Name: Nikon 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR Lens with Built-in Hood & Detachable Tripod Mount - U.S.A. Warranty
Brand: Nikon
SKU: NK3004AFSU
Price: 1499.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.5 (101 reviews)

Nikon 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR Lens with Built-in Hood & Detachable Tripod Mount - U.S.A. Warranty

Nikon 300mm F/4

Nikon

Nikon 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR Lens w/Hood, Tripod Mount, Nikon USA Warranty

Adorama

Photography

Lenses

SLR Lenses

Nikon SLR Lenses

Nikon 300mm F/4 

Top Rated Gear: Nikon 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR Lens with Built-in Hood & Detachable Tripod Mount - U.S.A. Warranty Buy now & save $80. Color: Black, Filter Size: 77mm, Focus Type: Auto Focus, Image Stabilization Type: No, Lens Format: Full Frame

Amazing lens. A bit on the heavy side but the person who decided on buying it would know that already.

Love it

Very pleased with this lens.  I immediately started using it for wildlife.  Pictures are clear and crisp.  I could not be happier.

Pleased with the 300 mm f4.

I like the Lens and has sharp images but my lens hood need new rubber cascade and Nikon repair center asking $180.00 to replace it, only for the rubber not new hood. This is Nikon problem for this lens and they should taker of it for free, rubber costs less then $1.00 and the rest is labor. It is hard to pay $180.00 for repair and doesn’t have any effect on the image only hood doesn’t stay down and is loss. Most of this lens have same problem, at least I see 3 of them.

Expensive to replace rubber cascade for hood lens

This lens is every bit as sharp as advertised and reviewers have stated.  And no complaints about the oft mentioned "shortcomings" of the tripod mount.  Solid as a rock, no creep whatsoever. It autofocuses like lightening.  I have my Df body programed on AF-C and to focus in the "back button" mode.  It tracks birds in flight extremely well.  And that last is also true when using a Nikon TC 14E to boot.  Very pleased.

Nikon 300mm f4

Lens worked ok for about a dozen shots then it didn't.

I researched hours for a new lens to take on safari.  I have the 70-300 VR, but needed something more sharp between 200 and 300. I bought the 300mm f/4 without VR.  I did not want to spend the extra ($) on the new 300 f/4 with VR. Though I got some great photos, at lower light, using a monopod, my results were very mixed.  Plus, the wildlife in South Luangwa National Park were very tolerant of vehicles and 300mm was almost too much.  I wish I went with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens.  The 300mm f/4 was also not great for birding.  Unless the bird was completely still, many photos did not come out as sharp as I hoped.  Still a very good lens and probably better in the hands of a more seasoned photographer.  I used this lens with the D7000.

Nice lens with appropriate light

Every time I shoot, my paycheck depends on the quality of my images. (I shoot for some very picky editors.) All of the sample shots below were shot handheld using the 300-f4 IF ED, TC-14 extender, with aperture virtually wide open for minimum depth of field.

NIKON-when your salary and reputation is at stake!

Great Landscape lens, I have used it for pictures, at race and airshows. Great sharpness and color. I use the lens at F/8 for my shooting

Great Lens

this is my go to lens for sports, concerts and wildlife. it is one sharp and fast enough telephotos

tack sharp work horse

tack sharp even with the Nikon's teleconvertor tc 20e 2x

Ótima nitidez, af muito bom, rápido e silencioso. Acho o valor, em reais, muito alto, mas é uma lente de alto nível.

Muito boa lente

I have, in the past, bought used equipment from Adorama and found their ratings of their used equipment is just as described or better. I feel very confident in purchasing used equipment from Adorama. This lens came packaged very well for the sometime, lately, rough handling of the delivery services. WELL DONE Adorama.

Great Deals

This Nikon 300mm f/4 lens is well suited for travel when you need a moderate "reach" with an Nikon FX camera body, or a "longer reach" with a Nikon DX camera body, while trying to keep the size and weight of your equipment at a minimum. The maximum f/4 aperture is more than adequate for outdoor lighting given the acceptable ISOs available in todays camera bodies. The attached photo was taken hand held at 1/125 of a second, an aperture of f/4, and an ISO value of 1000.

Excellent Portable Telephoto Lens

This lens is sharp. Even with a 1.4 teleconverter attached, it is reasonably sharp. F/4 gives a stop or stop and a half over most of the zoom lenses out there, as well. For dedicated telephoto work, like wildlife photography, this lens is the best in the under $1500 category by a mile.

Sharp!

I have owned this lens for almost 5 years and have taken thousands of pictures with it. I also have several long AIS Primes, AF70-300mm f/4-5.6 and the AFS 70-200 F/2.8 VR. I use all my these long lenses with a TC17EII or TC-201 for the AIS lenses. Without question the 300mm f/4 is the sharpest in my stable of long lenses. It is awesome on the D300, D600, D700 and the 1V1 where it gives an incredible 1377mm reach with the TC-17. Focus is a bit touchy, but hey it doesn't cost over $10,000us.

All this said, I prefer the 70-200 for sports and portraits.

My GoTo Long lens for DX, FX, CX formats

I needed a high quality longer lens for wildlife shots. By itself, this lens is super sharp, has quick autofocus, and is relatively inexpensive compared to other lenses I was considering. Pairing this lens with a 1.7 teleconverter gets me out to 500mm when I need it, and it is still pretty darn sharp. It doesn't have the vibration reduction technology, but I typically use high enough shutter speeds that the lack of VR doesn't really matter.

This lens is great, and paired with a teleconverter, is a great way to get a long lens in the 500mm range without breaking the bank. And the combo is (relatively) light for 500mm reach, letting me hand hold it most of the time.

Great lens

Wild life photography
Light weight compared to the f2.8
If available, VR would make this even better

Great lens, especially for the money

I primarily shoot wildlife, birds to be specific. I stepped up from a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 with a 1.4tc that gave me very good results. The Nikon blows it away in sharpness and detail on my D7100. Focus is very fast in good light, still produces excellent results even in overcast conditions. This is a stellar lens for wildlife and sports. It's not the lightest lens by far and dwarfs the 70-300 VR in size but worth the extra $$. I shoot handheld 90% of the time and don't miss VR at all since I'm usually shooting at 1/2000 or above to freeze action and get tack sharp images. I also have the Nikon TC14E-II attached to it to extend the focal lenght to 420mm. I would recommend this lens to anyone looking to shoot wildlife or sports you won't regret it.

Amazingly sharp 300mm for bargain price

I own the 18-300 Nikon lens, which is a great all-purpose carry-around lens, but wanted something sharper at the longer focal length. I recently bought this lens, and I am amazed at its sharpness. I prefer to shoot wildlife and birds, and this lens takes awesome sharp images. The autofocus is quick and accurate, and the bokeh is very nice. I attach it to a monopod that I use to handle the lens/camera combination. It gives me stability in lower light situations and supports the lens. I highly recommend this lens. My next purchase will be a Nikon 1.4 teleconverter to extend the lens even further, and I plan to use this lens as the go-to lens for wildlife photos

I am using this lens mainly with a Sigma 1.4X TC for wildlife photography.  It gives nice, clear images.  When not used with the Sigma TC, it is a fast focusing lens!!!  The lack of Vibration Reduction technology does not seems to bother me at all!!!  I think this is a good pick for the price.

Clear Photos

Replaced a Sigma 100-300 which wasn't very good on my D800. This lens is much sharper, even with a 1.4 teleconverter.

Sharp lens

Great lens!! I not a fan of zoom lens and have mostly prime lens in my bag and wanted to add a longer fixed focal lens. So, I picked up this lends and after well over a hundred images, I have to say it performs as what would be expected of a great Nikon lens.

Tack Sharp

It is great to shot photo of wildlife. I got many wonderful pictures of redtailed hawk, Canada goose, squerals, deer, etc. Light weight, good quality

very good. focus rapidly, good qiality,

I am currently using this lens with a Nikon D800. I read a lot of online reviews before making the purchase. And I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to purchase this lens. I have captured some incredible wildlife shots of deer with this lens!

I always keep a Nikon TC 1.4x attached. The rear lens element is "exposed," even when mounted to the camera. And it seems likely dirt/dust could enter into the rear element. In addition, I don't feel that sharpness, autofocus or Depth of Field suffers with the Teleconverter attached. And 120mm extra reach certainly helps on an FX body (focal length = 420mm). I am personally blown away by the depth of field on this lens. I shot 3 deer standing in a row from about 50-60ft away, and one head was in clear focus, while the other two were gradually blurred [settings = 420mm , f/5.6]. I was shocked to realize I needed to step down in order to bring all deer into focus. This can really enhance wildlife/nature shots with regards to how you want to portray the background behind the animals!

This lens is not "lightweight" as the product description states. It is definitely lighter than the 300mm f/2.8 (which I personally have not used). But it will take some practice to hand hold and capture steady shots. I have not shot below 1/400sec yet to put my technique to the test. But why would you when shooting wildlife?! I bought the Kirk collar to replace the Nikon collar (again, a recommendation from online research).

In addition, this lens can comfortably be used in extreme temperatures. My first "shoot" was a hike looking for deer in -12C (around 10F) temperatures. And there were no issues with lens fogging (I keep a 77mm B+W clear MRC filter attached at all times). I have not tried the lens in rain. I have shot several times since in below freezing temperatures without any issues. Again, great for nature photography!

In conclusion, I am personally blown away by the sharpness of this lens. It can be hand held for an "extended" shoot, but will require some patience and practice in hand holding technique. The autofocus is very quick in my opinion. And I've shot on gloomy winter days in the woods while the sun is setting. I experience minimal hunting with wide open aperature (f/5.6 - because of TeleConverter), but this could be attributed to animals walking behind trees/shrubs). A little extra ISO in gloomy conditions delivers stunning colours! If you are looking for a telephoto lens: Don't look much further unless you have a spare $6,000 for the f/2.8. I have not shot with the 300mm f/2.8 so I can not give a valid comparison, but this lens blows me away! I don't think someone could persuade me a lens of the same focal length could be worth 4x as much!

Incredibly Sharp Lens!

Super sharp and creates absolutely beautiful images with great bokeh!!  I love this lens!!!

Yeah Baby!

not light, but lighter than comparable products, allowed me to hike w lens and tripod to observation point. achieved photo of crusader fort/monastery in Israel in deep canyon i had not previously been able to get with other lenses.

spectacular lens

I've had this lens for less than a month so it's hard to identify the pros and cons especially since it's winter here and we haven't had very good light. However, I've used it a few times and am happy with the results. I've set the ISO on my d90 to 1600 and set the aperture to f/8 which was the sweet spot in the earlier version of this lens which I also own. The images were a little soft but I blame that on the conditions rather than the lens and if I had opened it up to f/4 or 5.6 they would have been crisper. Like a lot of people, I'd hoped for a VR version of this lens but got tired of waiting and the Adorama price was too good to pass up.  I don't use a tripod but have read the complaints about the mount. To me it appears steady even if it's a little clunky. It would have been nice if nikon had added another inch to the length of the mount.  As it is, I can only fit my first 3 fingers using the mount as a handle. Carrying it with all 4 fingers would feel more secure to me and I have small hands.

So far so good

Compact and lightweight design, easy to carry in sling bag when attached to camera.  Can use it at ball park without intruding on neighboring seats.

Auto-focus ranage switch speeds up focusing.

Fantastic Performance Value

I purchased this lens to have a portable birding lens when hiking or on bird tours with other people where room in a vehicle is a consideration.  I use it with the 1.4 Nikon TC attached and get over 400mm or reach, more cosidering the DX crop factor.  I use it with a monopod to add steadiness in low light.  The main drawback of the lens is that is does not have VR.  I wish Nikon would add this feature, but am still very satisfied with the lens.

Very satisfied

Excelente objetiva para fotos de aves na natureza, tanto em super closes quanto em distâncias maiores, com ISO baixo ou alto. Rendimento de cores, resolução, brilho, contraste e rapidez no auto foco são incrivelmente fantásticos! É ótima também para fotos de pequenos animais (como insetos), pois o foco mínimo proporciona grande relação de reprodução. Combinada com o TC 14E II não perde as suas principais qualidades, ampliando ainda mais as possibilidades de uso.

Nikon 300mm f/4 ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR Lens with Built-in Hood & Detachable Tripod Mount - U.S.A. Warranty

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