The 70-300 AF-P, the D7200 and VR

Steve in Oz

Senior Member
A few things I'm keen to hear people's thoughts about.

I've read a lot about the 70-300mm AF-P DX f/4.5-6.3G ED VR zoom. Pretty hard to ignore it, it costs $400 (about USD320) in Australia. Reviews are for the most part very good: seriously good value for money.

I'm wondering if what we're seeing here the 'new normal' in lens manufacture: modern glass (or whatever substitute Nikon use) that gives image quality, as good as a lens that cost ten times as much, ten years ago?

Put another way: am I better off buying this DX 70-300 new at $400 than, say, looking for a second-hand 70-300 that might be several years old and not be up-to-date in terms of manufacturing technology. In so many industries, tech has got better, while costs of manufacture have gone down.

The other thing is the VR. This lens as we know does not allow VR to be switched off on the D7200. Every benefit has a cost: what do I lose by have VR permanently engaged?

(My day-to-day lens on the D7200 is the 16-80mm f/2.8-4 so I'm spoilt for image quality)
 

Texas

Senior Member
Just to note, there's lots of versions of this lens FX and DX, P and not P, VR and not VR...
G and not G, and couple different max f stop numbers.

The old VR FX one is very good on DX (and super cheap) and the VR works as expected, meaning you can turn it off on all camera bodies. I've got one and it looks very sharp to me at 300mm even wide open on my D7100.

I'd say buy one used cheap and try it. Sell it on if you are not pleased with it.
 
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Steve in Oz

Senior Member
One review I read found no less than five versions of Nikon 70-300s available.

The 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G, AF-S is around the stores. It’s about AUD800 (USD640) here and well in contention for me. It’s been around for some years but reviews are solid. It’s physically a bigger lens than the AF-P DX version and looks like something a serious amateur would have (rather than a 'kit lens'). And it does DX and FX, though that’s not a big factor for me right now.
 
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Nero

Senior Member
I have the full-frame 70-300mm Vr lens and it really is a great lens, especially for the money. Huge improvement over my old 55-300mm. If you need a budget-friendly telephoto lens that isn't super long, this is one of your best choices easily.
 

douglasco

Senior Member
I have the 70-300 af-p vr dx lens and I cannot believe how good it is for the money. Got mine from mpb photographic and its like new. I highly recommend this lens.
 

xMachiavelli

Senior Member
I have used the AF-P DX NIKKOR
70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR and the non VR variant.

I purchased the VR variant refurbished for about $150.00 from a reputable dealer. I have used the lens on a D3400 and D500 and the results have been fantastic. Lightweight. Sharp. Ultra fast focusing (and completely silent.)

Highly recommended from me. I still use it all of the time when I don't want to carry around the heavy Sigma 150-600 C.
 

Steve in Oz

Senior Member
Well this is interesting... my original post was four and a half years ago, and I yesterday bought a 70-300mm AF-P DX f/4.5-6.3G ED VR zoom at a photography flea market for AUD150, that's about 105USD.

I was looking for discussion about the lens on here but I must admit I'd forgotten about that post from 2018!

I did a few 'aircraft on approach' pics with it yesterday with the D7200 in facing/cloudy light. I'll try it out again in full sun when I get the opportunity, but I'm impressed by what I've seen so far. My usual lens for aircraft is the 80-200 f2.8, but I occasionally need a bit more reach over 200mm for smaller aircraft - but not often enough to justify a 80-400 or 200-500.

You do get what you pay for and this is without question a cheap lens - though you do get the bonus of surprisingly sharp images.

It's not a 70-200 f2.8 or a 70-200 f4, and isn't meant to be an alternative to those lenses. For me it's an inexpensive way to get between 200mm and 300mm once in a while.
 
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Clovishound

Senior Member
My daughter got the DX 70-300 non VR bundled with her D5600. It's a good lens. I got her an upgrade to the AF-P 70-300 F/4.5-5.6 ED VR mainly to get VR capability, and slightly faster. As a bonus it is FX capable in case she upgrades to a full frame body in the future. It is also an upgrade in sharpness IMO. Of course using an FX lens on a DX camera means you use only the center portion of the image, which is typically the sharpest part of the image. It is somewhat bigger and heavier than the DX version, but not excessively so. It does come with a good bit higher price tag. The Nikon Store has their refurbs 10% off sale right now and this lens comes at about $460.
 

Steve in Oz

Senior Member
I finally had some good conditions to use the 70-300 VR. I am genuinely impressed that a lens I bought for AUD150 can produce images of this quality.

Emirates B777 A6-ECK 2048.jpgQatar B777 World Cup 2048.jpg

There a few caveats, for sure: a lens with a widest aperture of f6.3 will need plenty of light to really perform (these are both a f8), and this is very 'plasticky' lens, too: it's not built to handle robust handling the way mu 80-200 f2.8D is. but it's also much lighter.
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Very nice. I assume that's the AF-P? If it is, I have one also and love it. Been using it on my D5500 and D500 both ever since I bought a used copy to try for $80 USD. (Funny story: the original lens I ordered was improperly packaged by B&H and arrived damaged - they forgot to put packaging materials around the lens and it just rolled around the inside of the box the entire journey - and they replaced it with what appeared to be a brand new unit. Happiest I've ever been to get damaged goods, lol.)

Have fun with it. It really is a good lens, regardless of price.
 

Steve in Oz

Senior Member
Yes it is the AF-P VR, and you're absolutely right - it's a lens to have fun with: very light and easy to handle. If I need to get serious, out comes the 80-200 F2.8.
 
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