Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens USA

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I ordered this lens from B&H in order to be able to better cover wildlife with my D40 and so far I'm really impressed with the quality.

This lens is very sharp up to 200mm - sharpness is still okay between 200 and 300mm. One thing I really like is VR. Vibration Reduction is really helpful, especially in low light, to reduce blurry images due to camera shake.

Sure, if you want to spend a hefty amount of money and look for a pro-grade lens, you might want to go with a f2.8 tele lens, but this will cost you more than a thousand bucks.

This lens has an awesome 'bang for the buck', considering what it does. Build quality is very sturdy. However, the only complaint I have, is that zoom feels a bit stiff. My Tamron 18-200 which I used before had a much nicer zoom feeling.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I bought this lens a few of weeks ago. When I unpacked it immediately you could see and feel the great Nikon construction. It probably sounds funny, but the lens feels good in your hand--feels like a REAL lens. Its performance- I have so far used it for shooting wild flowers and got great results, I have also used it for some pre-nup portraits also with great results- was able to get very nice close-up intimate moments of the engaged couple. The biggest draw back to the lens is that it is heavy, so of course if you are shooting close-ups of flowers or anything else that can be blurred by movement when at full telephoto will mean using a good steady tripod.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

We have a bird feeder about 20 feet from the back porch, with a good background. I feel that this lens, on my D7000 with a tripod is very good, but I was not blown away by the sharpness. I expected to be able to zoom in by 20% or so and still retain a crisp image in post processing. But I felt instead as though there was some room for improvement. I've attached a couple of photos - please let me know what you think

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

Pictures of wildlife at the pond, horses in their natural environment, water fowl. Brings everything close without disturbing the natural flow.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I shot my grandson's baseball game, and was very pleased with the beautiful results of photos taken at various lenghts, and action.
I must also add that B&H handled this purchase in a pleasurable, and professional manner.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I wanted a lens to reach further out to get wildlife subjects with portability, clarity, and cost in mind. Other than being a bit heavier than my 18-200, the lens has been very satisfying, delivering great shots even hand held at the 300mm zoom.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

The Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.6-5.6 IF-ED is unequivocally the best modern telephoto zoom lens if you want a dedicated zoom telephoto with light weight and a moderate price.

This 70-300mm when used on my D7000 has a field of view similar to a 105-450mm lens used on an FX format or 35mm film, with the addition of Vibration Reduction (VR) there's no need to lug a tripod.

This lens works perfectly on all digital cameras, along with most autofocus film cameras made before 1990. This lens is a G-type lens, meaning it has no aperature ring, it won't work on any manual focus camera.

The 70-300mm VR is very sharp with low distortion, an easy manual focus and a fast and accurate autofocus. The VR II, the new version of vibration reduction gives extremely sharp pictures. I've actually gone 4 stops sharper! The autofocus is quiet and the instant manual focus override is well....instaneous.

This lens is perfect for fast action shooting such as sports, wildlife and other moving subjects. I wouldn't use this lens for indoor or outdoor low-light shooting, with an f/4.5 the aperture isn't wide enough. The 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II is much faster in low light.

While the 70-300mm can be stopped down to f/32-40, my advice is don't stop down this far. Diffraction will give you soft images at these f-stops. Diffraction is a softening effect similar to using a soft-focus filter or shooting through a window screen.

This lens does not produce any Lateral Chromatic Aberration or LCA with any modern Nikon model since 2006. Distortion on DX is non-existent. With FX cameras, there is moderate distortion which can be corrected with Photoshop's lens distortion filter.

As for darkened corners (called falloff), the 70-300mm VR has very little, I haven't noticed any on my images. Fallover occurs towards the corners of a DX frame. The 18-200mm VR by constrast has falloff at 200mm and f/5.6 on DX cameras. Falloff also occurs and may be more noticeable on FX and film cameras.

There is no vignetting with this lens, even when I stacked several filters. There typically is no problem with film cameras either with stacked filters. If any vignetting does occur with a film camera, it will be at 100mm. If you're planning on using three or more stacked filters on a film camera, check there first.

There are no problems with flare and ghosting. This lens also has no problem with shadows created by a flash, even at the closet focus distance.

As for sharpness, the 70-300mm is sharp at most settings. It's normal for tele zooms to have the worse distortion at the long end. It is much worse at f/11, but much better at f/16. Use f/8 if you can, or f/16 if you want depth of field. At f/22 and f/32 there is diffraction, as with all lenses. There is no lens that can overcome the laws if physics.

In a quiet rom you'll hear the VR running. It's noisy, but, this is normal. You will feel the VR system when it's working. The VR starts with a klunk and stops with a klunk after you release the shutter.

Nikon warrants their lenses for five years in the USA. US market lenses have serial numbers prefixed with "US". If you have a number without "US", you're stuck with a grey market lens and are not covered by any warrenty from Nikon.

Many zoom lenses tightly pack the focal lengths together at one end of the scale. The 70-300mm VR has them evenly spaced and a big-fat zoom ring is easy to use. There is a little focus shift while simultaneously zooming. The best technique with this lens is to zoom first, then focus.

Of all of Nikons tele zooms the 70-300mm VR is the best compromise of size, weight, price and image quality. This lens is like the American Express card. I never leave home without it. With this combination of performance, size and weight it is my favorite to carry around all day.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

This is a great lens for budget photographers like me who want a long zoom that's easy on the wallet. It's a fairly heavy lens, but has a metal mount which is important for a heavier lens. So far I have been pleased with the quick focus and sharpness of the photos. I'm don't think you could expect too much more in this price range. I have only used the lens so far for photographing birds and wildlife. I haven't tried any sports photography with it yet, but it should work well as long as you're shooting in good light. I purchased mine as a factory refurb and have not found any problems with it.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

Color and clarity are a little off, particularly at full zoom. Also, the zoom ring is a little stiff to zoom in or out.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I've only used this lens a few times so far but have been very happy with its performance. Vibration reduction appears to work well. It is light, portable and easy to change out with other lenses.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I knew the lens would be great, though I was a bit hesitant about buying a refurbished one. I needn't have worried. The only difference I can see is I don't have an official Nikon lens box. Otherwise it looks brand new, focuses well and takes sharp pictures. It seems quite a bit bigger than my 55-200 kit lens, but the extra 100 mm is wonderful to have. No lens creep at all.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I got only good to say about it, just don't have anything to show at this time. I would not pick any other way. If I look for this type of gadget I always come to B&H.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I picked up this lens in order to capture some shots of Rick Ross at a Concert in DC. The pix were great! Glad I added this lens to my arsenal

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

Make no mistake.This is one heavy beast.However,contrast and color rendition is superb.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

I upgraded to this Tele from the 55-300 and can say that this lens is a great improvement which I use with my D7000.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

Sharp image. Relatively fast. Very good zoom lens.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

Sports, children, trips. Very sharp clear photos.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

purchased for use on cruise with shore expeditions instead of 70-200/2.8 or 300/2.8. Met need for a lighter and less prominent lens. Seems a bit softer at 300, focuses fast and accurately on distinct subjects, appears well built, VR worked well. Carried on rainforest hikes, frequently needed to manual focus on specific subject in lush vegetation.

Still a heavy lens but much less so than my other options and carryed over shoulder without fatigue.

Noticeably slower in lower light surroundings.

Used on D300S, not yet on D700.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

Fairly rapid focus time.

Comments about Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom Lens:

As an enthusiast I could not justify forking out all the cash for the 70-200mm but wanted a decent lens for events that i occasionally do.

This lens is perfect for my requirements. Its a bit fuzzy past 200mm but rarely do I ever need that extra 100mm zoom anyway. The greatest thing about this lens is that it is so light. I carry this on my shoulder for hours with no problem. I used to borrow my cousin's 70-200mm f2.8 and use that... by the 2nd hour... I would have to rest it down.

The picture quality is sharp as anything. Very happy with the purchase.

The only negative that I find actually gets to me is that the zoom sometimes feels a bit 'sticky' because of the plastic casing of the lens. It just doesnt run as smooth as I would like. This is a trade off for the lightweight you getting. I prefer to have the weight off my shoulders.