Optics and 77mm filter - think diopter and shared polarizer! Nicely finished barrel. Color saturation and contrast second to none. A nearly riskless step into telephoto.

No VR, or improved collar via Nikon. Don't expect it any time soon! Limited focus-range limit settings.

Having sold my 300 2.8 for a 200-400 that still is not available, I broke down and got the 300/4 AFS to fill in the gap. Weighing 2.5 lbs less than a 300 2.8, and about 1/2 the girth means I can carry this lens in my shoulder bag, which means it's a lens that gets used! Replacing the tripod collar w/Kirk's one-piece, all-aluminum collar/mounting plate ($150) for only about 2 oz's. more than the poor, rough-riding Nikon version gives you a great performer - hand-held, or via tripod. Frankly, the 2.8 tripod collar barely enough, either.

Customer Service

Usually good communication from Torrence, CA, when needed.

Similar Products Used:

17-35, 28-70, 70-200 & 300 2.8 AFS Nikkors. F5/F100

Sharp, relatively less expensive than alternatives, solid

Haven't found one yet

Great lens. I don’t usually launch into superlatives but this lens deserves them. It is wonderfully sharp even at f4, with a 14-TC, 400 speed slide film and yes all of the above at once. After considerable deliberation I bought this lens instead of the 300 f2.8, opting to spend the considerable remaining discretionary money on other photo toys. The idea being if it would not do what I needed I could sell and trade up. I won’t be selling any time soon. With Provia 400 and f4 sharpness I have enough speed to shoot the dawn and dusk critters that I enjoy photographing. I was truly amazed with the sharpness of the first rolls back given the shooting conditions and being hand held. If you truly need and can afford the 300 2.8 it is surely an even better lens but don’t feel short changed for a second if you go with this f4.

Customer Service

haven't needed

Similar Products Used:

70-300mm 4.5-5.6 Nikon (good travel lens but not in the same league)

build quality optics nice black finish

the focus ring is not quite as tight as I would like it to be(I use Man. focus alot)

All I can say is "WOW"! I really like the optics on it, even with the Kenko 1.4x teleconverter. It's made of metal. It accepts 39mm drop in filters or 82mm on the front. The tripod collar is to be used. This lens is not very easy to handhold. It has a convienent built in lens hood that simply pulls out.

Great optics and build quality.

Heavy if you're used to plastic.

I'm on the bandwagon for this great lens. Most importantly, sharpness and contrast are excellent. Even wide open, this yields nice results. And, for being just one stop slower, this is a lot less expensive and more convenient to lug around than those big 2.8 lenses. There's no noticeable drop-off in quality with a good 7-element 1.4x tc. It auto-focuses very fast on my N90s, and it's built like a tank. While certainly hand-holdable for tracking birds or something like that, good lens technique dictates the use of a tripod in most situations for this focal-length.

Customer Service

n/a

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 300mm f4.5 AI AF Tokina AT-X 400mm f5.6 AF Tamron 75-300mm f4-5.6

Light weight. Very solid build. Takes very sharp photos.

Very short built in lens hood

This lens takes very sharp photos at all stops. I like being able to handhold a longer lens and get high quality results. It is one of my favorite lenses and I highly recommend it. If you are unwilling to pay for a 300mm 2.8 lens but want sharp pictures, then skip the cheap 400mm lenses (Tokina and Sigma) and just pay $800 for the Nikon 300mm 4.0. It is a very good value.

Customer Service

No experience with

Similar Products Used:

Tokina 400mm 5.6

light weight
optically great
great build quality

focus ring location

This is a truely great lens. My absolute favorite
works great with my Soligor 1,7 converter.
First wanted to buy a 2.8 300mm lens but don't regret buying this lens instead. Saved myself an awful lot of money and.....weight.

Customer Service

Never needed it !!! Says
enough

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 300mm 2.8
Nikon 80-200 2.8
Tokina 80-400

Light enough to hand held, very sharp optics, excellent construction.

A little slow on auto focus in dim light.

This is a wonderful lens at a very attractive price when compared to the other 2.8 300mm lenses made by Nikon. It is much lighter and easy to travel with.The optics are very sharp with good contrast, even wide open.
Enlargements hold together with excellent detail and color saturation. I have shot wildlife, scenics, sports, and people with great results.
As a physician I am very detail oriented and critical of everything I use. I have been extremely pleased with this lens.

Customer Service

I have never needed it

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 80-200mm 2.8 D AF-ED
Nikon 35-70mm 2.8D AF
Nikon 60mm Micro 2.8D AF
Nikon 20mm AF-D 2.8

Great price for beginer/amateur wild life shooting comparing to f/2.8. very convenience collar & built-in hood. Very well-built lens. Sharp picture. Still can be hand-held in case you have no tripod (I tried some with Shutter speed 1/500 - 1/850 and got very happy result).

A little slow with Auto-focusing

Watchout, if not using built-in hood, may
experience some flare (what the hood is
for :-))

A must have lense for telephoto type.

Customer Service

Never need one and never hear any owner need it either, :-)

Similar Products Used:

AF 105mm f/2.8D Micro-Nikkor
AF 24mm f/2.8D Nikkor
AF 35-70mm f/2.8D Zoom Nikkor
AF 70-210mm f/4-5.6D Zoom Nikkor

Extremely sharp and hand holdable. Pro quality and finish.

No dedicated Nikon AF converters, although I have used the TC-16A with exceptional results. Slow AF unless you creatively use focus limiter (see Bottom Line).

The bottom line is that for the money this is one of Nikon's sharpest telephotos that an amateur can afford. While the AF is not particularly fast, the lens has the most unique focus distance limiting devices of any AF lens ever. You can literally set it to focus between any two distances, no matter how short or how long! It takes some practice, but say you just want to focus between infinity and 60 feet, you can do this. Very sharp lens, amazed at results even when used with the TC-16A semi-AF converter. It works well with this lens. Supposedly this lens is or will be discontinued--probably a 300 f4 with Silent Wave (and VR?) is coming. Uses both 39mm drop-in and 82mm filters. Even with its AF short comings I'd have to give this lens a 5 star rating. If you do any wildlife and/or nature photography you can't go wrong with this lens. The current 70-300 AF ED lens is simply not in the same league.

Customer Service

As with all the Nikon products I have owned over 15 years--never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 75-300 AF

Very well constructed, lovely handling, good sharpness & contrast even wide open, non-expensive compared to f/2.8. Flatness of field is well controlled.

No distance feedback to camera body (D), though perhaps this is a little fault, cause you don't use flash a lot with a 300 mm. Slow AF, maybe the new Sigma 300 Apo Ex would do better in this field.

A good choice for portraiture, fashion and landscape too. Colours are excellent, good contrast overall. It's also very cheap if compared to the monstrous f/2.8 family.

Customer Service

Never needed.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 300 f.4 EX