Nikon's latest flagship 300mm f/2.8 lens is
not a lens for everyone. At the price of $6,000, it means that only the rich,
or those who desperately need the best possible performance to justify the
cost, can afford it. As you might expect from a super-telephoto lens aimed at
the professional daily use, it highlights the features against adverse weather changes
and Nikon’s Vibration Reduction II technology promises to create sharp handheld
shots at maximum shutter speed. Nikon’s Nano-Crystal Coating has also been
applied to the lens surface to help prevent glare and ghosting.
The
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G ED VRII
Features and manipulations
The lens’s own weight of 2.9 kg lens alone
makes this lens not very practical if you want to take it with you on a daily
basis, unless you really need it. The great weight of this lens is partly due
to the amount of glass on the inside, as well as its similar structure to an
armored vehicle. The lens is sealed against the intrusion of dust and moisture,
and is equipped with a fixed padded tripod attached, in which there is an emerging
border in between to make it handy when held. The mounting strap is also
designed on the pads, allowing the lens to be worn on the shoulders and being
ready to work when needed. Despite the heavy weight of the lens, it creates a
combination of easy compact with the Nikon D700’s camera body used for testing,
although the use of a battery grip will help balance the combination.
Nikon's
latest flagship 300mm f/2.8 lens is not a lens for everyone
The autofocus process is equipped with a
silent wave motor; the autofocus speed is super-fast. Manual Controls can be
applied at any time through the wide rubber focus rings, which only takes a
light touch to operate, but it is very smooth to operate, making adjustments
applied fairly comfortably. Four focus lock buttons re mounted far outside the
focus ring.
Focus
ring
The closest focus distance is 2.3 m, and
the focus is operated. The camera’s front is too large to be compatible with
the filters and not have any place to attach them to. The Nikon 52mm filters
can be used through a filter unit mounted inside.
The Vibration Reduction II system is
equipped lens promises to create snapshots manually sharpened with raising the
shutter speed up. As long as the system is given time to activate properly,
(which can take up to one second) and images are shot carefully, the handheld pictures
at 1/20 sec can be achieved in about three-quarters of the time. The system
works well with the help of Nikon's teleconverter that allows crisp handheld
images at 1/25 second with a 1.4x TC-14E II and 1/30 sec with TC-17E II 1.7x.
The
front lens
Performance
During the test, this lens created
significant sharpness across the frame consistency. At f/2.8 there is very good
sharpness across the frame and when reduced to between f / 8 and f/11 the
sharpness was affected prominently in the frame.
Image
chromatic aberrations review
How
to read our charts?
The blue columns represent the figures from
the center of the frame at the various apertures and the green is from the
edges. The average of the two figures will be on the red weighted column.
The column on the left side shows the
resolution of the actual image. The higher column, the better the quality of
the camera lens.
In this article, the lens was tested on a
Nikon D700 using Imatest.
The level of chromatic aberrations is well
controlled for a super-telephoto lens, with just over the width of 0.5 pixel which
affects the edges of the frame. This is the low level of the rim, it is
difficult to fix in place, even in large print, and the slightly rough area
from the edge of the frame.
Definition
image review
How
to read our graphs
Chromatic aberrations are not only capable
of focusing on the sensor or blurring all colors of visible light at the same
point of the lens. High chromatic aberrations give the remarkable range or
create a halo effect around sharp edges around the image. It can be handled by
the software.
The apochromatic lenses have special lens
(no bridge, ultra-low dispersion, etc.) to minimize the problems above, so they
usually have a much higher price.
In this article, the lens was tested on a
Nikon D700 using Imatest.
The light falloff towards the corners is very
well controlled for a lens of this type.
Deformation is also under very good control
with Imatest, which can only detect 0.879% of distortion. This low rate would
be very difficult to detect in the normal picture, but if you ask for a
completely straight line, you will be glad to find that the deformation pattern
is consistent across the frame. This will make the application by editing any
image editing software quite simple.
Thanks to Nikon’s Crystal Nano coating,
this lens is durable to resist glare and contrast is maintained extremely well,
even when shooting outside at maximum aperture. A circular lid is made of
carbon fiber that comes with the lens, helping to limit shadows in the lens
from extraneous light rays which can cause problems.
Test
images
Sample
images
Value
I do not think anyone can deny this is a
very expensive lens. With a price of approximately $6,000, this lens may be
more expensive than that of many other professional photographers. However, to
get the performance and quality design of this lens, it is worth spending money
on buying one for those who rely on the images to earn a living.
Cheaper alternatives include the Nikon’s
AF-S 300mm f/4 ED-IF lens, which costs about $ 1,500, but lacks image
stabilization and a slower maximum aperture.
Sigma currently offers two viable alternatives
for this lens. Their 300mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM has a price at around $ 3.300.
However, this lens lacks adverse weather conditions and vibration reduction
technology as seen on the Nikon lens. Another interesting option might be
Sigma's 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM. Not only is it cheaper at around $ 2.250
but it also provides zoom utilities with fast f/2.8 maximum aperture and
optical stabilization.
Conclusion
Although this lens is priced quite
expensive, it is undeniably effective and absolutely amazing about sharpness.
The focus process is set up quickly and its design is capable of competing with
the harshness of the everyday use. At a price like this, it would make the lens
out of reach for many people, but it may be a product that is hired for special
occasions when the performance is a really needed factor.
Advantages
·
Excellent optical quality
·
Super-fast focusing
·
Low chromatic aberration
·
Low distortion
·
Strong build quality
Disadvantages
·
Heavy
·
Expensive
Overview
·
Another version of the Desire V with an upgraded
screen, which is suitable for users who love stability, high durability, long
battery life and a beautiful screen from HTC.
|
Specifications
·
Lens mounts: Nikon AF G
·
Focal length: 300 mm
·
Angle of view: 8.1°
·
Max aperture: f/2.8
·
Min aperture: f/22
·
Filter size: 52 mm
·
Min focus: 230 cm
·
Stabilized: yes
·
Construction blades: 9
·
Construction elements: 11
·
Construction groups: 8
·
Weight: 2,900 g
·
Height: 267.5mm
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