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 enlarge | Brand: Nikon
Category: Photography
List Price: $669.00
Buy New: $449.00
You Save: $220.00 (33%)
New (17) Used (5) Refurbished (1)
Avg. Customer Rating:  116 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Optical Zoom: 4.3
Maximum Focal Length: 300
Minimum Focal Length: 70
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 3.1 x 3.1
MPN: 2161
Model: 2161
UPC: 018208021611
EAN: 0182080216110
ASIN: B000HJPK2C
Release Date: October 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Very Good Lens March 18, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Absolutely great for daylight handheld photography. Legendary Nikon quality photographs are easily obtained with this lens. I use it mostly for nature photography and recently returned from Florida with some excellent close up shots of some birds. The VR works very well in hand held use. It is a big, heavy lens but is a worthy addition and deserving of the Nikon name.
Dave
Great Lens March 13, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Nikkor 70-300mm VR Lens is everything I hoped it would be. I am able to get much closer to whatever I am photographing, and the pictures come out crisp, clear and colorful. I'd recommend this lens to any photo enthusiast.
 This Lens is a Winner March 3, 2007
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
I would like to add to the reviews already posted, especially for anyone considering this lens as an alternative to the 80-400 VR. This is one of the only times I can remember when I have had the money to buy a Nikon lens, but have not been able to bring myself to do it. The 80-400 is 6 years old, uses ancient mechanical (slow) focus, and has yet to be updated with VRII technology. All that, and it still costs more than the pro-quality Canon 100-400 IS, which has Canon's AF-S equivalent too! That said, I like long yet portable lenses, and after giving myself fits decided to "settle" for the 70-300 because it has VRII and AF-S. If you are in the same boat then buy this lens, it is a gem for its intended purpose. I get sharp results wide open at 300, and the light weight more than offsets the slower apertures. I would have LOVED this lens if it was an f/3.5, but even at 4.5-5.6 I have really been surprised at the results. Save the $1000+ until Nikon updates the 80-400 dinosaur.
Very Nice Lens But it Has its Quirks February 24, 2007
299 out of 311 found this review helpful
After exhaustive research on many lens, I finally decided to plunk down the $500+ (at the time this was written) to purchase this lens. It may not be the best on the market but it compliments my Nikon 18-70mm DX lens nicely. I was looking towards Nikon's 18-200mm DX lens, however; the price pushed me to choose this one (as it was nearly half the price and my two lens can nearly cover all the range of the one 18-200mm).
QUALITY/WEIGHT:
build quality is cheap yet sturdy... the plastic is a little chinky but cuts down on the weight. My Nikon D200 has no problem handling the lens weight, however; I have heard (unconfirmed) reports that this lens is a little heavy for the lighter cameras (D80, D70, D40, ETC). The Ring Connector is metal and has a rubber gasket on the outside so as to provide minor protection (for the lens mount) from the elements.
You also have to keep this in mind, when discussing weight, quality & price; the bulk of the price of this lens is going into the glass elements (all 17 elements of them). It gets expensive when you place that many high-quality optics into a tube. I'm really not that surprised a the price, although $400 price-range would probably be more suitable for this lens
FOCUSING/LENS ATTRIBUTES:
Focusing can be quite fast... at times. You'll find, at the Max 300mm focal range, that the lens has a pretty hard time auto-focusing in on a subject. At times it would focus pretty quick, at the 300mm range, while at others it cannot focus at all. You can get around this quirk by bringing the subject into near focus (manually) then letting the auto-focus take over; it works every time. I find this focus problem disappointing especially given the price of this lens.
The quality of the Bokeh (Out of focus areas of the photograph) is very nice and pleasing. The images are sharp, vignetting (dark areas in the corner of your photos) is hard to find and lens flare rarely a problem.
VIBRATION STABILIZATION:
All I can say is that it works... it can come in handy. It's not going to stop the image guaranteed for you; it's only meant to slow down the rate at which the camera moves (vibration from holding). You can notice the difference; with it off you'll see that the image (at say 300mm) really bouncing around; then you flick on VR. It takes a sec or two but then the image smooths out, it still wobbles around, but much more slowly.
With VR enabled, you can usually go 2-3 (sometimes 4) stops down, then what you'd normally be able to do when hand holding.
THE "SHOCK" TEST:
I haven't "shock tested" my lens yet (IE dropped it) but I have heard (again unconfirmed reports here) that it holds up pretty well to a drop... although I would never recommend testing that out.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The 70-300mm range should be noted: Although the lens states that it is a 70-300mm zoom, this lens was intended for a 35mm camera or full-frame CCD/CMOS sensor Digital Camera. All (or at least the majority) of Nikon's DSLR (D200, D80, ETC) are NOT Full-Frame sensors. They are approximately 1.5x factor of a full-frame sensor (due to the smaller sensor size).
What does this all mean?
Well it's simple, since this is a 35mm lens and not a DX lens (ie built to account for the 1.5x factor in most nikon digitals) you have to apply the 1.5x conversion. This means that the Nikon 70-300mm on a Nikon DSLR will give an apparent zoom equivalent to a 105-450mm lens. I actually do not mind this apparent zoom and this should also cut down on vignetting; as what the lens projects onto the sensor is larger then the area of the sensor itself. In short: parts of the image spills over the sensor, since this lens was meant to project onto a full-frame sensor/35mm film.
CONCLUSION:
Pros:
Pleasing Bokeh
Fast Auto-Focus (when working properly)
Vignetting is minimal
Image Stabilization (VR)
Flare is minimal
1.5x factor (105-450mm) makes for nice zoom
Colors are very good
CONS:
Plastic Casing
Near Inability to Auto-Focus at 300mm range
Price (even though it is cheaper then the 18-200mm DX)
1.5x factor (105-450mm) might make it more zoom then you need
Lens could be faster (F/4 would have been nice)
I love this lens, even for it's quirks, however; you may want to wait till it drops in price a little more (it falls almost bi-weekly). It may not be the fastest on the market, but it's size, optics, image quality and VR make this a must have lens for Serious Nikon users!
Best lens in its category February 11, 2007
37 out of 38 found this review helpful
I got this lens to replace my older Quantaray 70-300mm. I got tired to losing a lot of images to camera shake at the 300mm end. Plus the lens I had was old (almost 10 years) and optically it wasn't that great.
The Nikkor 70-300mm w/VRII is perfect for me. I love the way the VR works. I've been able to get useable images taken at the 300mm end with a 1/6th shutter. Very impressive. No more camera shake issues at the long end. I'm also very impressed with how sharp it is (it is sharper than my 18-70mm) and also the focus is fast and quiet. It is on the big side, but not to much larger than any other 70-300mm lens. I'm very happy with the performance of this lens. I find the addition of the VR to be very much worth it.
Granted its not a fast lens and I never intended it to take the place of or performe like an f/2.8 lens. Its not fair to compare it to any f/2.8 lens. Comparing to the previous 2 Nikkor 70-300mm models or any of the 3rd party 70-300mm's, this newest Nikkor addition is the best. For the average amerture hobbiest this is a great lens to compliment any of the kit lenses.
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