Customer Rating: 
Summary: Does very well what it is designed to do
Comment: I am not a professional photographer, just a weekend shooter so my review will be less technical. I've had this lens for a couple of months now and overall I am happy with this lens. My only real negative to the lens is that it is a big heavy lens and if you are not prepared to deal with that this may not be the right lens for you. However, for it focal length it is rather light due to its construction.
With that negative out of the way, here is what I like...1) I love the 300mm range. This is a real plus if you are looking to shoot nature especially small objects like birds. The lens is fairly quick so I don't have to wait for it to focus. 2) There is no lens creep. When you set it to 150mm the lens stays there no matter if the lens is pointed straight up or straight down. As a result the ring is a little tight but I don't mind that. 3) This lens helps to produce some beautiful color in my photos. I honestly don't know if a lens has any impact on color saturation, but my photos taken with this lens have a vivid range of colors which I like. 4) It has great bokeh. When you focus in on your subject, it does a great job of blurring out the background and I find that appealing in a large zoom lens.
All in all I am glad I bought this lens. Although it is NOT a walk around lens, it has a specific purpose for which it does a great job. If you are looking for a great walk around lens perhaps the 18-200VR would suit you better....I'm currently eyeballing that lens next.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Lense Value
Comment: This lense performs exactly as the manufacturer states. It was used with a Nikon digital SLR camera to photograph wildlife (walking, flying and still) and also candids of family and the lense performed extremely well. The lense is not heavy and is easily operated and the autofocus (which is almost silent) with the vibration reduction provides outstanding clarity when the subject is moving. It also performs well in low light - sunrise/twilight. It has difficulty focusing with lower end filters - get a high-end filter and you will be very pleased.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love this lens!
Comment: I do a lot of nature photography and needed a zoom lens. It has worked really well even using it without a tripod. I have used it in a moving car and on a moving boat and the pictures have come out great. Have had no problems with it at all. I still have a lot to learn about its capabilities as I am an amateur photographer.. so right now have just used mostly the automatic settings.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Super Sharp
Comment: The lens is a perfect compliment to my D80 with kit lens. VR is a great feature. I can take excellent pics at 1/8 sec with perfect sharpness. The distance scale is an added plus for determining depth of field calculations.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Superb Lens
Comment: I purchased this lens from Amazon in March 2008 and other then testing it quite favorably over about 30 shots to check optical quality, the VR especially and to assure it arrived in overall good shape , I had not used it aggressively until this last weekend of August 3rd/08. I participated as a volunteer photographer in the Dragonheart Boat Races here in Vermont (to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research and pay great tribute to the survivors). In providng my photography that day, I gave this lens a total workout in a short timeframe of only 2 1/2 hours and captured over 500 images on a rocking boat, in rain and on rough water as it followed each series of racers over the race course all morning. I used a Nikon D300, bumped up the ASA/ISO (800-1000) due to an overcast sky to allow very adequate shutter speeds and good depth of field during a lot of action and motion and held my breath and fired away all morning.
Bottom Line: I came home and immediately began to review images from my Nikon 70-300 VR. Image after image was sharp, perfectly focused and detailed. It was like, "WOW". I was amazed and very relieved that everything fell into place.
The lens had covered my butt and more! We all know the worries of painfully waiting to see images from new gear and hoping it all worked ok and the great exhilaration of confirming that all was ok!
It never let me down. Period. Nothing was out of focus or blurred. Of course I had adequate shutter speeds and depth of field, but, hand holding on a rocking boat at 300mm under a rainly sky still provided perfectly focused and crisp images. Everything was usable. I could keep any image I wanted to!!
The D300 certainly gets credit for the results as well (also purchased from Amazon!).....but......the AF-S 70-300 VR gets a blue ribbon overall. I can not believe how well VR works along with the quality of this lens and not just standing on solid ground. Rough weather boating goes well beyond that. If I can get great shot after shot when I am on a rocking boat, tracking paddling boaters on rough water, this lens is a keeper for sure in any other situation. Amazon, do you offer a 6 star rating?
I've owned and used Canon for years including the pro lenses (100-400 IS, etc), and am not at all dissappointed in coming over to the Nikon world after many years away on the Canon side. For the sub-$500 investment in this lens, you will not be disappointed at all.
Summary: Does very well what it is designed to do
Comment: I am not a professional photographer, just a weekend shooter so my review will be less technical. I've had this lens for a couple of months now and overall I am happy with this lens. My only real negative to the lens is that it is a big heavy lens and if you are not prepared to deal with that this may not be the right lens for you. However, for it focal length it is rather light due to its construction.
With that negative out of the way, here is what I like...1) I love the 300mm range. This is a real plus if you are looking to shoot nature especially small objects like birds. The lens is fairly quick so I don't have to wait for it to focus. 2) There is no lens creep. When you set it to 150mm the lens stays there no matter if the lens is pointed straight up or straight down. As a result the ring is a little tight but I don't mind that. 3) This lens helps to produce some beautiful color in my photos. I honestly don't know if a lens has any impact on color saturation, but my photos taken with this lens have a vivid range of colors which I like. 4) It has great bokeh. When you focus in on your subject, it does a great job of blurring out the background and I find that appealing in a large zoom lens.
All in all I am glad I bought this lens. Although it is NOT a walk around lens, it has a specific purpose for which it does a great job. If you are looking for a great walk around lens perhaps the 18-200VR would suit you better....I'm currently eyeballing that lens next.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Lense Value
Comment: This lense performs exactly as the manufacturer states. It was used with a Nikon digital SLR camera to photograph wildlife (walking, flying and still) and also candids of family and the lense performed extremely well. The lense is not heavy and is easily operated and the autofocus (which is almost silent) with the vibration reduction provides outstanding clarity when the subject is moving. It also performs well in low light - sunrise/twilight. It has difficulty focusing with lower end filters - get a high-end filter and you will be very pleased.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love this lens!
Comment: I do a lot of nature photography and needed a zoom lens. It has worked really well even using it without a tripod. I have used it in a moving car and on a moving boat and the pictures have come out great. Have had no problems with it at all. I still have a lot to learn about its capabilities as I am an amateur photographer.. so right now have just used mostly the automatic settings.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Super Sharp
Comment: The lens is a perfect compliment to my D80 with kit lens. VR is a great feature. I can take excellent pics at 1/8 sec with perfect sharpness. The distance scale is an added plus for determining depth of field calculations.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Superb Lens
Comment: I purchased this lens from Amazon in March 2008 and other then testing it quite favorably over about 30 shots to check optical quality, the VR especially and to assure it arrived in overall good shape , I had not used it aggressively until this last weekend of August 3rd/08. I participated as a volunteer photographer in the Dragonheart Boat Races here in Vermont (to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer Research and pay great tribute to the survivors). In providng my photography that day, I gave this lens a total workout in a short timeframe of only 2 1/2 hours and captured over 500 images on a rocking boat, in rain and on rough water as it followed each series of racers over the race course all morning. I used a Nikon D300, bumped up the ASA/ISO (800-1000) due to an overcast sky to allow very adequate shutter speeds and good depth of field during a lot of action and motion and held my breath and fired away all morning.
Bottom Line: I came home and immediately began to review images from my Nikon 70-300 VR. Image after image was sharp, perfectly focused and detailed. It was like, "WOW". I was amazed and very relieved that everything fell into place.
The lens had covered my butt and more! We all know the worries of painfully waiting to see images from new gear and hoping it all worked ok and the great exhilaration of confirming that all was ok!
It never let me down. Period. Nothing was out of focus or blurred. Of course I had adequate shutter speeds and depth of field, but, hand holding on a rocking boat at 300mm under a rainly sky still provided perfectly focused and crisp images. Everything was usable. I could keep any image I wanted to!!
The D300 certainly gets credit for the results as well (also purchased from Amazon!).....but......the AF-S 70-300 VR gets a blue ribbon overall. I can not believe how well VR works along with the quality of this lens and not just standing on solid ground. Rough weather boating goes well beyond that. If I can get great shot after shot when I am on a rocking boat, tracking paddling boaters on rough water, this lens is a keeper for sure in any other situation. Amazon, do you offer a 6 star rating?
I've owned and used Canon for years including the pro lenses (100-400 IS, etc), and am not at all dissappointed in coming over to the Nikon world after many years away on the Canon side. For the sub-$500 investment in this lens, you will not be disappointed at all.
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras Reviews: Page 2 of 20
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