Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Comment

Ive only been using this lens for about 10 days, however Ive been using Nikon cameras and lens for over 45 years. The pictures are sharp and crisp. The auto-focus is smooth and nearly silent although at times it does seem hunt around a bit. The VR mode is really great if your forced to hand hold the camera and it works beautifully. Two things bother me a little. The manual focus ring too narrow and located at the very front of the lens, this makes things a little difficult when focusing in quirky situations very low light conditions The second thing is the snap on lens hood that requires you to depress two buttons on the side of the hood. These buttons blend in so well with the hood that you cant see or find them if say your standing in the shade. I think a couple of stick-on dots or maybe a little finger nail polish will do the trick. The attached "test shot" was take at f11 @ 1/250 @ 240mm on a sturdy tripod.

Show more

Comment

Id like to write a review based on the performance of this lenses but theres a lot of well educated people reviewing this so read theres I wont waste my time. Although I couldnt find a lot of people reviewing on refurbished lenses. I was very reluctant to buy refurbished but Im glad I did. Ive been using this lenses almost two years now and its held up great. It came with everything the new lenses comes with except the box but really who cares about the box when u compare the price with new. If your reluctant like I was save your money and buy the refurbished lenses.

Show more

Comment

First of all Ill say that I ordered my lens as soon as Amazon had them available. I upgraded to next day shipping and got it 18 hours later - quick service. Thanks Amazon! But now on to the real review... This lens is fantastic - especially for $399. My first concern was whether it not it had a plastic or metal mount since some DX lenses in this price range have plastic. I even contacted Nikon and they couldnt (or wouldnt) tell me. Well, I was really pleased to see that it does have a metal mount. It has a nice solid feel to it. The zoom movement is smooth and I havent had any problem with lens creep when Im aiming it downward. Even when I point the camera downward and shake it, it wont creep. Im just beginning to get into testing it but my preliminary pictures are coming out nice - really nice. The sharpness is amazing and the lens produces a very nice bokeh. I posted the image of the dragonfly with the chicken wire background (see the customer uploads) Check out the detail in the wings. That shot says it all. It was HAND HELD and cranked all the way out to 300mm. The original image is great but a lot of the detail was lost with the upload to Amazon. But - none the less - its still pretty sharp. The auto focus on this lens is fast, smooth, quiet and very accurate. It locked right in on the subject. It was set on aperture priority at f/8 1/500sec for the shot that I posted here (shot with a D-90). The VR on this lens is great. The detail I get with hand-helds just amazes me. It has Nikons VRII image stabilization and it even has a tripod detection mode that reduces any vibration from shutter release when its on a tripod. Colors are rendered accurately and the contrast is pretty sharp even at the max aperture. The lens is compact for a 300mm and its lighter than my AF-S DX 18-200mm which I use as my regular walk-around. Im sure the new 55-300 will be used as my walk around pretty frequently also. All in all for an APS-C lens, Nikon did a great job with this one - especially for the price. Its a welcome addition to the DX line and Im really glad I have one in my gear bag.

Show more

Comment

I picked this lens over the 200 mm for $50.00 more for one reason and that it zooms in just a bit more ... That little extra! The reviews that I read, said that this lens wasnt as clear as the 200 mm . But I see NO difference in my photos. the sharpness and colors are still great even at 300 mm full zoom........ Even the close ups are great. Any lens you buy, over a 70 mm. being hand held needs the VR switch ON, thats for sure. But I do love this lens, it does a great job out doors plus I have used this lens indoors with the use of a flash unit, and they both worked out super nice. I put on a 58 mm. UV filter right away to protect the outer lens. Plus it comes with a lens hood, and a cloth case or bag for storage. If your wondering what lens to get, the 55 - 300 mm is a Pretty Nice Lens choice,,, Id say... Its All worth it. Thank You, Amazon, for the processing and being prompt with my order... It was shipped safe and sound... good job!

Show more

Comment

This is an excellent zoom lens for the budget DX cameras. The lens is adequate in focusing speed (not slow, but not blazing, it hunts a bit). The Lens of course as a bit of trouble on lowlight but in decent light, the lens is very good. Another small weakness for this lens is that it does not focus close to the target (minimum of 3 meters or so ). Pair this lens with your 18-55 kit and you will have almost the entire range covered. To resume: THE GOOD: Decent focusing speed. Good image quality. Price The Bad: Limited Focus range to 3 or more meters (not a Macro lens) Has a lot of Focus breath (focus too close and you lose around 40% of the zoom range)

Show more

Comment

I have been wanting this lens for awhile now, n I purchased it n I am really disappointed in the quality of photos it produces. I have been a professional Photographer for 35 yrs and I know alot about lens. This lens is very hard to get stabilized to get shots not blurred, distance shots is very difficult without a tripod. I wanted to love this lens but its not helping my photos . I wont buy from this seller again n I have bought alot of stuff on amazon. This is about a $400. lens and very disappointing with everything about it. Dont waste your money.

Show more

Comment

I purchased this lens for my wife as a Christmas present on Nov.16,2012 and after she opened it I decided to register the lens for the extended 4 yr. warranty which was included. I am dismayed and shocked that the paper work explicitly states several times that the warranty is invalid if the product is not registered within 10 days of purchase. This seems like some sort of scam that Nikon is using to weasel out of honoring the offered warranty. It remains to be seen if Nikon will stand behind this offer or not but I am very unhappy that the registration period is so short. So be warned, if the extended warranty is important to you, make sure you register as soon as you receive the lens. UPDATE--to Nikons credit, I received a prompt reply to my email questioning whether they would honor the extended warranty--message follows-- "Thank you for contacting Nikon. I do apologize for any inconvenience. Our Nikkor lenses comes with an additional 4 year warranty. In order to receive the additional 4 year warranty, you must register the lens as well as maintain the proof of purchase if any issues occur with the lens. Since it was a gift, if any issues occur and you need to send your camera to our service center, we recommend you state that in a brief description." no mention of the 10 day requirement here so why put it in the official paperwork? I guess we will see in a few years. Later update---ended up returning this lens anyway--my wife was not happy with its performance and I was not happy with Nikons wishy washy reply to my complaint.

Show more

Comment

I happen to get this lens for x-mas deal, which is hundred buck less than regular price. Other zoom lens I have is 18-105mm, though there is overlap, I happen to get this primarily for sport shots. Pros: long zoom and good colors Works best/sharp from f8 to f11 Can be used as walk around lens for day time/good lighting conditions good value for price. smooth backgrounds Cons: bit slow focus compared other nikon zooms, can be compensated with high iso or good lighting conditions. You need to stay few feets from subject to get the lens work. May not be good idea for indoor shots. This is great zoom lens for the price, if you need bit faster focus go for 70-300 VR version. Other than that, its great lens, if you already have 18-55, add this lens to complete your zoom. Update 24th Sep 15: I have been using this on Nikon 610 full frame camera for my kids sport photography. Thought it is bit challenging. It does give good photos. Lack of enough speed really show up with teenage kid games. Unless we keep the shutter around 700, it hard to get better picture. But it does impact the image at high zoom, since minimum focal length goes up. If you have elementary school age kids this is good enough for lens for their sports and portraits. Teenagers move faster than them, you need to look for constant focal lens.

Show more

Comment

My sincere apologies to Nikon for my previous negative review. After researching the problem further, I determined that the cpl that I keep on the lens (and all my lenses) was the culprit.............Ive never had a lens filter cause this problem before. So after purchasing the "used, in excellent condition" lens, I immediately blamed the lens and myself for not spending more and buying a new one. The cpl was an Amazon Basics which has an excellent track record from many, many users like me. Amazon has refunded my purchase of the cpl in full even though the return date has expired. How is that for customer service??? The lens is after all a very exceptable zoom lens for the money.................Ill keep it and use it a lot, mostly for distance wildlife and people shots. The VR and AF are very good......................I cannot focus it any better using the Manual setting.

Show more

Comment

I bought this lens in a used-like-new condition. I must say that Im very happy about this purchase. The lens works just great, it is fast and take great quality pictures. Despite of tis size, its not too heavy to carry. I like this lens because it allows you to take great portrait pictures and also has a metalic mount ring, wich should be safer that plastic mounts of similar nikkon lens. I recommend this lens ! About the seller all I can say is that the lens actually are just like-new. In fact I feel great because i saved about $100 buying them

Show more