Best Nikon 300mm f4 ??

[daniel_bouchard]

Hello,

 

I want to buy a Nikon 300mm f4. I saw some second hands listed at interesting

price. One listing say : "nikon 300mm f4 AF-s" and the other one say "AF

Nikkor 300mm f/4 IF-ED". Are they different ? What would be the best choice ?

Reason ?

 

Thanks a lot !

 

Dan

[vivek iyer]

They are different. The AF-S is better optically and feature wise (minimum focus distance, filter size and fast focusing possibility).

 

The AF (IF) lens has a better tripod collar unlike the AF-S lens which is a joke.

 

Unless you replace the tripod collar of the AF-S lens with a real one, you are better off with the older AF (IF)-D lens.

[jemini_joseph]

Hi Dan

The AF-S and ED-IF are two different versions. The first one has a better AF and that's newer. AF-S means it has silent wave motor in it. Optically both are pretty same. AF-S is slightly bigger and heavier. Not much though. Sharpness wise both are same. But if you need great AF then go for the AF-S version

 

Good luck

jemini Joseph

www.color-pictures.com

[erik_loza]

I have owned both and you couldn't go wrong with either. I sold the older AF lens because

much of my work is tele-macro and the AF-S has superior close-range performance. I find

little difference in AF performance, if that's important to you. As Vivek pointed out, you

will definitley want to upgrade to an aftermarket tripod collar on the AF-S lens if that's the

way you're leaning. If it were not for the need to do more small stuff at close range, I

would have stuck with the old lens. Though their internal design is different, I have a hard

time telling which image came from which lens; they both can produce excellent results.

Good luck with your decision.

[daniel_bouchard]

Thanks Vivek, Jemini and Erik !

 

I think the old version would be my choice. I now wonder what would be a decent price for this particular lens ? I saw it at $760 and wonder if it's a good deal? Well, Maybe I could deal it for $700 ;o)

 

Thanks again !

 

Dan

[joseph_smith3]

I own both and agree with all of the above comments. The older version will take a Nikon special 39mm drop in polarizer while the AF-S version will not. If you want to add a polarizer to it you have to put it on the front element. The nikon 14B and tc 301 teleconverters will fit both lenses, preserve metering, but will work in manual focus only. The tc 14E, 17e and 20E will mount only on the AF-S version and will meter and allow AF to work if there is enough light going thru the lens. Both come with a built in lens hood. The older version is built like a tank. Do not buy the AF-s Version unless you are willing to buy the replacement collar from Kirk. What camera body are you going to use it on? If you are going to use it for flight shots, get the AF-s. If you already have some Nikon tcs, you might get the lens that is compatible with your tcs. Joe Smith

[ShunCheung]

I had the old version and upgraded to the new AF-S version about 4 years ago. At that time I sold the old one for $500 or so, and I understand that the price has dropped further since then. Check keh.com for updated prices.

 

The easiest way to tell them apart is that the old AF version uses 82mm front filters and has a slot for drop-in filter, 39mm. The new version uses 77mm front filters.

[gert_jensen]

Hi Dan,

 

I just purchased a Nikon 300mm f4 IF-ED from KEH.com in "Excellent condition" for less than $500. They've got several others in Excellent condition available for around that price. I've seen them go on evilbay for $600-700, and there you never know what you'll end up with.

[frank uhlig]

If $ 700 is your price limit, you might as well get an excellent used AFS 300/4 lens from keh.com. Very reputable store! Much better lens.

[daniel_bouchard]

Thanks all !

 

I have sent an email to the person who sale the AF-S 300mm and hope to get a positiv answer from him. Sadly KEH don't have any second hands AF-S right now, they only have IF-ED. Because I want to do sport as well as bird photos, I think that the AF-S is what I need.

I'll use the 300mm with my Nikon D50 and this should be a nice combo.

 

Thanks again !

 

Dan

[daniel_bouchard]

Hello,

 

I finally changed my mind and decided to buy the 400mm Sigma APO Macro D Tele from KEH. I read a lot of good thing about this lens. I also ordered a sigma 1.4 tc to try with it. If it dont work well, I'll just send it back. I'm anxioux to get it and take my first photos with it :o)

 

Regards,

 

Daniel

[dilip_chhetri]

Hello Daniel,

 

I had tried Sigma 400mm and its quite slow focusing at f/5.6 and if you use TC with it then I guess it will be damn slow to AF. I have AFS-300mm f/4 and I get decent AF speed with kenko 1.4x TC. Also, I happened to get some bad sample of sigma which didn't use to give acceptable image below f/8, so I returned it. If you do get good sample then you are done.

 

Regards,

 

Dilip

[daniel_bouchard]

Dilip,

 

I hope that I'll get a decent version on the 400mm. It is supposed to be sharper then the little brother 300mm F4. I know that I'll have to do manual focus with the TC. I'll only use it occasionnaly when the 400mm wont be able to do the job. I'll try to report my experience with the lens after a few weeks with it.

 

Thanks,

 

Daniel

[rakesh dhareshwar]

Daniel,

I use the 300 mm f/4 AFS , with my Kenko 2X TC and the focussing is not bad at all.

From the sharpness POV , you can check out my gallery here and judge for yourself.

http://www.photo.net/photos/Rakesh%20Dhareshwar