed a house for sale sign up the street. The lens quickly and quietly locked in on the sign. Again, zooming in all the way on the camera's LCD, I was able to easily read the very tiny print at the bottom of the sign (at 200 ISO).

The lens is fairly lightweight so I didn't have any problem hand holding it. It weighs about the same as the Nikon Micro 2.8 lens (not sharp wide open). I don't think I could have held the 300mm f2.8 lens for very long.

Because the lens isn't heavy, by holding the lens hood with one hand and having a good body stance, I was able to take good shots as low at 1/100th of a second. Some photographers claim their photographs were taken hand-held as slow at 1/20 of a second but I find that hard to believe.

While the f4 model doesn't have VR (I love VR) and is only 1 fstop slower than the nearly $6K f2.8 300mm lens, it's about 1/4th of the price of the 2.8 and weighs 1/2 has much (3 pounds vs. 6 pounds). On a Nikon D300/D700 with a battery pack or a D3/D3s, carrying around a 300mm 2.8 lens has got to hurt after awhile.

One review described the f4 model as a "poor mans lens". I hand hold my lens with either a D3s or a D300 & battery pack since the subjects move too erratically to use any type of support. Let me tell you, the weight aches after awhile. I can't imagine adding an additional 3 (THREE) pounds. The f2.8 model is meant to be hand held otherwise why have VRII? I pity the poor man that has to hand hold the 6 pound lens for more than a few minutes.

Yes, the 2.8 lens is one stop faster and the VR will give you an extra 2-4 stops, but with an FX body I found you can crank up the ISO to at least 3200 or 6400 with no degradation in picture quality. Unless you have very challenging light situations, the f4 300mm model may be the perfect lens.

The only negative aspect of this lens is that under very low light situations with a 1.7 teleconverter, the lens has to hunt. I have to manually focus then press the shutter so that auto-focus kicks in.

I love the 5 year warranty (I send in the warranty card via Certified Mail -- you only have 10 days so mail it in quickly) and I scan the filled in warranty registration card and proof of purchase). Nikon just fixed, for free; not even any shipping costs, my broken 18-200mm gray market lens that was about 2 years old.

[May, 2010 update: Some people have told me that Nikon no longer will fix a gray market Nikon lens]

Lens actually comes with a decent soft case.

I don't understand why other reviewers have complained about the tripod collar. It seems perfectly good to me. It's not solid metal like the old manual focus lens that I returned but it looks rugged enough for me.

I tend to be very fussy; perhaps to a fault. It's my personality. I wind up returning or exchanging many (most?) items that don't live up to my expectations. But, I'm definitely keeping this puppy.

Some friends came over one night and they brought their young daughter who didn't like being photographed (2 year olds tend to be cranky especially when they're tired). I used the 300mm lens on a DX body so that she didn't have a camera in front of her face; I was about 10 feet away. Since all I had was a few house lamps on, I had to photograph at wide open at f4. I was surprised that every single eyelash was tack sharp. The lens had no problem auto-focusing in the dim light. What a lens!

This is a superb lens, without the bulk or the much higher cost of the f/2.8 version. With the money you'll save, you can buy a replacement tripod collar for the lens from Kirk Enterprises, which is a vast improvement over the somewhat flimsy collar which comes with the lens.

Nikon's 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S telephoto lens is a excellent value and an excellent choice for shooting Sports, wildlife and portraits. At 3.17 lbs., it is very mobile and easy to hand hold. With extra low dispersion "ED" glass and fast, silent internal focusing, it is capable of producing photos that rival much more expensive lenses. When coupled with teleconverters, focus is not as sure and some shots may be missed while autofocus is hunting for the subject. For those needing additional range, after November 2007 Nikon will be introducing three new fast autofocus vibration reduction "VR II" super telephoto lenses:
AF-S 600mm f/4G ED VR, AF-S 500mm f/4G ED VR and AF-S 400mm f/2.8G ED VR.

Amazing results. I was considering the 300/2.8AFS VR.. but it costs a whole lot more ( ~$5K), and its too heavy to lug around. The 300/4 AFS is affordable and can be easily hand held. The images from this lens, obviously, cannot match the f/2.8 lens, but they are close. Everything considered, the AFS 300mm f/4 Nikkor is a better value than the 2.8 VR lens.

Every review I've read online about this 300mm f/4 lens waxes poetic about its incredible sharpness. Unfortunately, I found it to be lacking in practice.

I needed to shoot some outdoor sporting events in good light, and I was looking for something with more reach than my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens was giving me on my Nikon D700. The Nikon 300mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens was definitely out of my price range, so I decided on two more affordable options to test -- my existing lens with the Nikon TC-17E II (1.7x) Teleconverter, and this 300mm f/4.

I was pleased with the 70-200 + 1.7x TC, which gave me a 120-340mm f/4.8 zoom with very good sharpness wide open. Unfortunately, the 300mm f/4 on its own was very soft wide open, even in the center of the frame. I had to stop down to f/8 on the 300mm to get comparable sharpness to the 70-200 + 1.7x TC wide open at f/4.8. (I'm not an overly-critical pixel-peeper -- I rely on "real life" tests and not just shooting walls and barcodes to determine acceptable sharpness, and unfortunately the 300mm f/4 just doesn't cut it compared to the other glass I use. All my testing was at shutter speeds 1/1000th of a second or faster with the VR on the 70-200 turned off, so camera shake was not a factor.)

Autofocus was somewhat leisurely for both -- barely acceptable for shooting sports -- but the benefit of the 70-200 + 1.7x TC is that I can always remove the teleconverter and return to lightning-fast autofocus, while the 300mm f/4 remains permanently sluggish.

If you're upgrading from a cheaper zoom lens, this 300mm f/4 will be a huge improvement...but if you're already willing to drop this much on some nice glass, please consider upgrading to the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II with a 1.7x teleconverter instead. You'll get sharper images, a much more useful focal length range (70-340mm), 4-stop VR, a wider aperture when using it without a TC, and all at the same size and weight as this 300mm f/4.

I am merely a hobby photographer and I will not attempt to make any more detailed review of this lens' performance. I leave it to those more qualified. There are several professional reviews available on the internet and I find that they are in good agreement that the lens is very good, except possibly for a somewhat weak tripod support (I use it freehand or on a monopod so I have no problem with that). My main use of the lens is nature photography, preferably animals and birds. After using it some time on my d5000 I have noticed that the success rate for my photos (i.e. the photos I like to save and display) is noticeably higher compared with most other lenses I have. I have learned to appreciate the lens also for portraits of my family members, especially the kids (i.e. fast-moving..). The lens is tack sharp also on f4 (no need to say), but it also makes a very nice and even exposure over the whole object. There is a nice "light" in the whole photo. I don't know why, but with my other lenses there is a stronger difference between bright and dark areas. They look like if subject to harder jpg compression. I would think this should be up to the sensor and the camera settings. It is like if this lens suddenly make use of the "active d lighting" of the camera, or something like that. It also suppresses the background wonderfully, not only by a lovely bokeh, but also through its nice control of the exposure throughout the image (e.g. an even dark or an even bright background fills up behind a perfectly exposed object). I admit my ignorance, but it is like magic how the lens "helps" me to take better photos!
My other telelens is a Nikon 55-200vr that I like very much. However, I found myself too often cropping the photos to a level where I pushed the capacity of the lens too far. Thus, I wanted something with more range. I was not interested in another zoom. I prefer to use my feet or to simply let the lens decide the frame (Is the duck too close.. then, well, I take a photo of its head instead). I also wanted a fast lens for low-light shots. Indeed, I have been out when the sun has dived well below the horizon and still the 300f4 gives me fast shutter speeds without that I have to push the ISO higher than 1000.
To me, the lens is less easy to use for birds in flight: It is not that it is any problem using it hand held during daytime, or any problem with the autofocus, it is fast enough when using the focus lock (>3m), but simply the narrow field of view that comes with the high magnification makes it difficult to locate the bird fast enough. For this my 55-200 is easier. However, with some training I may improve.
I am glad the 300f4 does not replace my 55-200vr, but instead complements it. The 55-200vr is much more portable and is good enough for many purposes. The 300f4 is bulkier, but takes better photos especially when one can be more stationary observing the wild life.
To make the 300f4 more portable I have connected it to a harness: I put a strap tightly around the lens just behind the focus ring where I obtain good balance with the camera attached. On the strap there is a ring. To this ring I connect the carabiners of a harness originally bought for a pair of binoculars (Bushnell). In this way the camera and attached lens hang comfortably across my lower chest. No strain to the back whatsoever. When an object appears the camera is ready in a flash. The elastic straps of the harness, when stretched out while the camera is held in front of the eyes, help to reduce vibrations (i.e. similar to the effect that can be achieved with a hunting rifle when applying the carrying sling in a certain way around the arm before the shot).
I am very satisfied with this lens. It was exactly what I had been looking for. It is a bit heavy, but I feel I solved it with the harness (so no risk it ends up unused at home). And the photos it generates are like.. magic. With this lens I will develop as a photographer and have great fun along the way.

This lens is a well made. It is quick focusing, very sharp and relatively easy to use on a well matched camera. Like all well constructed lenses there is a heft to this one. Many will hand-hold this lens buy I see myself using a tripod where ever I can. This is a must have for birders and wildlife photographers.

Hmmm...lemme think I currently shoot DX on a D300s and just shot in quite overcast conditions, at anywhere between 500-2000th/sec shutter speed at ISO400 and lets just say I'll never be able to look at a pigeon landing on a light post from 40 feet the same way ever again! I by no means have the hands of a surgeon; as long as you have decent lighting and can get up beyond 250th of a second you're good. Find a used copy for around $500 you'll be glad you did. 8_)

A view of my in-store test shots can be seen here:
[...]

I have always wanted a 300mm lens. However, for many, many years I could never afford the Nikkor 2.8 versions. Even now, when I can afford one, I did not want to give up the $5000, or so, to make the purchase. Therefore, I bought the 300 f/4 AF-S (and a TC 1.4e) from an Amazon partner.

In order to test the new lens I set up my tripod in my back living room and waited. On 11-4-11 we watched two deer, a doe and a buck, in the soybean field behind us- who were waiting for the sun to go down. They each took turns getting up to check to see the status of the sun, obviously waiting for the best time to move to a new feeding area. We watched them for over two hours and the photos we posted here are from the time of best light, severely cropped. just as the sun went down. I am very pleased with the lens, and the TC 1.4e. The sharpness of this lens, and the TC, is obvious in the images made. Both images uploaded were made at max aperture, with the TC 1.4e II.

My suggestion, if you are looking at this lens, buy it. It will not disappoint you. The TC 1.4e II is also a good purchase to go with this lens.

The last 3 years I've taken thousands of wildlife photos and am still amazed of the clarity and beauty of each one. My only complaint is carrying all that weight for so many hiking miles, a good backpack helps. If you would like to see a sample of the awesome power of this lens here is a youtube link: <...>
or search: "The world around me lizard eagle snake arizona coyote"