Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

I am pleased with this lens for its low weight and compactness that rides easily in my spiderholster. For a reasonably, but not super-, sharp lens that is a good package. It gives you a 300mm reach at a reasonable cost. I use it on bird watching trips. A 300mm lens isnt really up to the task, but anything longer would strain my back on long hikes, so its a compromise I am willing to accept. My subject is usually at the center of the image, so although I wish it were a tad sharper, sharpness is adequate. If I were buying this lens today, I would take a close look at the new Nikkor 300mm f/4 PF as a substitute. It is equally light and might be a superior lens. The auto focus is super fast. However, when photographing birds, focusing is usually a two step process and the second step is difficult with this lens. Step 1 is Autofocus to get an approximate focus. Step 2 is Manual focus to fine tune. If you are photographing polar bears, there is no need for step 2, but with birds, step 2 is often necessary because the autofocus gets tricked by leaves and branches. The fine tuning is very difficult and very often impossible before the bird flies away. Such difficulty is to be expected when attempting to photograph birds, which are notoriously uncooperative subjects. However, at f/5.6 there is not a lot of light to work with and it is very difficult to tell when the subject is in focus even if it is perfectly still. The tiniest of nudges seems to turn the focus ring from under-focused to over-focused and the focus ring has a tiny free play whereby it moves a bit before it engages. This manual focusing difficulty might be an issue with digital photography in general rather than with this particular lens. The old manual lenses were by comparison a pleasure to focus. The 28-300 works very well as a macro lens as well. For nature travel, this lens allows you to capture landscapes as well as distant animals. For the price and weight, it is well worth having.

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I recently bought this as a travel lens before going to Europe. I originally wanted to bring my Sigma 70-200 2.8, Nikon 50mm 1.8, Tamron SP 20-40mm. After deciding that it would be too much to carry along with Manfrotto 190probx and head, I started looking for a travel lens. I read several different forums, and sites and decided on the Nikkor 28-300mm. It seemed to cover most of what I needed for portraits and landscapepanoramas. I brought along my Tamron SP20-40mm, but instead used the 28-300mm the whole time. I realize that the lens is a compromise but I got some really nice portraits and landscapes with it. It is reasonably fast, compactlight, and VR lens stabilization came in handy when a tripod was not an option. I am still going through and editing the many RAW images taken, but here is one of the many that I thought came out really well: [...]

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Received this lens 2 days ago and took it around town and to a baseball game to try it out on my D700. Overall I am very pleased with it. The zoom range allows for great flexibility, the autofocus is fast, VR II superb as on other Nikon lenses. While the zoom is not as loose as the early 18-200mm lenses, you do need the included lock for it not to creep if you carry the lens pointed down on your camera. The weight of the lens as other reviewers say is quite comfortable - mine with clear protective filter comes in at 860g, just a touch heavier than the 70-300mm but not something youd noticed without a scale. Build quality is very solid. I tested this lens against my 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR and the 16-35mm f4 VR and overall I was pleasantly surprised how well the new lens did. Three things potential buyers should be aware of: 1) while the lens is listed as 28-300mm it seems to be neither quite 28mm (the angle of view is slightly narrower than the 16-35mm set to 28mm), nor does it quite extend to 300mm (the 70-300mm gets a bit more enlargement). This is not a big issue in normal use since youd never know the difference without a side by side comparison, but if youre buying the lens specifically for either extreme of the range be aware of this. I dont have equipment to test so youll have to wait for professional reviews to tell you exactly what the actual range is in mm. 2) while overall Im very pleased with the quality - no ghosting during shots I took at the ballgame despite not having Nanocoating - when you compare side by side it is not as sharp as either of the other lenses and has, as is to be expected given the zoom range, more distortion. Again nothing that would jump out at you if you just saw a photograph, but side by side especially at 300mm you do notice that fine details (textures, text) are more crisp when taken with the 70-300mm. 3) The lens very quickly goes to f5.6 - by the time youre at 70mm youre at f5.0, and by 105mm youre at f5.3. Before buying I had wondered how this lens compares to the new 24-120mm f4, and I suspect that lens is slightly sharper and if you shoot a lot at portrait length you will fine the full extra stop (f4 vs 5.6) to be quite useful. Note I have NOT actually tested the 24-120 since it not available yet. And of course that lens is about 25% more expensive. Overall Im very pleased with this lens, and despite the difference in sharpness this lens will be replacing my 70-300mm in my bag for most purposes - pretty much the only time Id take the 70-300mm would be to specifically shoot wildlife or objects I know will be far away and Im trying to keep the weight down (and obviously if youre really into wildlife you should get yourself a faster longer range lens than the 70-300mm). Basically with this lens and the 16-35mm you cover an amazing range in two lenses and both of them are excellent lenses with AFS, VR II, etc.

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I got this one as a travelling lens, I am tired of carrying 6 or 7 lens that weight so much. So this one is prefect and I leave the others at home during long travel. The opening of 5.6 is not as much as I would have like at 300mm and the picture quality is not one of a prime lens. But hey! I knew that before getting it, I made a choice.

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Well, What can I say, its Nikon and supposed to be good. Read review on Ken Rockwell website and decided to go for this one. He said its a must have lens replacing your whole bag almost. And "sharp at every aperture". Well, I did get a sharp one after 3 tries ! 2 out of three other copies were very soft on 1/4 of the outer parts of the frame at 28 mm. This did get better as aperture went toward f6.3 - f8 but really !!!!! ,, really !!! I did also read other post on the net saying they had similar experiences having to try multiple lenses before getting a perfect one . Which I now have.... YAAAAYYY So finally I did get a good copy and am VERY happy with it. Very, Very sharp, at pretty much all apertures and MMs but of course there is a tiniest softness when shooting 28mm and wide open however with my copy this can only be seen on my 16 mp camera blown up to more than 50%. All in all I am pleased to finally get what I expected in the first place. Personally I would make sure you buy from reputable companies that have a good exchange policy like amazon. There customer service is perhaps one of the best I have ever encountered but ultimately I dont trust Nikons quality control anymore. I would give a five star rating for this lens, however I will take into account that it took me 3 copies to get a great one, for this reason I will score THIS lens a 4 star . If I could also score the other lenses I tried first before getting this copy, I would give those a mere 3. UPDATE JUNE 2017 Still use it as my walk around / vacation lens. Works great ! Still love it . Also have the 14-24mm and 24-70MM 2.8 and now the 70-200 VR2 FL These lenses I use when I know what I am going to shoot.

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I have waited for a year and hundreds of shots to post a review about this lens. Overall this is a very solid lens - but it is very much a compromise and despite the quality I really regret buying it. Some things to know - - The lens is sharp throughout most of the range as long as you are at around F5.6 and above (which is where it sits for most of the range anyway). Below that it has issues. Especially at the extremes of the focal ranges. If you treat it as a straight F5.6 max aperture lens you will not be disappointed. - It isnt a true 300mm as near as I can tell. I have an old manual focus 300mm prime and side by side images suggest this is more like a 275mm. My Sigma 150-600 also suggests it falls short. I shoot with it on FX bodies so this may be irrelevant if you use an APS-C and want reach. - It is a quality lens. The focus is quiet and the rings are smooth as glass. Given the price compared to Nikons golden zooms I expected some corner cutting, but there is none to be found. - This weighs a ton. Even with the VR I get more jitter than expected and I blame it on the weight. Hooked to my D810 I feel like I am toting a dumbell around. I mentioned quality - but I attribute that to the electronics and smoothness of operation. Heft is just heft. My biggest regret with this lens is not holding out and getting separate 24-70 and 70-200 F2.8s (which I have subsequently done - a Nikon and a Tamron respectively). I have numerous primes throughout the focal range of this lens plus the new zooms I just mentioned and due to the weight and aperture trade-offs this really never seems to be the right choice. Carrying the two zooms is simply preferable these days and if I am shooting at 85 or below I carry my 4 primes (24 1.8, 35 1.4, 50 1.4 and 85 1.8) which I swear seem to weight in total about what this lens weighs. If you are looking for one lens that does it all and wont give you kit lens quality pictures you will probably like this. But for someone that is an avid amateur (many hours per week behind the camera) I would say seriously consider spending around twice as much and get Tamron or Sigma 24-70 and 70-200 F2.8s.

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This is a great all around lens. Not the best in sharpness, a little soft; however gets the job done for most photographic jobs. Ive used it for weddings, concerts and portrait sessions. I think it is a bit overpriced as you will not often have the advantage of the 3.5 f stop. Usually shooting at the 5.6. I do wish Nikon would produce a similar lens with a better light situation and sharpness. That said, Im glad I have it, just wish it were better so that I didnt have to lug around my 85mm 1.4, and other fixed lenses for portraiture. I use it at concerts, but wish I had the extra light a 70 - 200 would provide. It is good to have the 28mm when you have a group to take pictures of and works well with landscapes if you are not particular. I spend a lot of time with a loop at portrait sessions to be certain I have my subject in perfect focus, dont trust the lens.

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