Need advice on 300 f2.8 AIS ED-IF MF

gustafson

Senior Member
Would like to hear from Nikonites on their experiences with this lens, more specifically on the following topics:


  • Utility for nature photography (birding, wildlife, etc.)
  • Utility for sports photography (kid's soccer games and other non-professional use)
  • Astrophotography
  • What TCs work best with the lens? How well does it work with a modified TC-16a for pseudo AF?
  • Can the lens be used for macro (for insects), say with an extension tube or other add-on?
  • How does the lens perform at wider apertures 2.8-5.6? Specifically, is CA an issue?
  • Is handholding feasible at all in real world use? What about monopod?

Thanks in advance! I'm trying to see if there are any use cases that might justify acquiring the lens, and hoping not to add a big paperweight to my lens collection! So, yes, if you bought one and didn't get much use out of it, that would be helpful to know as well! :)
 
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STM

Senior Member
I have used this lens for almost 30 years. It is a superb lens from the word go. It works beautifully for wildlife and birding, assuming they are not that far away and the depth of field is shallow enough and contrast very high so that focusing is very easy. It is very sharp wide open, but the very shallow depth of field is so shallow that any error in focusing will be very noticeable. f/4 and f/5.6 are superb as is f/8. After that diffraction takes over a little. 300mm is really too short for any kind of astrophotography. I usually use a TC-14B with it if I need a little more optical horsepower but the TC-300 works very well as well. With just the lens alone, CA is essentially non-existent thanks to 2 ED elements. There are two versions of this lens, one with the built in lens shade, which is pretty short but works ok and the later one with a built in UV filter (instead of the 122mm screw in filter size of the earlier one) and a removable (and reversible) much longer lens shade. Optically the two are identical.

I never thought of using it for "macro" applications but two PK-13 extension tubes might work. It won't be macro, it will just be closeup.

Although it is no lightweight, it is built like a tank and is still very hand-holdable. I can easily hand hold it down to 1/125 sec.

A few images I have taken with mine









And this in the 1980's with the F2/MD-2 and High Speed Ektachrome, man I miss that stuff! Pam Shriver at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Ameila Island.

 
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gustafson

Senior Member
@STM: thanks for your detailed reply. I wish I had posted earlier, because the copy I had my eye on got sold. Good to know that it has utility in wildlife, and can be used handheld in a pinch. Your samples are phenomenal! The one with Pam Shriver is quite a throwback. I will keep an eye out for this lens.

BTW - does it play well with the D7100, with regard to IQ and CA, compared to FX? Thanks!


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STM

Senior Member
@STM: thanks for your detailed reply. I wish I had posted earlier, because the copy I had my eye on got sold. Good to know that it has utility in wildlife, and can be used handheld in a pinch. Your samples are phenomenal! The one with Pam Shriver is quite a throwback. I will keep an eye out for this lens.

BTW - does it play well with the D7100, with regard to IQ and CA, compared to FX? Thanks!


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I have not used it with the D7100 yet but will make a point of it this weekend when I am out shooting. However, it performed quite well with the D300 so I am sure it will do the same very well with the D7100
 
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gustafson

Senior Member
I have not used it with the D7100 yet but will make a point of it this weekend when I am out shooting. However, it performed quite well with the D300 so I am sure it will do the same very well with the D7100

Good to know it worked well on the D300. Look forward to hearing how it does on the D7100. Appreciate your efforts to test it out!


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STM

Senior Member
Good to know it worked well on the D300. Look forward to hearing how it does on the D7100. Appreciate your efforts to test it out!


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One of many taken with the D7100 (and D700) today at the Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St Augustine FL (about 45 minutes south of Jacksonville)

I used the D7100, 300mm f/2.8 ED IF AIS and TC-14B. Effectively a 630mm f/4, to capture this Snowy Egret and her two chicks.

 

gustafson

Senior Member
One of many taken with the D7100 (and D700) today at the Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St Augustine FL (about 45 minutes south of Jacksonville)

I used the D7100, 300mm f/2.8 ED IF AIS and TC-14B. Effectively a 630mm f/4, to capture this Snowy Egret and her two chicks.


Great pic, thanks for the effort to test out with the D7100! Any idea how far you were from the birds? And did you have to crop any? Also, was this handheld? Thank you!


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STM

Senior Member
Great pic, thanks for the effort to test out with the D7100! Any idea how far you were from the birds? And did you have to crop any? Also, was this handheld? Thank you!


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I was maybe 25-30 meters from this nest. For this shot I had the TC-14B on it and it was indeed hand held. There was very little cropping. The image itself is probably very close to full frame width-wise with just some cropped off on the top and bottom. If you do get this lens, I would also recommend you get a microprism/split image screen for your camera from focusingscreen.com. It allows for very critical focusing and will not affect AF. The EXIF says f/8 but it is wrong. I very rarely bother to change the Non-CPU lens settings in the camera because honestly it is not that important to me. I am pretty sure this was shot at either f/4 or at most f/5.6 to keep the background very OOF. Even at 200% the image is still razor sharp.
 

gustafson

Senior Member
I was maybe 25-30 meters from this nest. For this shot I had the TC-14B on it and it was indeed hand held. There was very little cropping. The image itself is probably very close to full frame width-wise with just some cropped off on the top and bottom. If you do get this lens, I would also recommend you get a microprism/split image screen for your camera from focusingscreen.com. It allows for very critical focusing and will not affect AF. The EXIF says f/8 but it is wrong. I very rarely bother to change the Non-CPU lens settings in the camera because honestly it is not that important to me. I am pretty sure this was shot at either f/4 or at most f/5.6 to keep the background very OOF. Even at 200% the image is still razor sharp.

Thanks for that info! Pretty amazing detail given the distance. If / when I do get the lens, I am hoping to use it with my modified TC-16a which allows for limited autofocusing on cameras with a screw-drive motor. But good to know the TC-14b works well, I will keep an eye out for that also.


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