Customer Ratings & Reviews

Bought this lens after renting it for a week. The sharpness and clarity of this lens is amazing. Another features that impressed me is the weight just a mere 26 ounces. I have also used this with a Nikon teleconvertor 2.0 with great results. Combined with my new Nikon D500 it has taken my photos to another level.

I currently own a Nikon D810 and a Nikon D500. Between the two cameras, I typically throw this lens on the D500, because it makes for an excellent and effective 450mm lens with the crop factor. This lens is about as good as a telephoto gets in terms of image quality, and form factor. There's a bit to be desired with build quality, however, as the lens is made of entirely plastic, but it's arguably necessary to keep the weight down. Sharp doesn't begin to describe this lens, I've used it alongside the 70-200mm f/2.8 and 200-500mm f/5.6 lenses, and it's sharper than both, in my experience. The only problem with this lens is a VR issue present at regular shutter speeds on the D800 series of cameras (D800, D800E, and D810). This issue causes more than normal motion blur, CAUSED by the VR at shutter speeds between 1/100th and 1/160th is where it is most prevalent. This issue has been mostly removed from new models of the lens, and can be fixed with a firmware update if you ended up with an older body/lens combination. That aside, I can't recommend this lens enough. I'm absolutely smitten with it. Before this lens, I had to DECIDE whether or not to carry a telephoto with me for a day of photography because they were big and heavy. Not anymore. This is in the bag 99% of the time. Takes Tele-Converters really well. Having a 600mm f/8 in your pocket (basically) is a cool innovation that we never could have asked for even a few years ago. Just buy it. Don't bother looking elsewhere, there's nothing like it.

This 300mm f4 lens is sharp as a hounds tooth, and surprisingly compact and light for this class of lens. It is noticeably smaller and lighter than my 70-200 f4. A great lense for nature and sports. Vr works well as well

At f/4, this lens is perfect for most outdoor events. But with the nice high ISO results attained with my D800, D810, it has also proven to be effective in a lot of indoor/low light situations. And when used on the D500, the crop factor bumps it over 400mm. I've used the 300/f2.8 several times and frankly couldn't justify dropping $6k for it. This works well for how I shoot and isn't monstrous.

This is now one of my favorite lenses. It's light weight and takes crystal clear images.

This lens is best for those who will carry it often because of its low weight.

Tiniest, lightest 300mm lens ever combined with pro build-quality, performance and resolution. I love it. You'll love it.

I've been proud to be shooting Nikon for more than 50 years now (since I was 15) and I love my Nikon gear. Sadly, however, over the past few years I've become increasingly disappointed in Nikon's Quality Control. I've experienced maddening focusing problems with a D800, spewing of oil/dirt spots on the sensor with a D600, light leakage with a D750 (which Nikon quickly acknowledged and responsibly responded to), and now profound VR problems with the new 300mm f/4E PF ED VR (that should be a game changing, industry leading advance in telephoto lenses). Reports about the malfunctioning VR at shutter speeds on this lens began surfacing on the internet shortly after it was launched. Gordon Laing's (cameralabs.com) thorough review reports on these VR problems. Mr. Lang also stated in the review that he reported this problem to Nikon. So I was actually relieved that although I had placed one of the first orders for the 300mm F/4E PF ED VR, I did NOT receive my lens with the first traunch of inventory that Nikon shipped to B&H. Further, I suspected that the lengthy out of stock status at all Nikon dealers for this lens that followed the initial release was an indication that Nikon was making a deliberate and noble attempt to remove the faulty inventory, fix the problem, and then return good VR functioning inventory to the shelves of their dealers ASAP. Well, I was wrong! I finally received my lens and immediately mounted it on my D810. I was astonished to find the very same VR problem that has been reported since this lens' first day of release! At medium shutter speeds (1/80 sec., 1/160 sec., 1/200 sec.) my handheld shots taken with the VR OFF were much sharper than the shots taken with the VR ON! The VR actually introduced significant blur and ruined EVERY shot at these shutter speeds. This was not just an occasional fluke ... this was a very repeatable and startling condition! I took shots using these medium shutter speeds of many subjects ... taking a series of 4 shots with VR OFF and then 4 shots with the VR ON (and vice versa) then viewed the results at 100% using both Nikon View NX2 and Lightroom 5. In every series the VR ON shots were very noticeably blurred (unusable) and the VR OFF shots were, without exception, very noticeably much sharper. Incidentally, most of the shots taken handheld with the VR OFF at 1/200 sec and even at 1/160 sec. were tack sharp! This lens is super sharp (almost as sharp as my 300mm f/2.8 VRll) with the VR operating outside the problem shutter speed range or mounted on a tripod. It is so short, light, well balanced and comfortable that it can easily be hand for extended periods of time on my D810 (and my D750) body and it renders colors and out of focus areas beautifully. Unfortunately, the VR problem renders the lens useless to me. Had it not had the VR problem I would have rated it 5 stars. I really wanted to love this lens and had the day planned to test it out at a local wildlife preserve - but instead I sadly packed it up and returned it. I am certain that Nikon will find a cure for this VR problem and when they do I will be first in line to repurchase it. HERE IS THE EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM NIKON IN RESPONSE TO MY REPORTING THE VR PROBLEM TO THEM: “In regard to the lens itself and your questions about the VR operation at medium shutter speeds, we have reported these findings to our factory in Tokyo. They are investigating this very closely.” FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT THINK THIS IS NOT A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM HERE ARE SOME OTHER REPORTS (AND I HAVE MORE) ON THIS LENS’ VR PROBLEM: nikonUSA Customer Review (also see my review at NikonUSA under “Blacky”) Lens unusable at certain shutter speeds April 3, 2015 PeterG I have purchased two copies of this lens. Both have the same problem which is reported in another review on this site, as well as on other websites. I am a long-time Nikon user and have purchased more Nikon cameras and lenses over the decades than I can remember. I have never encountered a problem like this, or been motivated to write a negative review. These lenses produce double images when VR is engaged on a D810 at medium shutter speeds such as 1/125. Images at slower shutter speeds, e.g. 1/30, are sharp. Images at faster shutter speeds, e.g. 1/250 and above, are sharp. But at the medium speeds, the images appear doubled or severely shaken, and are clearly worse than if no VR was engaged. (See Ming Thein's March 30 entry on his website for images that show the problem.) In my opinion, this lens is unusable at medium shutter speeds with VR on (which of course is when one would particularly want VR on). I received my first copy of this lens in mid February. I returned it due to the defect. I purchased and received a second copy a few days ago, and to my shock, it has the same problem. This is otherwise an excellent, even groundbreaking lens. But Nikon must fix this problem. I would hope that Nikon would commit to buyers like me that the lens will either be fixed or replaced with a non-defective one as soon as possible B&H Photo Customer Review Great lens but has VR flaw. By Michael 3/12/2015 I am a hobbyist who would use the lens for landscape, wildlife and some portraits, not sports. Superb lens in almost all respects. Remarkably compact and light for 300 mm. , a high quality telephoto that does not have to be left at home. Quite ergonomic and does not really need a tripod collar added when used on a tripod. Extremely sharp throughout the frame. The VR is amazing at 1/20 or 1/40 yielding handheld images that are as sharp as at 1/300 or greater! Unfortunately VR is much less effective at intermediate shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/200 with significant blur yielding images inferior to those at very slow exposures. This was consistently demonstrated. At least one well known reviewer has described the same problem. In response to my call Nikon denied consumer reports of a VR problem. I returned the lens. If this apparent VR problem is fixed I will likely buy it again in the future. No, I would not recommend this to a friend dpreview forum: CameraLabs reported same issue on multiple copies Posted by SHood 2 months ago "But testing the VR at 1/160 sec and 1/80 sec revealed a major issue: the effect of VR was almost negligible with the result that the almost undamped shake ruined most of the shots in this range of shutter speeds. See a typical 100% crop on the right. I repeated the tests with a second copy of the lens with the same results. And there are reports on the Internet from other users with similar findings. Nikon was informed of the problem but did not come back with a statement at the time of writing." dpreview forum: Re: Nikon 300mm F4 VR Issues Posted by NikonDFuser 2 months ago My copy finally arrived at my local photo shop As we were testing it in the store, we realized it has this VR issue so back it goes before ever getting it home Lensrentals forum February 12, 2015 at 7:28 AM Robbertvw said: I also bought this lens last saturday (@ cameratools), and experienced big problems with getting sharp images at shutter speeds around 1/200s with VR turned ON. At lower speeds like 1/30s it was better. On Wednesday I returned to the store and two other lenses we tried had the same problems. The store will contact Nikon and they should get back to me asap with a solution. It seems a quite large shipment of the lens is affected because I already have contact with other Dutch users that are experiencing problems. Ok update from Robbertvw: I had problems with the VR option on my new 300mm f4. At around 1/200, 1/160s I just could not get sharp results when VR was turned on. Today I took the lens back to the store where I bought it. We tried my lens and two other lenses they had in stock and the other two lenses had the same problems. Two employers of the store also tried the lens and got the same results I did. By coincidence there was a Nikon Benelux employer in the store (but I didn't get to speak to him) and he didn't deny there was a problem with the lens. The store took my lens back and will contact Nikon to come up with a solution. I'm supposed to hear something tomorrow or the day after. FreeMaranda Forum AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4E PF ED VR Image Thread Feb 20, 2015 10:46 AM Chris Dees Wrote: Did some quick indoor tests tonight but had no problems getting sharp pictures at 1/125 or 1/160. I will do some more testing ... Just did some more thorough tests this morning and I experience the VR problems too. D810, Manual, Auto Iso, F4, and 1/3rd shutter steps 1/60 is sharper than 1/160 I tried it several times and it I can easily reproduce it. Contacted NPS (as I'm a member) and they are investigating it. First time in years a bought a recently announced lens and now this. FreeMaranda Forum AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4E PF ED VR Image Thread Feb 17, 2015 11:26 PM ArendV wrote: I have the VR issue with the 300/4E VR on a D7100 with sharpness dropping < 1/200s and picking up again at 1/40s.Today I tested the lens on my V1 using its electronic schutter. I got sharp pictures down to 1/80s and at 1/160s they were clearly sharper than with my D7100. So another indication that schutter vibration at certain speeds could cause the VR issues. Feb 09, 2015 07:08 PM scst48 wrote: There are still discussions in a German forum that the sharpness with activated VC is significantly related to the shutter speed. A guy with a D810 did more than 600 pics shooting the same object and found the following. Shutter speed / Sharpness 20 / 70% 40 / 80% 80 / 80% 100 / 40% ! 125 / 15% !!! 160 / 10% !!! 200 / 20% !!! 250 / 80% 320 / 70% 400 / 80% >500 / 95% The majority of pics taken with VR on with 1/125 / 1/160 and 1/200 shutter speed were all unsharp and it were reproducible.

I'm a retired news and sports photographer... I photograph wildlife for myself and friends these days... After three months of using my new 300mm F4E PF, I love it! Size and weight is a great improvement over the last f4 model, and this lens gives a great performance. I had sold my old 300mm F2.8 AF-SII last year when this model was announced. The VR has been very good I think, and compares well to my 600 mm F4 VR-II for extra stops of anti-shake. I have used on both my D750 and D810 with similar results. The focus is fast, and optically excellent, even wide open. The build feels robust and professional. I wish it had been around when I was still working. It would have been great for football!

I waited for months until I found the lens after a Nikon rep referred me to Best Buy. The notion of having a 300mm precision lens that was light-weight, fast, and could be used hand-held -- one that could replace my Nikon 300mm f/4.0D, was something I could not resist. The 300mm lens I tested had the newer serial #28021xx (supposedly manufactured after the firmware "fix"). Everything about this lens is 5-star except severe inconsistencies when utilizing VR at moderate shutter speeds. I shot over 300 images with this lens mounted on a D800E. I shot outdoor subjects as well as a carefully mounted lens test chart using multiple exposures at various shutter speed. I got generally consistent results at around 1/160sec. And, even better results from 1/40 -1/100 sec! Unfortunately most of the images between 1/250 - 1/320 were unusable. I then shot over 100 images with the lens mounted on a D7100. The results were unexpectedly wonderful at 1/40 - 1/100 sec! That's wonderful if you have a quiet landscape. The images taken at faster shutter speeds deteriorated, even unusable at 1/640 sec. I never bothered to try the lens with the TC-14E. I returned the lens in utter frustration and disappointment. I could have found ways to work around these issues. But, a lens costing $2K, which I'm happy to pay for, should work as advertised. Since Fukushima, it appears that Nikon would rather not concentrate on Quality Control and have their customers deal with it. Furthermore, if Nikon released another version with a different VR module, who would purchase the present version? That, I cannot afford. During the past three years, I have purchased five new Nikon lenses: 14-24 f/2.8G -- had to exchange it. 70-200 f/4.0G VR -- perfect. 18-300 f/3.5-6.3G DX -- had to exchange it. 20mm f/1.8G -- superb! 300 f/4E PF -- returned.

Wow. What a lens. Extremely light and the VR is amazing. I use back button focusing and then press the shutter release half way down to lock the VR and it is rock steady. Quick focus, quiet, nice bokeh. Have tried the VR at all shutter speeds and apertures with no problem. Sure beats dragging a tripod everywhere.