I'm thinking hard about purchasing the nikon 300mm f/4 AF-s lense. Anyone who owns or has owned this lense, how is it? I dont have the money for th f/2.8 so I was thinking about this one.
Also, If I use it with the 1.4 tc, will it still be fast enough for nice sharp pics?
Posted by Luke Ormand on April 8, 2010 at 12:04 PM
I use the 300 f4 + 1.7X TC which Nikon will tell you does not work. My photos (and several other NPN members photos) are evidence it does work. The AF is a bit slow and you can only stop down to f/6.3 (as opposed to f/5.6 with the 1.4) but the added reach (total focal length of 500mm) is worth it.
I love this combo and nearly all of my photos (aside from macro) have been taken with this combo, so feel free to peruse my gallery.
- Luke
Posted by Dan Harbour on April 8, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Hi, Kevin. I love the 300f4. Very sharp lens even wide open. Focuses to 5 feet. No VR of course so a good tripod or beanbag is essential.
I have the Kenko 1.4 teleconverter. I am not thrilled with the Kenko. Although online reviews of the Kenko were good, I think I notice some loss in IQ. I am a relative novice so some of it might be my technique.
I can not comment on the Nikon teleconverter, but I think it might be significantly better, although at twice the price.
Again, I am a novice, with very limited experience, so take my comment with a grain of salt.
Posted by Richard Ditch on April 8, 2010 at 12:20 PM
A 300/4, or 300/4 with 1.4x (420/5.6 equivalent) is a very nice walkabout optic.
I love my 300/2.8 AF-S and use it all the time on the TC20E (2x), but I'd love to have the 300/4 as well and would use it for hand held stuff like active warblers.
Great pics Luke, and thanks for the comments guys, After I get better, I plan to upgrade still to something like the 300 f/2.8 or better but for now I just need to get out of kit lenses. I know there are some good and bad stories to ebay, but I found this lense for $700 and it looked to be in fairly good condition for being slightly used. Are lenses something that need to be bought new?
so I think I'm gonna go for it whether new or used. But after buying this lense, I'll have only a little bit of cash left to be able to afford a good tripod. I have a monopod now thats junk although slightly better than handheld. I was going to try and keep the cost around $200-300. I looked on BH photo website and saw many that were over the cost of the lense. Any suggestions?
I bought my 300 used (though it had only been used a handful of times) and I bought my 18-200mm used (I used this for my whale photos). A brand new lens is nice because of the warranty, but a used lens is often the best way to get away from kits and step up to the big boy lenses.
As for a tripod, I don't own one (that will change in the future) and HH all my photos. Sometimes I'm resting the lens on the window frame of my car but I'd say 75% of the time I hand hold and only on very few occassions has the lack of VR or lack of tripod hurt me. I would say the tripod can wait - don't buy a cheap one because you think yoe need it.
Just be careful with the lens on ebay that it's the most current f/4 lens (the price sounds awfully cheap). I think there was a previous model that didn't have AF or something weird like that.
Kevin, take a look at KEH.com and Adoroma.com too - both have good used lenses and many of us have gotten good deals thru these places. Ebay is also ok, most of the time, but it's still more risky than dealing with a well-known company like KEH.
The older Nikon 300/4 AF is a very good lens, but it is different than the current 300/4 AF-S. I've owned the old version since for many years. You should read Thom Hogan's article on this. Search By Thom, and poke around the site until you find the lens reviews/descriptions.
Pete D.
Posted by Kevin Popp on April 10, 2010 at 12:55 AM
thamks pete for the heads up. I just went back and looked and there are 2 different ones the AF-S and the regular af
Discussion
10 repliesAlso, If I use it with the 1.4 tc, will it still be fast enough for nice sharp pics?
I love this combo and nearly all of my photos (aside from macro) have been taken with this combo, so feel free to peruse my gallery.
- Luke
I have the Kenko 1.4 teleconverter. I am not thrilled with the Kenko. Although online reviews of the Kenko were good, I think I notice some loss in IQ. I am a relative novice so some of it might be my technique.
I can not comment on the Nikon teleconverter, but I think it might be significantly better, although at twice the price.
Again, I am a novice, with very limited experience, so take my comment with a grain of salt.
I love my 300/2.8 AF-S and use it all the time on the TC20E (2x), but I'd love to have the 300/4 as well and would use it for hand held stuff like active warblers.
so I think I'm gonna go for it whether new or used. But after buying this lense, I'll have only a little bit of cash left to be able to afford a good tripod. I have a monopod now thats junk although slightly better than handheld. I was going to try and keep the cost around $200-300. I looked on BH photo website and saw many that were over the cost of the lense.
As for a tripod, I don't own one (that will change in the future) and HH all my photos. Sometimes I'm resting the lens on the window frame of my car but I'd say 75% of the time I hand hold and only on very few occassions has the lack of VR or lack of tripod hurt me. I would say the tripod can wait - don't buy a cheap one because you think yoe need it.
Just be careful with the lens on ebay that it's the most current f/4 lens (the price sounds awfully cheap). I think there was a previous model that didn't have AF or something weird like that.
- Luke
Sandy r
Pete D.