Nikon Zoom-Nikkor 70 mm-300 mm F/4.0-5.6 AF G Lens

All right whats up with the title right ? It is about the lens 70-300mm Nikkor. I think every lens producer (every brand) should really have a MINIMUM QUALITY. This lens is a disgrace for Nikon. Now don;t tell me that "oh its great for the price" or "wow how much zoom for that price" kind of comments. This lens does not take good pictures period. Whoever says it does doe snot know about photography.

Check the list please;
1- YOU WILL HAVE LIGHT PROBLEMS. It is a lot of glass . Use the common sense please ! A lot of glass will not let a lot of light in. Dark photos mostly.
2- NOT INTERNAL FOCUS. Very unconvenient zoom action. No internal zoom.
3- NO VINRATION REDUCTION . You zoom in and take a photo and then look at it at your LCD it looks ok till you open it on your computer. It is likely to be blurry almost on every zoomed in shot. You need a tripod to take zoomed shots with this lens all the time period.
4- A LOT OF NOISE. This is lens is the noisest lens I have ever tried (neverbought it just tried few days)
5- DO NOT EVEN COMPARE OR CARE ABOUT THE REVIEWS COMPARES THIS LENS WITH 70-200MM f/2.8 or equivalent. They are not even in the same line of business other than they both zoom in. 70-200mm f2.8 is the best lens nikkor ever built for mid range telephoto.
6- HERE IS THE BEST ADVICE FOR EVERYONE (not that you have to agree. I am just sharing my experience) ;
IF YOU REALLY NEED A TELEPHOTO (ZOOM) LENS PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY SAVE IT TILL YOU CAN BUY YOURSELF A 70-200mm f/2.8 NIKKOR.
if no one buys low quality lenses like 70-300mm Nikkor will have to come up with better quality lenses for all. They will have to adjust the prices also. The lenses will not be incredibly high priced also. Buyer awareness is extremely important issue. Retailers making %60 to %80 profit on Nikkor lenses (Guess which ones) not the prime lenses the cheap ones like 70-300mm off course. Thats why you are seeing alot of comments saying "ohhh great lens and zoom for that price" Are you kidding me. Who buys this lens?

I like the included lens hood. The 62mm skylight filter was USD 12. Very light lens. Slower lens than I am used to. Auto focusing is sluggish.

I bought this lens for one picture of a Great Blue Heron which feeds in a nearby lake. I ended up with a series of pictures, which are amazing but not high enough quality for large enlargements. Tripod and good light is required above 150mm.

I have had good results however using flash for shots indoors. Flash shots of my children receiving awards etc., where you normally can’t get up close. I will keep this lens until I replace it with a fast 135mm or so fixed focal length.

In general the pictures are fine for small prints but still look a bit flat in contrast and lack sharpness.

I compared this zoom at 100mm to my f1.4 50mm Nikkor with a 2x converter. The results bear out my suspicions about contrast and sharpness. I also gain an f stop! Not surprising really – you get what you pay for - 400 bucks beat 100 bucks!

So – did I waste 100 bucks? No – It was one of my cheaper lessons!

Ordered this product to extend the range of my Nikon D60 camera, knowing that it would be manual focus only, but otherwise fully compatible to the "AF-G" spec. with no aperture ring. This lens does not have an internal focus motor and was intended for some of the older autofocus film cameras and early or higher end digital cameras with focus motors in the camera body. Have only been able to take few test shots with it but I am so far very satisfied with both the picture quality and of the build quality of the lens. Compact for its effective length. Slightly faster aperture that the AF-S version meant for the D40/ D60/ D3000, etc. If you don't mind the manual focus with these cameras, or if you do have a body with a focus motor, I don't believe you could go wrong with this lens.

This is a good zoom lens. I have taken some nice pictures with it. It is sharp and focus well, though the focusing is a bit slow.

I bought this as a cheap replacement for a AF-S VR-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G I have as a loan. By and large, the zoom I got on eBay suits this purpose. However, I miss at times the VR function of the more recent Nikkors.

Ken Rockwell has a thorough review of this lens here:
http://www.kenrockwell.co​m/nikon/75300.htm

This lens' performance is below average, huge light fall off, very soft focusing, ghosting contrast is not good, slow focusing speed, noisy AF. Price is attractive though, for such focal length and zoom. Performance similar to those 70-300mm consumer level aftermarket brand (sigma, tamron).

However this lens is good enough for your kids' high school sports activities, and to capture that special moment.