NIKON AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6G

Rating:
Summary: Great optics for a low price
Review: First off, let me tell you that this lens only works fully with the latest Nikon SLRs because it has no aperture ring to set f/stops. You must do that electronically using a D100, D2H, D70, N80, N75, F5 or F100. However, Nikon does provide a nice compatibility chart telling you how to use this lens on older Nikon cameras. So you can use this lens on S and P modes with the N90s, N8008s, N 6000, and N4004. This backward compatibility of lenses and bodies is one of the strongest points of the Nikon system. Even a 24 year old lens can be used with a new Digital SLR, to some extent.

The lens is very light for it's zoom range. It has a reasonably substantial feel, unlike some of the Sigma lenses I've used. It's made of polycarbonate, which is the same stuff the F117 Stealth fighter is made from.

If you shoot lots of portraits, this is the lens to get. The telephoto allows you to throw the background out of focus with relative ease. The lens has a 9 bladed iris, so out of focus elements are rendered in very subtle and beautiful forms. The Japanese call this "Bokeh" and much has been written about it. It's very nice that the Nikon engineers took this aesthetic principal into account when designing this economy lens. Once again, Nikon proves to be a design driven company.

The zoom ring has a nice feel with good manual dampening. Zooming is precise with no "slop" or wobble. Manual focus is about average for a lens of this caliber. It's possible, but no great joy. Since I'm used to the silky feel of Nikon's old AIS lenses, I doubt anything could rate higher. Autofocus for this lens is much better, and seems to be quick and precise. About the only time it balked was when shooting delicate cloudscapes. This is common for AF lenses and simply requires you to quickly disengage the AF on your camera body and rack the lens to "Infinity" setting.

My D70 DSLR made this lens handy to grip and insanely light. The great thing about using this lens on a DSLR is that you end up with a 450mm zoom lens! great for bringing in distant objects. Watch out when shooting against strong backlight, however. This lens seemed to have more than a little "Purple fringing". Shots done in normal lighting conditions exhibit zero fringing, and superb sharpeness. So that's the good news.

Overall this lens is a great bargain and worthy of the Nikkor name. Don't let the low price fool you. Although it's not a Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 by any means, this lens is highly capable and a great second lens for your D70 Digital SLR or N series 35mm SLR. Nikon USA offers a 5 year warranty FREE if you mail the registration postcard in within 10 days of purchase. So be sure to get that in the mailbox right after buying!

Rating:
Summary: Good second D-70 lens
Review: First, the negatives:

1. It's not a Nikkor.
2. It's not terribly fast

The pluses:

1. It's the perfect compliment to the stock 18-70mm zoom
2. It's really cheap.

This lens will not resolve as many lines, or deliver as much contrast as a kilobuck Nikkor zoom. But it will deliver surprisingly good results in a 6 Mpixel D-70. Between this lens and the 18-70 supplied with the D-70, you'll be set until you decide you must have that exotic 12mm or 600m/2.8.

Rating:
Summary: Good for everything but low light.
Review: I agree with the other reviews here, for the money it is a bargain. I just want to caution again anyone that expects to capture clear shots in a low-light setting with this lens. As you might expect, that would be difficult with a "slow" lens. The auto focus has trouble in low light and motion, such as at a football game in the evening, for example, will of course blur. A sports lens it is not but then that is where you need the really expensive fast lense.

In all other ways, I find the lens excellent. Nor do I have a problem with the manual focus as others here have mentioned. Maybe I have not been spoiled by a much better manual focus, I find it adequate. This is a fun lens. You can expect to see things with your camera that you won't be able to see with your naked eye.

Rating:
Summary: The best value for the money
Review: I have had this len for about six months now, and with my D70, it can produce fantastic portraits.

Rating:
Summary: Nice Lens
Review: I will say first that the lens has a nice feel to it. Secondly I will add that it will give you sharp images to you liking, but I have to comment on the manual focusing. Manual focusing will be a slight pain in the ass as it has a stiff and racking sound to it. Almost enough to turn you off form focusing yourself, but the autofocus is pretty good.

I still have to get use to it and fool around some more to see how well this lens can perform. Those who prefer focusing manually will want a different lens.

Rating:
Summary: Nikon's 70-300mm G Zoom
Review: This lens is much better than the 28-80 standard zoom that nikon bundles in its kits. The image is very faithful and sharp, and aberrations are non-visible. Despite it being such a powerful zoom, it is surprisingly light, silent and fast. The zoom ring has a substantial grip while the improved focussing ring has a crisp feel about it. However, manual focus is not as smooth as the zoom. The quick and precise Autofocus more than makes up for it, however.
It would be unfair if nothing was said about the looks. The lens with its stylish grip, barrel and hood is 200% guaranteed to attract rave admirations and, of course, a lot of envy.
Overall, a good buy and great value for money!

Rating:
Summary: Good lens for this price
Review: Weighing in at about 15 oz., this Nikkor AF zoom lens is a lot of bang for the buck. The zoom range is 70-300mm; if you use a Nikon digital SLR like my D70, the effective range is 106-456mm due to the 1.5x crop factor. 300mm or 450mm, this is a very powerful zoom lens for relatively little money.

The maximum aperture of the lens is f4 at 70mm and one stop slower at f5.6 at 300mm. These are of course slower than more expensive Nikkor's which can go to f2.8, but for that you'd be shelling out many times more money. For most outdoor daylight photos as well as well-lit portraits, this lens does the job. At f5.6 and 300mm, you'll get a nice shallow depth of field that will give you that "professional" portrait you've been looking for. Just make sure you use a tripod.

This Nikkor sports excellent optics (despite not being an ED -- see below), and is a full auto-focus lens when mounted on Nikon SLRs that can do AF on G-type lenses. To switch into manual focus on one of these cameras, be sure to set the focus switch on the camera body to M (manual) first, before engaging the focus ring. Because this is *not* an AF-S (S for silence) lens, it does not have the "ultrasonic" built-in motor and is completely driven by the camera, that's why you want to set the focus mode switch on the camera to M before turning the focus ring.

Because this is not an AF-S lens, it's noisy when hunting for focus. Being an economics lens, it focuses pretty fast when there's plenty of light, but in low light situations, it can "hunt" for focus for a long time. In fact, where there's little light, you'll need to half-press the shutter button several times before the lens autofocuses properly; and don't be surprised if you have to switch to manual focus. (Just remember to set the camera's focus mode to M!)

Other features missing from this low-priced lens are a macro mode and low-dispersion (called ED by Nikon). Of course, it doesn't have vibration reduction, either.

Oh, if you have a digital SLR, you'll get an additional benefit of using a non-DX lens on a d-SLR: because only the central part of the image from the lens actually hits the sensor, you won't have to worry about aberrations that affect the edges, esp. when using low-cost lenses. From corner to corner, side to side, your picture will be sharp.

In short, for a little over $100 you are getting a genuine Nikon-designed (but made in China) lens with excellent optics, a long zoom range, fast autofocusing in bright light, and relative light weight but solid construction. On the other hand, the low, low price means you won't get macro, ED, ultrasonic focusing mechanism, or the very best optics that much more expensive Nikkor lenses have.

If you have enough money, I recommend getting a high-quality zoom lens that covers the wideangle to telephoto focal lengths. My favorite is the compact and lightweight Tamron 28-300mm Di XR LD lens sold here on Amazon (although you do give up aperture speed).