If you are a birder, you have only two choices for Nikon – either the 300mm f/4.0 AF-S or an expensive/heavy professional lens such as the 600mm f/4.0 VR. All other semi-professional lenses by Nikon are not good enough/long enough for birding. The 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR is too slow to focus and a lot of people are frustrated with it because smaller birds are constantly on the move and won’t just sit there for you to take your time. I have been using this lens for almost two years now and have been very pleased with the results. I take it with me everywhere I go and have used it more than any other lens so far (my second most used lens is the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4). It is relatively light and I primarily use it handheld for shooting birds and other wildlife of Colorado.
I also tried some macro with this lens and was quite happy with the results. The lens minimum focal distance is 1.45 meters, so you will need a close-up filter to get closer. Some people use and praise the Canon 500D close-up filter, but I haven’t yet had the need for that kind of macro work. If you want to decrease the minimum focus distance of the 300mm f/4.0, then Canon 500D is currently the only way to go (500D will decrease the minimum focal distance to 0.9 meters, approximately down to 1.1x ratio).
Macro – 300mm f/4 @ f/8.0, 1/500 sec, handheld:
Most lenses are best stopped down to f/5.6-f/8 to give consistently good pictures, while this lens is very sharp wide open at f/4. Couple it with a 1.4x TC and you will have 420mm on a full frame sensor or 630mm on D90/D300 1.5x sensor cameras. The 300mm f/4 + 1.4x TC is great shooting wide open and provides excellent results when stopped down. My only suggestion is to switch the focus limiter from “FULL” to “~3m” on the lens when you have the TC on to prevent “haunting” or long focus acquisition, especially in low-light conditions.
Bokeh on Nikkor 300mm f/4 AF-S is very good, I would say very comparable to bokeh produced by professional f/4 lenses. To get the best bokeh, I would recommend shooting at f/4.0 – f/5.6. Keeping a close distance to the subject and having no objects right behind the subject also helps to achieve good bokeh results.
Besides being a birder’s lens of choice, the Nikkor 300mm f/4 is also a superb portrait lens. I love shooting my family with this lens, because it isolates subjects and produces crisp and colorful pictures. It lets you capture natural behavior of people, because you can capture images from a distance, making your presence less noticeable. Bear in mind that it is not a lens for indoor photography though. If you are looking for a lens to shoot indoors, you will need a much faster lens such as the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4.
There are three small downsides of this lens:
- There is no back element on this lens, so you have to be extremely careful in changing lenses as dust will go inside and you won’t be able to remove it yourself (I’m sure Nikon did this to keep the cost of the lens down). When you look at the back of this lens you can clearly see the diaphragm – the last lens element. Although the diaphragm closes down to minimum aperture (f/22) when the camera is turned off and lens removed, if the dust goes into the lens it will get through the hole onto the last glass element that sits in front of the diaphragm. At that point, the only option is to send the lens to Nikon for cleaning. If you are buying this lens used, make sure that it doesn’t have large dust particles visible from the front element. If you are shooting in dusty/windy areas, my recommendation is to keep the teleconverter always on the lens if you absolutely need to change lenses.
- I wish it had VR (Vibration Reduction) in it. Hopefully Nikon will release a VR version for us birders soon. Most DX lenses have VR in them, so there is no reason why Nikon can’t add VR to this lens at the same or slightly higher cost.
- For heavy tripod use, I recommend replacing the original lens collar with a more stable version from either Kirk or Really Right Stuff. I have the Kirk collar and it does a much better job in keeping the lens stable, compared to the original Nikon version.
Overall, I’m very pleased with this lens. It would be great if Nikon added VR to the future versions of this lens, but we do have to work with what we have today :) Considering that the lens costs 4 times less than the professional 300mm f/2.8 VR and yet yields almost the same contrast and sharpness, it is a good bargain and is definitely worth getting. It is also an excellent choice for those who like to travel light and want to handhold their lenses for long periods of time.
More sample shots with this lens:
Willet - 300mm f/4 wide open @ f/4.0, 1/1000 sec, handheld
Snowy Egret - 300mm f/4 @ f/8.0, 1/800 sec with 1.4x TC (420mm), handheld
Moon Shot - 300mm f/4 @ f/8.0 combined shot with 1.4x TC (420mm), tripod
Pros: Quick Focus, Durable, Lightweight, Strong Construction, Sharp Focus.
Cons: No back element, No VR, Bad Tripod Collar.
I bought my copy of the Nikon 300mm f/4.0 AF-S online from B&H, but you can also get it from Adorama or other large retailers. If you are in the USA, make sure to get the USA version that comes with the 5 year warranty.
Lens image courtesy of NikonUSA.com.
Nasim Mansurov
I’ve just got my 300mm F4 AF-S
Here’s my first attempt with it
Colin, thank you for your feedback and congratulations with the purchase.
P.S. Sorry for responding so late, I didn’t even see this comment :)
I love that gooseberry shot! I am especially partial to close ups of plants and that has such wonderful colour and clarity.
I myself am a Canon shooter and I hope to be able to buy the 300mm f4 IS lens along with a 1.4x teleconverter. I have a European Buzzard that comes to my field every morning and I would love to get some decent shots of him/her – not sure which sex it is. I have an interaction with him that I really treasure ( http://myworldinphotosandwords.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-strange-behaviour.html ) and I would love to have some special images to remember him by.
Thank you Kerry!
It is unfortunate that Nikon has not yet updated this beautiful lens with image stabilization. Canon clearly has a lead in the lens department when it comes to telephoto lenses.
Coupled with the 1.4x TC, the Canon 300mm f/4.0 IS lens will yield superb results that you will be very pleased with. Every birder I talk to loves that combination! Canon also has Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens, but it has no IS :(
Your picture of Buzzard is beautiful! I left a comment under your post, but it has not showed up yet…
Thanks for the comment Nasim. I am truly blessed to have my visitor.
I have moderation on my posts as apparently there is a major problem with unpleasant comments that lead to unsavoury sites. :-( I must put a message to explain that.
Nasim -
Could you give us your experienced opinion or any testing you may have done in comparing the Nikon 300mm f4 with a TC 1.4 and the new 70-200mm f2.8 VRII and the new TC 2.0 III at 400mm?
Thank you!
Charlie, the Nikon 300mm f/4.0 AF-S with 1.4x TC is much sharper than the 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII with the TC-20E III.
Thanks Nasim! I guess I have to pony up for the 300mm f4.
Nasim
thanks for your review of the 300mm. I’m hesitating between this lens and the Sigma 150-500mm.
Have you had the opportunity to try the Sigma yet ? Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
Thanks !
Daniel, you are most welcome! Yes, I did try out the Bigma and while many photographers are quite happy with it, I have seen some bad samples out there with focusing problems and the one I tried had the same problem. If Sigma was a little more consistent in QA, I would have certainly recommended it. It is a cheap way to get to 500mm :)
Nasim,
Thanks for the reviews for the Nikon lenses, they are very informative. I am torn between getting a 70-200 vr2 w/ 1.4x or the 300 f/4, are they relatively the same in terms of sharpness? or would the 300 f/4 win it outright?
Thanks again.
Rocky, the 300mm f/4.0 would win when it comes to sharpness. If you need the reach, go for the 300mm + 1.4x. Check out my latest bird shots – they are all taken with the 300mm f/4.0 AF-S.
It be interested if you ever pushed this lens a bit more by using a 1.7x or 2.0x teleconverter.
FYI, the sandpiper in your shot is a Willet.
PAG, I did, but autofocus works extremely poorly and the images are not as sharp, even with the 1.7x.
Thank you for pointing out the correct bird name, I changed it :)
Hey Nasim
This was a very interesting article. And you got great captures.
I personally use a nikon d5000, so could you please advice some good[& cheap of course ;) ] lens along with a teleconverter that could do something similar.
Cheers
Praveen, there is really no good “cheap” lens that can take teleconverters. Your best bet would be to get the Nikon 70-300mm VR lens, which will give you 300mm focal length.
Thanks Nasim I think I will go for those. But which would be the most ideal teleconverter for it considering I am into wildlife photography?
Cheers
Praveen, teleconverters do not work with the 70-300mm VR – they only work with very expensive, prime lenses.
Praveen-
There is no teleconverter for the 70-300mm Nikon VR. You would have to go to a Nikon 300mm f4 ($1500) with a teleconverter or a Sigma 150-500mm ($1000) to exceed 300mm. Or something similar.
Thank you for responding to Praveen Charlie!