Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR ED IF Lens

I just picked this up to match the AF-S 18-105mm VR that I got this week. :congratulatory:
I can't believe the deals that I got from Craigslist on these 2 lenses...both in "new" condition.
The 70-300mm was used twice and purchased just a month ago...even still had that "brand new" smell!

Does anyone have any advice regarding this lens on the D3100 or any other body?

Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

Congrats on the 70-300. It will work great with your D3100. I rented one earlier this year and after a quick read of the manual, I snapped it on and started shooting. I just wish people on our craigslist here would sell Nikon gear. All I ever see is Canon. It's almost like they can't wait to get rid of the Canon gear so they can buy Nikon.

i have the 55-300mm lens it is my go to lens when i dont want to miss a shot. plus it gives me a large range of focus distance close ups or distant.check out my gallery for my "moon shot" that i took with my 300mm i am sure i can get a better one but i am waiting for the light pollution to decrease.metadata is with it.

dragion said:

I just picked this up to match the AF-S 18-105mm VR that I got this week. :congratulatory:
I can't believe the deals that I got from Craigslist on these 2 lenses...both in "new" condition.
The 70-300mm was used twice and purchased just a month ago...even still had that "brand new" smell!

Does anyone have any advice regarding this lens on the D3100 or any other body?

Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

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I can help you try it out on the 5100... just send it North to Hudson NH (It was supposed to be mine anyway!!!)

Obviously just kidding... have you taken many shots with it yet?

Pat in NH

Congrats, I use this lens often. It will work great on your D3100.

dragion said:

I just picked this up to match the AF-S 18-105mm VR that I got this week. :congratulatory:
I can't believe the deals that I got from Craigslist on these 2 lenses...both in "new" condition.
The 70-300mm was used twice and purchased just a month ago...even still had that "brand new" smell!

Does anyone have any advice regarding this lens on the D3100 or any other body?

Any replies will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

RockyNH said:

I can help you try it out on the 5100... just send it North to Hudson NH (It was supposed to be mine anyway!!!)

Obviously just kidding... have you taken many shots with it yet?

Pat in NH

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, not that much...been busy running around with family projects.
Hopefully find some time to take some soon...thanks!

salvatore said:

Congrats, I use this lens often. It will work great on your D3100.

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Great lens! welcome to the club!

I just bought this same lens on CL for 1/4 the cost of a new one. He claimed he just never used it, so decided to sell it. That said, I saw a post on another forum that says that it was made as an FX lens to begin with so is actually a 105-450mm on a DX camera. Is true?

Jim

jimbo54 said:

I just bought this same lens on CL for 1/4 the cost of a new one. He claimed he just never used it, so decided to sell it. That said, I saw a post on another forum that says that it was made as an FX lens to begin with so is actually a 105-450mm on a DX camera. Is true?

Jim

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By crop size/viewing angle, yes. As far as zoom, no. With a DX, you get less of a viewable angle from the 300mm than you would with a FX camera, that's all. It won't actually zoom any closer on either camera.

​Hope that makes sense!

I guess I don't understand what you mean by viewable angle and crop size. I just got the lens and haven't played with it yet and I'm aware that there will be a learning curve involved.

By the way, thanks for responding so quickly.

Jim

NP at all. Imagine it this way... if you took a picture with an FX camera, you'd get a larger picture/frame than with a DX camera. When viewing it on your computer, you can zoom in to full size, but you're not seeing the whole picture, just a section of the original, so it's "cropping" your viewable angle. You can get the same result by just cropping the section you want out of a picture, and it will expand to fit your screen, seeming to zoom in closer. In reality, the only thing that really changed was in how much you limited the viewable area.

That's what the DX sensor is doing for you, with a crop factor around 1.5x. It LOOKS closer because you're getting a crop of what would normally be seen by a full frame sensor, so it fools the brain a bit, making the photo appear to be more zoomed in, when really it's just using less of a viewable area... here's a link to an article that made it click in my mind, so I hope it helps!!

Crop Factor Explained | Photography Mad

The GOOD news is:

1) That 70-300 is a durn good lens and you're going to love it, especially considering the bargain price! I use mine a LOT!

2) If you ever choose to upgrade to a FX camera body, that lens will make the transition with you! I've made that decision with all of my extra lens purchases, making sure to get lenses that aren't specifically limited to DX, just in case I get the opportunity to step up to a D610 through some unexpected windfall in the future.

Wow! Great explanation and super good article. It leads to another question for me though. If the lens is, say a 35mm, and is a DX lens as opposed to a full frame lens, is the compensation already built in to 1.5 for a truer 35mm full frame shot?

Jim

jimbo54 said:

Wow! Great explanation and super good article. It leads to another question for me though. If the lens is, say a 35mm, and is a DX lens as opposed to a full frame lens, is the compensation already built in to 1.5 for a truer 35mm full frame shot?

Jim

Click to expand...

​Yes.

jimbo54 said:

I guess I don't understand what you mean by viewable angle and crop size. I just got the lens and haven't played with it yet and I'm aware that there will be a learning curve involved.

By the way, thanks for responding so quickly.

Jim

Click to expand...

Just look through the viewfinder and that's what you have in terms of zoom. 300 mm is 300mm as a ruler will confirm. Don't get hung up on all the crop rubbish.

Thanks again. I think the fog has lifted for me regarding this topic.

Jim