Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4E PF ED VR Lens

Product Information

Nikon made many different mechanical versions of this lens from 1969 through 1998 and they all share the same very good optics. Thus this lens wasn't very popular; it cost more than the earlier version but didn't do much different. This 300mm f/4 AFS is significantly sharper than the 70-300 VR and 28-300mm VR lenses at 300mm, if and only if you're looking at the results from a high-resolution camera at 100% on your screen. Another feature that I like about this lens is the retractable built-in hood. While lens flare seem to be well-corrected optically, I did notice a difference having the hood extended while shooting with the sun at a low angle. Retractable hoods are more convenient than the detachable hoods, particularly when deploying or stowing the camera. Also, I have always regarded lens hoods as another measure of physical protection against damage to the front element or filter threads. I insist on using a hood whenever I can.

Falls, Yosemite Valley, 15 May 2015. D810, wide-open at f/4 at 1/320 hand-held at ISO 100. Bigger or full-resolution file. This 300mm lens is designed for those who actually shoot in the field all day, as opposed to sit around at home talking about it. It uses a Fresnel element to use less glass and save even more weight. As you can see from this and other samples in this review, the lens does an excellent job in rendering bokeh, even when stopped down. VignettingLeave it in FULL, unless your subjects are more than 3m (10 feet) away and the lens keeps getting lost and "hunting" for your subject. If so, the ∞-3m setting prevents AF from trying to focus closer than 3 meters, and will speed up the autofocus if your camera keeps trying to focus too closely looking for your subjects. Fig. 2 shows how this lens is constructed. If we compare it to the Nikkor-P Auto 300mm f/4.5 in Fig. 1, we see that the structure of the rear groups looks the same, but that of the front groups differs greatly. The front group of the Nikkor-P Auto 300mm f/4.5 was constructed using three convex-convex-concave lens elements, but the front group of the AI Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 S (as well as the Nikkor-H Auto) appears quite different with a four-element structure made up of a convex-concave doublet, a convex element, and a concave element. However, if we look closely, we see that the only difference was the adoption of a doublet for the first lens element, and that basically the structure was changed very little. Now the norm, this Nikon lens will take all 77mm filters and polarizers and with the internal focus feature, will allow you to get close enough (4½ feet) to be an ad-hoc macro lens on some subjects without your filter attachment turning in the process. Sealing: yes! A rubber grommet at the lens-mount and a rubberized front-end that acts as a seal when the lens-cap is attached. The 300/4.0D does not offer that kind of protection. [+]

If you use a tripod, you may as well use the non-VR 300/4 AF-S which is better made and much less expensive.One of the sharpest telephoto lenses I’ve used. At F4 it matches the 2.8 stopped down to F4 in sharpness. Another outstanding feature of this 300mm f/4 is its super close focussing. Any lens that focuses more closely will be a zoom which cheats and shortens its real focal length to achieve the closer focus. Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S at 30 feet (10 meters) at f/4. Full-resolution. Also note how super-sharp is the tree (the bottom is closer to the upwards-pointed camera and not in focus.)

Color rendition is superb – although there is no Nano coating on this lens, I love the way the 300mm f/4 reproduces colors. NIKON D3S + 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, ISO 720, 1/1000, f/5.0

Things to love about the 300 PF. Reason 1: Less weight

This lens also weighs almost as much as those two lenses put together, and this lens has no VR so using a tripod is often a good idea. Nikon cautions that even the newer lenses (serial number 205101 and above) and my lens after repair (actually a firmware update) may not always work perfectly. It's hard for VR to work well with a light, long lens like this because they wiggle more than big, heavy teles, and have much more magnification than shorter lenses. That leaves Nikon’s own predecessor, the AF-S 300/4.0D. As you’ve seen in the comparison above, that lens is big, heavy and not stabilized. It’s image quality has a good reputation and we’ll see in my tests that this is indeed justified. So for those who don’t need small and light and have no problems to shoot 300mm without image stabilization that may well be the best alternative to the new lens.