TechRadar Verdict
Pros
- +
Excellent Vibration Reduction with Active mode
- +
Ring-type AF-S ultrasonic autofocus with full-time manual override
- +
Great optical quality throughout most of the zoom range
Cons
- -
Sharpness drops off a little at the maximum 300mm focal length
- -
One of the most expensive telephoto zooms
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The biggest attraction of this full-frame zoom lens for the vast majority of us who use APS-C Nikon cameras is that the 1.5x crop factor gives a mighty effective telephoto reach of 450mm at the long end of the zoom range. As such, we have to ask if the newer, smaller and lighter Nikon 55-300mm VR has made its heavyweight cousin redundant?
There's actually a lot to be said for using a heavier telephoto lens, because the extra weight makes it more stable when handholding and camera-shake is less of a problem. This is especially true when panning for action shots. On an APS-C camera, you'll also only be using the central region of the image circle produced by the lens, where image quality is at its greatest. On top of that, the Nikon Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED has a more refined feature set and better build quality.
More than twice the weight of the Nikon 55-200mm VR, this one tips the scales at 745g and is also nearly 1.5x the length at 80x144mm, extending to a maximum of 258mm at it's longest telephoto setting, complete with attached hood. The lens hood itself is petal-shaped for maximum performance, enabled by the fact that the lens has internal focus, so the front element neither extends nor rotates during focusing.
Advanced, ring-type AF-S (Silent Wave) autofocus is very fast and practically silent. It's a big step up from the more humble AF-S system fitted to the 55-200mm VR and 55-300mm VR lenses, and also features full-time manual override in Single (rather than continuous) AF mode.
Like the 55-300mm VR lens, this 70-300mm one features Nikon's new generation VR II Vibration Reduction which offers a 4-stop anti-shake benefit. This time, however, it's a dual mode stabiliser that has Normal and Active options, the latter working better if you're shooting from an unsteady platform.
