Nikon 70-300mm

Hi
are you really pleased with your Nikon 70-300mm.?
Prior to purchasing mine I went to the local camera shop and tried one.

The lense I tested appeard to be a. fast to focus (as I remember almost instant) and b. pretty sharp.

When the time came I purchased one from another shop (the other was out of stock).

The lense I now own seams slow to focus, the motor sounds sluggish and very slow. As well as that just about all of the 50-60 shots I have taken seem at best "soft",- definatley not sharp. Have I got a dud? What experiences have you had with your lense?
thank you

It would help if you posted some photos, if you're talking about the 70-300VR it is capable of extremely sharp photos.

Mark

The Nikon 70-300VR is one of the most underrated lenses out there. I love mine.
It's sharp, quick to focus, and priced right.

Post some samples, and check your settings.

--
rattler

Hi,
got mine last week to be used on a d700.

So far I am very pleased with the lens,I find it pretty compact compared to other
lenses.I used to own a sigma 100-300 apo for a Canon 50d,but found myself
leaving it at home a lot of the time because of the weight.
I have tested the focusing on my quite nippy dog running straight at the camera
and gunning the shutter,when using focus priority I found a vast number of shots

sharp wide open.Overall very pleased and would get the lens looked at or returned
if your findings are not similar,assuming good camera technique.

Even though many people consider the Nikkor 70-300vr as a bestseller and an excellent value , it is only useful under bright sun because to achieve an acceptable sharpness for enlargements around 11x14 you have to use at least aperture 14 with a shutter speed shorter than 1/800. Even at 100mm it is softer than my old 100/2.8E lens.

I was considering to buy it because of this price increase and decided do not buy it.
In addition, I do not see the reason to have a zoom range started from 70mm.

I would be more than happy to see a replacement as 100-300/4-5.6 VRII with a tripod attachment and, maybe a macro capability.

I may be less discerning than MIC37 but I've blown up a couple of shots to A3 at under 1/100th at f5.6. They hang on friend's walls. One day, when I'm flush, I may upgrade - but so far so good.

Hi

I use mine on a D700

It is a 70-300VR

I will post a few pics when I get a moment

but I am away on a work project for the next few days

mine sounds like a car engine with a flat battery!

thanks

I use my 70300 typically at 1/640 300mm f8 or f5.6.

The wider zoom helps in acquisition sometimes. Focus can often hunt.

I've gotten some nice stuff with it. But I'm not too happy with the boke (harsh highlights unsurprisingly) and I have a 180 2.8 arriving in a couple days.

MIC37 said:

Even though many people consider the Nikkor 70-300vr as a bestseller
and an excellent value , it is only useful under bright sun because
to achieve an acceptable sharpness for enlargements around 11x14 you
have to use at least aperture 14 with a shutter speed shorter than
1/800. Even at 100mm it is softer than my old 100/2.8E lens.

Click to expand...

Huh? Have you actually used the lens at all or enough to know what it is capable of?
--
Lora

I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting history has been lost along the way...

I actually used this lens for 2.5 months with D60. I used it extensively for 7 days on Mexico cruise last August and was able to capture some nice photographs @ 300mm. I like the 300mm reach and only thanks to this lens but again, it was used mostly under bright sun with a shutter speed from1/640 to 1/1000s.

lac111 said:

MIC37 said:

Even though many people consider the Nikkor 70-300vr as a bestseller
and an excellent value , it is only useful under bright sun because
to achieve an acceptable sharpness for enlargements around 11x14 you
have to use at least aperture 14 with a shutter speed shorter than
1/800. Even at 100mm it is softer than my old 100/2.8E lens.

Click to expand...

Huh? Have you actually used the lens at all or enough to know what it
is capable of?
--
Lora
I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting
history has been lost along the way...

Click to expand...

I am able to get exceptionally sharp images from f/11 and 1/250 second at 300mm, ISO 400, and that's with an overcast sky. The problem you have may be with your lens holding technique or your particular copy of the lens. The VR works well and allows for longer shutter speeds. Now if you're shooting action... that's a different story, as you will not be using VR, but your faster shutter speeds should make up for it.
--
http://flickr.com/photos/rcaron/

rhysmail said:

The lense I now own seams slow to focus, the motor sounds sluggish
and very slow. As well as that just about all of the 50-60 shots I
have taken seem at best "soft",- definatley not sharp. Have I got a
dud? What experiences have you had with your lense?
thank you

Click to expand...

You got a dud. This lens has a large sample variation, as witnessed by the widely varying reviews it gets, from spectacular to terrible. I'd bring it back right away.

A good copy is very sharp, even wide open. In anything less than full daylight however, action shots will not turn out sharp because the shutter speed will be too long.

Here is a shot wide open at f 6.5 or whatever it is at 300 mm:





--
where the cold wind blows

I bought mine just after it first came out, and I couldn't be happier. I have shot baseball, soccer, and even indoor hockey games. It isn't my first choice for indoor sporting events, but I like the extra reach I can get with the hockey and the lighting is much better than it is for the high school basketball games where I use the 70 200VR. Here is an example from my last hockey game. By the way, it focuses extremely fast. Dave

rhysmail said:

Hi
are you really pleased with your Nikon 70-300mm.?
Prior to purchasing mine I went to the local camera shop and tried one.
The lense I tested appeard to be a. fast to focus (as I remember
almost instant) and b. pretty sharp.
When the time came I purchased one from another shop (the other was
out of stock).
The lense I now own seams slow to focus, the motor sounds sluggish
and very slow. As well as that just about all of the 50-60 shots I
have taken seem at best "soft",- definatley not sharp. Have I got a
dud? What experiences have you had with your lense?
thank you

Click to expand...

--
Visit my gallery at http://www.poperotzy.smugmug.com
There is a link for saving 5.OO on your own Smugmug account.

It's true...sample variation is this lens is very real. I had two and sold both...very discouraged. I decided to try another because the concept of a sharp, portable, VR lens in with this focal length range is very appealing to me for hiking. Well...this third one is very sharp, and while I'm not going to say that it is 80-200 AFS sharp, it is very good. It loses some contrast at 300 5.6, but resolution is there. It really does require very solid technique to get good results from, even with VR. I think some folks assume that they can shoot at slower shutter speeds at 300 and VR will take care of the rest. It isn't really like that, and the closer the subject is the tougher it gets. One other caveat...this lens does not behave well on a tripod and would have really benefited from a collar. The issue seems to be the low-ish mass combined with the long-ish barrel. It really seems prone to vibration, and you have to use very solid technique to offset this. I work on a tripod almost all of the time and I like to use a 6T with this lens. I am slowly learning to work with it. This past weekend I was lazy and did not use MLU, delay, cable, and a stabilizing technique on one particular subject and it cost some good shots. I can see that the detail is there, but blur from vibration robbed the images of sharpness (even on a Gitzo 1325/Markins M20).

Anyway, I've had it (again) for about three weeks now and I am looking at images and comparing to my images from the 80-200AFS. I'm still learning the nuances of this lens, so it's not fair to make a concrete evaluation yet, but this latest lens is definitely head and shoulders better than the last two. Food for thought.

I agree. I've just started using mine but I can already see that while great results are possible, the 70-300VR is less forgiving of bad technique than some other lenses I've used. With good technique, it is a remarkable lens considering the size and cost.
--
http://flickr.com/photos/rcaron/

I've said it in previous posts already,but I believe you have to shoot at a maximum of about 260mm to get the best out of the lens which is a bit frustrating.Everything else about the lens is good,but i'm considering the 300f4 as a replacment.

Best Wishes
Bruce
Johannesburg
SA
D300
70-300VR
17-55 f2.8
18-200VR
SB800

MIC37 said:

Even though many people consider the Nikkor 70-300vr as a bestseller
and an excellent value , it is only useful under bright sun because
to achieve an acceptable sharpness for enlargements around 11x14 you
have to use at least aperture 14 with a shutter speed shorter than
1/800. Even at 100mm it is softer than my old 100/2.8E lens.
I was considering to buy it because of this price increase and
decided do not buy it.

Click to expand...

I bought mine to have as part of a basic outfit to keep in the car. I have what can be described as some pretty well respected lenses as well. The 70-300VR really surprised me; it needs stoppiong down at 300 if you can but other than that it is a lot of lens for the money. If the circumstances don't need faster apertures it will do a very good job. I now take it when I travel for non photographic purposes and think for the weight and size it's a lot of lens.

MIC37 said:

I actually used this lens for 2.5 months with D60. I used it
extensively for 7 days on Mexico cruise last August and was able to
capture some nice photographs @ 300mm. I like the 300mm reach and
only thanks to this lens but again, it was used mostly under bright
sun with a shutter speed from1/640 to 1/1000s.

Click to expand...

Wow!!! That IS bad --- 2-3x the shutter speed is required with this lens! And that's probably at f/11.

From the posts on this site, I think that there is no question that the 70-300 can't compete with the 70-200 f/2.8 VR. Lots of posters here get FANTASTIC results with the 70-200 wide open at 1/10 s ...... buuuttt you DO get get what you pay for.

msc

MIC37 said:

lac111 said:

MIC37 said:

Even though many people consider the Nikkor 70-300vr as a bestseller
and an excellent value , it is only useful under bright sun because
to achieve an acceptable sharpness for enlargements around 11x14 you
have to use at least aperture 14 with a shutter speed shorter than
1/800. Even at 100mm it is softer than my old 100/2.8E lens.

Click to expand...

Huh? Have you actually used the lens at all or enough to know what it
is capable of?
--
Lora
I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting
history has been lost along the way...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I'm quite pleased with my 70-300 VR and I have the AF-S 300/f4 as well.

Here's a severe crop at 300mm, f/6.7, 1/750s:



300mm, f/8, 1/400s:



300mm, f/8, 1/125s:



--
-Holmes
http://holmes.zenfolio.com/

jbear said:

It's true...sample variation is this lens is very real. I had two
and sold both...very discouraged. I decided to try another because
the concept of a sharp, portable, VR lens in with this focal length
range is very appealing to me for hiking. Well...this third one is
very sharp, and while I'm not going to say that it is 80-200 AFS
sharp, it is very good. It loses some contrast at 300 5.6, but
resolution is there.

Click to expand...

Glad you got a good one. Sounds like the third one was the charm. ; ) The 70-300mmVR is killer for the price ( good copy that is), but it isn't a pro lens and doesn't pretend to be one. I can definitely see the difference in overall IQ and, for example, feather detail between the 70-300mmVR and a 80-200 or especially the 300mm, but hey for the price. You are so right about technique. I remember not being able to get consistently sharp shots for the first couple of weeks with it. Besides copy variation, I think whatever dissatisfaction there is with it has to do with user error, or expecting pro lens IQ at 1/4 the price.
--
Lora

I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting history has been lost along the way...