Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70–300mm f/4.5–5.6G IF-ED vs Nikon Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm

At The rear: The metal mount features a rubber gasket, despite nothing being declared about a proper weather sealing, and it’s also not compatible wit...

The lens did take awesome photos, but with very limited lighting and focal constraints. You will likely be happy with this lens as long as you have a more modern and powerful camera body to attach it to. The VR system works great in reducing the tremors that come with holding a 5.6 pound lens attached to your camera

6G IF-ED that doesn't seem to shoot clearly anymore. I have used the heck out of this lens on my D90 and then moved on to the D810. I was able to shoot handheld at 300mm and get amazing shots in the past but no more. I tried AF fine tuning and enabling electronic front curtain shutter but nothing helps so I assume it is damaged

I was using my 300mm f/4D AF-S plus Nikon 1.4TCII, which got me to 420mm at f/5.6. This combo works really well due to sharpness, light weight, smaller size and good reach

That's better than the 2,750 lines we want to see at a minimum from the D850. There is some softness at the edges of the frame, about 2,407 lines, but aside from that, details are crisp.

Try to avoid shooting at f/22 (2,870 lines) and f/32 (1,817 lines). When tested with the same D810, the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary shows similar sharpness (3,073 lines) and edge softness at 150mm, but at 200mm is a stronger performer than the Nikkor. The Sigma scores 3,803 lines at 200mm f/5.3, with strong performance from edge to edge

If you're shooting FX then this is a great, cheaper alternative to other FX lenses in this range (assuming you want new glass) but for DX shooters, I'd spend my money elsewhere. I would much rather pony up a few extra hundred and get the 18-200 instead, which is what I have on my DX body 90% of the time. I hardly miss the extra 100m on the long end, and the extra 50m on the short end is far more usable. It's also quite heavy (despite all the plastic) so on a DX body it feels unbalanced and far too top heavy

If for no other reason to get the weight off your neck. Oh and the reason I finally pulled the trigger on buying it now was the free filter, these are BIG filters and starting around $125 so that was a great discount. Thanks Amason.

You can always tell who is a serious shooter by looking at their VR to see if it is on or off when shooting moving subjects. The IQ of the lens is very good. Auto focusing is spot on and reasonably fast at all aperture ranges. Just be sure to watch your shutter speed when shooting manual

The autofocus is very fast and VR gives you ~4 extra stops extra performance in lower light situations and hand holding. The lens hood is huge and I was able to narrow down to an Ape Case lens case to fit both the lens and reversed lens hood. Many other cases just fit the lens but not with the hood. I permanently store this lens in the lens case along with the Nikon lens bag

Given this setup and my DX camera, I'm rating this lens five-star. Whenever I get a new lens, I practice using it around the house and neighborhood for several days to become acquainted with its quirks. I did so with this lens and found two quirks that are noteworthy. First, this is a BIG lens, particularly where extended to a full 300mm and the lens shade is snapped on

So this review is using the Nikon D7100; a good camera in it’s own right. First, I hadn’t anticipated the length and the heft of this beast. Mercy, it adds some weight. I went through the steps of calibrating the lens to my body which took a bit longer than I thought it might and found it to be a “+9”