Nikon 300mm f2.8 VR ll (1 Viewer)

I have been using a Nikon AFS 300mm f4 ED IF for a couple of years now.
I really like the lens, it has allowed me to take some of my best images ever.
I use it with the D300 and D7100, (with the x 1.3 crop factor mode).
I have a Nikon x 1.4 TC ll, (I only use this when using the combo on a tripod)

Most of the time I use it on the move but if I can I use it with a tripod and gimbal.

(I have never really found a problem with the tripod foot on this lens - contrary to the experts comments)

Like many I really enjoy nature photography and am prepared to spend money on my hobby.

A new 300mm f2.8 VR ll is about £4000 + and the latest x 2 TC lll maybe £300.

My question - I would really appreciate user comments on the comparison of the two lenses plus opinions on the VR ll 300mm f2.8 as £4,500 is quite a lot of money to spend.
I would use the lens 60% of the time hand held and the rest on a gimbal/tripod combo.

Also is the VR ll much better than the VR l - as a good used lens would be attractive from a price standpoint

(Also I have read that the more megapixels you have the more that any "camera shake" will be noticeable - i.e. the D7100 with 24 meg needs a more "stable" tripod than the D300 with 14 mega)

I have a 70 200mm VR and a Nikon V1 plus FT1 but I have never really found either to be anywhere near the IQ of the AFS 300mm f4 and D300

Thanks

Hi Bill,

Are you going to shoot under low light? The lens weight is over 6lbs. plus the cost.

Mike

MPeoples said:

Hi Bill,

Are you going to shoot under low light? The lens weight is over 6lbs. plus the cost.

Mike

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Thanks Mike, not really, but maybe on those dark winter Euro afternoons..(and mornings)

But it would be the VR plus use of the x 2 Nikon TC lll, that I am after.

The 300mm f4 is only really good with the x 1.4 TC.

with the 300mm f2.8 VR and the D7100, I can get up to 1170mm at f2.8 through to f5.6, at the high end ....... 300mm x 1.5 x 1.3, (D7100 crop mode), x 2, with probably 10 to 15 megapixels on the image

So on a tripod it would give me great range and even handheld I would get almost 600mm at f2.8.

The 300mm f/2.8 is great for me as an astronomer but I can not afford the lens only for that. I can get a hell of a telescope for that price. I will ask one of the Nikon guys here at the store what they think. Plus I use Canon stuff now.

Mike

MPeoples said:

The 300mm f/2.8 is great for me as an astronomer but I can not afford the lens only for that. I can get a hell of a telescope for that price. I will ask one of the Nikon guys here at the store what they think. Plus I use Canon stuff now.

Mike

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Thanks Mike

much appreciated

I had to sell my 300mm f2.8 VR I and get a 300mm F4 - which I use with the 1.4TC. I'm counting the days until I can afford another f2.8...

For the money I think the f4 is a bargain but with our traditional british gloomy weather the f2.8 gave me about twice as many keepers - although the better ISO handling of the D7100 is very noticeable over my old D300s. I've not tried the VRII but had the non-VR before the VRI and it was a terrific lens - and as you say most of the time that combo would be on a tripod so VR doesn't help as often as it might. Might be worth a three day hire of one to test it?

I had a 300/4 and upgraded to the 300/2.8. The difference is worth it to me, especially for low light situations. I often use it with the 2.0 III TC with good results. It can be handheld for close shots but when I can I use a tripod.

I use it on a D300s and a D700.

The 300mm f2.8 VR ll and TC20Elll combination is my standard birding setup for the past year (along with gimbal & monopod).

1. It is fairly heavy setup tilting the scales at close to 6kgs but doesn't feel too much since when on the move it is carried on the monopod over a shoulder (with a Black Rapid attached as redundancy).

2. The f2.8 enables shooting (at 300mm of course) when it is not possible / to difficult at any f4 or above. And of course the viewfinder is always brighter making accurate focus easier

3. The 300/2.8 is one of Nikon's 'super-teles' so comes with the very best VR, AF and glass. The 300/2.8 is said ot be Nikon's sharpest glass. That I'm not sure about but you'll cut yourself on it if you're not careful

4. The TC20Elll was also said to be made specifically for the 300/2.8 VRII and it works superbly on this lens. Not much of a slow-down in AF speed and lock-on or indeed an IQ hit.

5. I was back in the UK for a short visit in December and OMG the light was awful. I rarely got the opportunity to shoot with the TC20Elll attached. Mostly at f2.8 early mornings (I shot for 3 mornings). I also shoot a fair bit in rain-forests and also find the f2.8 invaluable there.

6. I use the combo with a D800E (36MP) and D3s (12MP). Yes you do need to have better technique with the D800E than the D3s but you are also able to crop deeper into the shot (I have the D3s for it's fps). The improvement required in long-lens shooting technique is not huge and it's worth improving your skills anyway. I rarely use the x1.2 crop modes on the cameras because it can cost you shots when birds fly at/just above you. You can always crop in PP. This will all apply to your 7100 too.

7. I hate Nikon's tripod feet. They are all too small, the foot on Sigma's 500/4.5 which I used for a year, is near perfect. I quickly changed the foot to that of the RRS but this isn't much better. I ended up buying a longer Arca-Swiss plate for the monopod which can then also be used, in conjunction with the foot, to hold the lens when carrying / stowing / moving it around off the monopod.

8. If you are shooting above 1/500 sec then the VR isn't going to be of much help and can indeed hinder since the cycle time (which is around 1/500) to stabilise is out of sync with the shutter at speeds above this, for some people they say this makes no difference to them however the weight of evidence is switch it off as it will affect (very slightly blur) some shots. Nikon do not mention this in their literature and indeed state it is at low speeds where the VR helps. I may only ever go down to 1/200 to 1/320 at dawn or dusk and don't often expect printable shots in that light, OK for record shots, though sometimes I get lucky. At 600mm I'm always pushing it as high as I can, 1/1600 being the minimum if at all possible (better to push the ISO than reduce the shutter speed). Stretching it to 1/3200 - 1/4000 if the light is good enough.

9. Fine tune the lens to your camera. I did and was lucky that no adjustment was needed - but this will vary according to manufacturing tolerances for each individual lens/camera combination.

Hope this helps. The 300 + TC is a great substitute for a 500 or 600 (though of course they can also use TCs) and gives you the advantage of that f2.8 when light is at it's worst. It's easier to carry around and I travel with it in hand-luggage a lot.
However only you can evaluate whether you will get enough use out of the f2.8 to make it worth the expense. The idea of hiring one for a few days is a good one but then that fee is lost so maybe buy a used copy and if you don't get on with it you should not lose much (cost of hiring one perhaps) if anything on the resale.

Most of the shots on my website link below are taken with this combination (300+TC+D3s or D800E).

Thanks everyone for your comments

I'll have a look around for a good used lens, although they seems to sell for £3k to £3.5k and a new one is "ONLY" £4k ………. so a new one looks better value …...will have to raid my OAP, (and the wife's as well!)

Frogfish - your shots with the x 2 TC lll look great, but the Sigma 500mm also looks an amazing performer

used £3,250
New £4,100

Probably better to buy new

There's a VRI at a bargain price of £2350 on one of the photography forums at the moment. Not sure about VRIIs but I paid £2600 for a VRI and then sold it for a profit - even after I'd paid for a Nikon service on it to correct some faults. What I would say is I wouldn't buy a second hand lens of that type again without insisting it was checked by Nikon as part of the sale - i.e. I'd go halves on the basic cost of the check and service [around £100] and then if it needed anything doing discuss whether or how to proceed with the seller. I did this when I sold both my non VR and my VRI and felt much happier that way.

BillN said:

used £3,250
New £4,100

Probably better to buy new

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Personally (bar the Sigma 120-300 and TCs - also an excellent combination if you are trying to save money) I've always bought used. The big teles always seem to get much TLC from their owners and are generally kept in very good condition. The Nikon check Pitvar mentions seems like a great idea.

I'd go for the used model - especially if buying from a retail outlet who'll also give you a guarantee (usually 3-6 months). These top of the range big tele lenses are usually ultra-reliable too and repairs / tune-ups if ever needed are usually far less than the difference in price to a new lens.

The Sigma 500/4.5 is a much under-rated lens. I found it to be excellent, especially close-in, and it's very sharp but AF is a little less consistent compared to the Nikon so a slightly lower keeper rate (say 95% accuracy for the Nikon and 85% for the Sigma). It is a very viable, and well built, alternative but some people can not get over the Sigma label (though that has changed considerably with the new superb shorter focal length lenses and new 120-300, I'm still waiting to see if they will re-vamp their long teles).

Pitvar said:

I've not tried the VRII but had the non-VR before the VRI and it was a terrific lens - and as you say most of the time that combo would be on a tripod so VR doesn't help as often as it might. Might be worth a three day hire of one to test it?

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The VR II does helped me in getting my shots sharp on the moving boat with tripod and gimbal head. I tested it with Active Mode ~ 1/800s / Stork-billed Kingfisher




And with Normal Mode on tripod and gimbal head in the rainforest ~ 1/25s / Striped Wren-Babbler :king:

horukuru said:

The VR II does helped me in getting my shots sharp on the moving boat with tripod and gimbal head. I tested it with Active Mode ~ 1/800s / Stork-billed Kingfisher

View attachment 482398


And with Normal Mode on tripod and gimbal head in the rainforest ~ 1/25s / Striped Wren-Babbler :king:

View attachment 482399

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horukuru

Thanks - you have an very interesting web site there

will spend some time looking through your info and wonderful images

Best wishes

Just to check the differences between the VR1 and the VR2, they seem to be that the VR2, has

Nano lens coating
is one stop faster
may have an auto shut off or VR when it is used on tripod

I have seen a couple of used in good nick and the VR 1 is £400/£500 cheaper than the VR2

The VR 1 is affordable but the VR 2 will maybe push me just over the £3k

apparently both versions are Nano coated - denoted by the N

and both have the same VR system, the 1 and 2 just relate to the updating of the model

(but I cannot really find how it was updated, apart from Nikon saying that VR2 is one stop better than VR1 in VR mode - but both have the same VR system

Difference : the VRII adds an extra stop of VR and the A/M switch (for use on boats, trains, cars, canoe, rolling log on a river etc. any moving object) and a focus limiter.

The VRI is not the same as the VRII. It is the updated version and the VRII adds an extra stop of VR (essentially 3 stops to now 4 stops, for whatever that is worth - see comment on 1/500 above).

The focus limiter is great if you are shooting a lot of BIF or at distance, the A/M switch only if you shoot from a canoe, train etc. often.

Bill go to Nikon-Europe site and down load the manuals for which ever lens you are considering, 300/2.8, 300/2.8VR, and or 300/2.8VR2 and have a read, then you will get the facts.
Frogfish - please explain the A/M switch, and what does the VR setting switch normal/active do ???

I4ani said:

Bill go to Nikon-Europe site and down load the manuals for which ever lens you are considering, 300/2.8, 300/2.8VR, and or 300/2.8VR2 and have a read, then you will get the facts.
Frogfish - please explain the A/M switch, and what does the VR setting switch normal/active do ???

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I'm very tempted to say it's in the manual

There is an A/M setting, a M/A setting and an M setting.
The A/M is AF with Manual override (Nikon call it Auto-Priority Manual Mode), the M/A is another version of A/M and no-one I know seems to know what the difference is - even Nikon's explanation is unclear (!) and the M is full manual.

The Normal is ON or OFF (VR) and Active is as I explained above, for VR use in a moving vehicle or such (when using VR Normal the movement of the vehicle would confuse the VR).

thanks all - I have just done a good deal on a VR1, but will not pick it up for a couple of months because of holidays and living in France.
I've bought the lens in the UK and I think the saving over a used VR2 is worth taking as I can use the money for other things

I shall now try to get a used x 2 TC lll

I've always been pleased with my AFS 300mm f4 and shall hang onto it.

As well as a D7100 and D300, I have a V1 and FT1, so using it with the V1 with its x 2.7 crop factor and no loss of stops will be interesting

Again thanks for all your help and advice