Nikon af-p dx nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3g ed vr review

f/4.5-6.3 DX ED

Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 DX VR AF-P (58mm filters, 14.5 oz./412g, 3.7’/1.1m close-focus, about $397) bigger. I got mine at Adorama, who also offers it in kits with free goodies. I’d also get it at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This all-content, junk-free website’s biggest source of support is when you use those or any of when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Nikon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on since you’ll have no way of knowing if you’re missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. Buy only from the for the best prices, service, return policies and selection. Thanks for helping me help you! Ken.

December 2016 Nikon Reviews Nikon Lenses All Reviews

Compared

The 55-300mm VR DX sells for the same price. It’s an older lens that zooms wider, focuses about as close for macro, but focuses much more slowly.

	70-300 VR AF-P	70-300 AF-P	55-300 VR DX	70-300 VR (FX)
Covers	DX only	DX only	DX only	FX and DX
VR?	Yes	*NO!*	Yes	Yes
Filter size	58mm	58mm	58mm	67mm
Maximum aperture	f/4.5~6.3	f/4.5~6.3	f/4.5~5.6	f/4.5~5.6
AF Speed	fast	fast	slow	fast
Instant manual focus override	yes	yes	no	Yes
Widest zoom	70mm	70mm	55mm	70mm
Close Focus	3.7’/1.1m	3.7’/1.1m	4.6’/1.4m	5’/1.5m
Max Repro	1:4.5	1:4.5	1:3.6	1:4
Ounces	14.7 oz.	14.1 oz.	18.6 oz.	26.2 oz.
Grams	415 g.	400 g.	529g	745g
Price, 8/2016	$397	$347	$397	$496

Introduction

B&H Photo — Video — Pro Audio

I buy only from . I can’t vouch for below.

The Nikon 70-300mm DX VR AF-P is a lightweight plastic long telephoto lens for basic DX cameras.

It’s ultra sharp, and super-fast focussing — the fastest focussing of any DX telephoto.

The new AF-P system only works on the newest cameras, and it also allows for instant manual-focus override by grabbing the front focus ring at any time.

Format

This lens is for DX cameras.

While it will work on full-frame cameras, it uses less than half the area of their sensor and therefore is generally a waste of time.

● AF-P Stepper Motor for fast, silent focus.

● Instant manual-focus override.

Good

● Vibration Reduction works great for handholding this lightweight ultra-tele.

● Sharp.

● Light.

● Small.

● Inexpensive.

● Fast and silent autofocusing.

● Super-close focussing to 3.7’/1.1 meters.

● Plastic lens mount

● Widest setting is 70mm; most people will love the wider setting of the 55-300mm lens.

Missing

● No AF/MF switch; you now do that in your camera’s menu system — but the instant manual-focus override makes this switch much less necessary.

● No VR ON/OFF switch; you now do that in your camera’s menu system.

Getting a Legal USA Version

(for USA only)

In the USA, be sure your box has a round «5 Years» sticker on it:

Box, Nikon 70-300 VR AF-P. bigger.

and that you have a USA warranty card in the box, usually packed with the folded instruction sheet:

USA Warranty card. bigger.

The serial number on the card much match the serial number on your lens, or it’s worthless. The serial number on the box should match, too.

If the numbers don’t match or you didn’t get any USA warranty card, you got ripped off with a gray market version from another country. This is why I never buy anyplace other than from my . You just can’t take the chance of buying elsewhere, especially at any retail store, because non-USA versions have no warranty in the USA, and you won’t even be able to get firmware or service for it — even if you’re willing to pay out-of-pocket for it when you need it!

If a gray market version saves you $150 it may be worth it, but for $50 or less I wouldn’t risk having no warranty or support.

Always be sure to check your box while you can still return it, or just don’t buy from unapproved sources or at retail so you’ll be able to have your camera serviced and get free updated firmware as needed.

Get yours from the and you won’t have a problem, but if you take the risk of getting yours elsewhere, be sure to check everything while you still can return it.

Compared

I
got mine at B&H. I’d also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

	70-300E VR (FX)	70-300G VR (FX)	70-300 VR AF-P	70-300 AF-P	55-300 VR DX
Introduced	7/2017	8/2006	8/2016	8/2016	8/2010
Covers	FX and DX	FX and DX	DX only	DX only	DX only
VR?	Yes	Yes	Yes	*NO!*	Yes
Filter size	67mm	67mm	58mm	58mm	58mm
Maximum aperture	f/4.5~5.6	f/4.5~5.6	f/4.5~6.3	f/4.5~6.3	f/4.5~5.6
AF Speed	super fast	fast	super fast	fast	slow
Instant manual focus override	Yes	Yes	yes	yes	no
Widest zoom	70mm	70mm	70mm	70mm	55mm
Close Focus	4’/1.2m	5’/1.5m	3.7’/1.1m	3.7’/1.1m	4.6’/1.4m
Max Repro	1:4	1:4	1:4.5	1:4.5	1:3.6
Ounces	23.6 oz.	26.2 oz.	14.7 oz.	14.1 oz.	18.6 oz.
Grams	670g	745g	415 g.	400 g.	529g
Price, 8/2016	n/a	$496	$397	$347	$397
Price, 7/2017	$697	$496	$397	$347	$397
Price, 3/2018	$747	$250 used	$397	$347	$397

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Introduction

B&H Photo — Video — Pro Audio

I buy only from . I can’t vouch for below.

This full-frame Nikon 70-300mm AFP E has extraordinary optics in a lightweight package at a reasonable price. It’s a great lens.

It’s an excellent choice for anyone who demands the finest optical quality for ultra high resolution FX DSLRs like the D850. It’s ultrasharp corner-to-corner at every setting and has very little distortion as well as ultrafast autofocus.

Its new AF-P focusing system also allows instant manual-focus override by grabbing the focus ring at any time. The new AF-P system offers virtually instantaneous and silent autofocus, and the new «E» electronic diaphragm is silent, but this lens .

I
got mine at B&H. I’d also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

New compared to the old 70-300 VR G.

● AF-P stepper autofocus motor for fast, silent focus.

● VR now rated to 4.5 stops improvement.

● «E» Electronic diaphragm: quieter, but only works on the newest camera models.

● 4’/1.2m close focus.

● «Sport» VR mode helps make it easier to frame images handheld while moving.

● 680g versus the 745g.

Good

● Vibration Reduction works great for hand holding this lightweight ultra-tele.

● Extremely sharp.

● Light.

● Reasonably small.

● Fast and near silent autofocusing.

● Super-close focusing to 4’/1.2 meters.

Compatibility

Important notice: the AF-P line is only compatible with the latest Nikon DSLR bodies. It means the number of cameras usable with the lens is limited.

This is how Nikon USA specifies compatibility by grouping cameras in three subsets:

Fully compatible models: Even for compatible cameras, firmware update may be required. Fully compatible models are: D7500, D5600, D5500, D5300, D3400, D3300, D500 and later models
Compatible models with limited functions: D5, D810 series, Df, D750, D7200, D7100, D5200, Nikon 1 series with the FT1
Incompatible models: D4 series, D3 series, D2 series, D1 series, D800 series, D700, D610, D600, D300 series, D200, D100, D7000, D5100, D5000, D90, D80, D70 series, D3200, D3100, D3000, D60, D50, D40 series, film cameras

I have tested this lens on my old Nikon DSLR D7000 (featured by Nikon as an incompatible model) and it indeed does not work. Since the focusing is fully electronic, you cannot even use the manual focusing. The picture in the viewfinder stays blurred all the time, no matter how you turn the focus ring. Stay away from this lens if you have an old body and plan to stick with it.

NIKON D5300 + 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 @ 300mm, ISO 200, 1/200, f/6.3

Specifications

Name

Nikon calls this the Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR:

AF-P: Stepper autofocus motor for quiet and fast autofocus.

DX: Only works on DX cameras; won’t work well on film or FX cameras.

NIKKOR: Nikon’s brand name for all their lenses.

for cost-reduction and removing compatibility with older cameras.

Magic Extra-low Dispersion glass for reduced secondary chromatic aberration.

VR: Vibration Reduction.

Optics

Nikon 70-300mm DX VR AF-P internal construction. ED glass. bigger.

14 elements in 10 groups.

One extra low dispersion element.

No aspherical elements.

Diaphragm

Front, Nikon 70-300 VR AF-P at 300mm. bigger.

7 rounded blades.

Stops down to f/22-32.

Focal length

70~300mm.

When used a DX camera, it sees the same angle of view as a 105~450mm lens sees when used on a or FX full-frame camera.

Autofocus

Silent stepper motor, super-fast. If you’re in a silent environment and hold your ear to the lens, you will hear a slight hum as it focuses.

Internal focus.

No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.

Size

2.83″ maximum diameter x 4.92″ extension from flange.

72 mm maximum diameter x 125 mm extension from flange.

Weight

Measured 14.535 oz. (412.05 g).

Rated 14.7 oz (415 g).

Included

Lens.

Good LC-58 58 mm snap-on front cap.

Translucent rear cap, This is a cheap flexible «transit» cap, not the usually hard black bayonet rear cap.

No hood and no case.

5 years, USA.

Actually it has a 1 year warranty and a «4 year extended service plan.»

Image Quality: Resolution Dips at 300mm

I tested the 70-300mm with the 20.9MP Nikon D500. At 70mm f/4.5 it scores 1,939 lines on the center-weighted Imatest sharpness evaluation. That’s a bit better than the 1,800 lines we want to see at a bare minimum, but not as much resolution as we can expect to see from the D500’s sensor at its best. There’s a bit of softness at the edges of the frame, but the 1,780 lines the periphery scores isn’t anything to worry about for most shots.

Stopping down to f/5.6 moves the resolution from the acceptable to the very good range. The lens shows 2,330 lines there, with edges that sharpen up nicely to 2,104 lines. You get the best results at f/8 (2,453 lines) and f/11 (2,462 lines). Diffraction starts to rear its ugly head at f/16, cutting resolution to a still-good 2,250 lines, but you don’t want to narrow the iris anymore—we get just 1,870 lines at f/22.

{{ZIFFIMAGE id=»152477″ notable nopopup align=»left»> See How We Test Digital Cameras

Zooming to the rough midpoint of the coverage range, we see an excellent 2,422 lines at 170mm f/5, with even performance from center to edge. There’s a nominal improvement at f/8 (2,521 lines). You can feel free to make images at f/11 (2,447 lines), and results remain decent at f/16 (2,322 lines), but avoid using f/22 as the score drops to 1,875 lines.

Image quality takes a step back at 300mm, but it remains in the very good range—2,089 lines at f/6.3, with solid performance right up to the edges of the frame. There’s modest improvement at f/8 (2,131 lines) and f/11 (2,138 lines), but it never gets as sharp as we see at 170mm. The zoom resolves 2,046 lines at f/16 and just 1,683 lines at f/22.

There’s no distortion visible at 70mm, but we do see the pincushion effect when zooming in. At 170mm there is 1.4 percent, and about 1 percent at 300mm. Pincushion distortion causes straight lines to be drawn with a slight inward curve. You won’t notice it for most photos, but if it does distract from the clean lines of an architectural shot, it can be corrected using software—Adobe Lightroom includes a profile to remove it from Raw images. You can enable in-camera correction when shooting JPGs if desired.

There is some darkening at the corners of the image. We see -1.3EV at 70mm f/4.5, -2.1EV at 170mm f/5 and f/5.6, and -1.6EV at 300mm f/6.3. It’s not a heavy vignette, and it’s gone by the time you narrow the aperture to the next full f-stop. If you shoot JPGs and leave the default amount of vignette correction enabled you’ll likely never notice it. If you shoot Raw, the same Lightroom profile that corrects for the modest amount of distortion also compensates for the vignette.

Remember that the 70-300mm is a DX lens, covering only the image circle of models like the D3400 and D500. If you own a full-frame Nikon, or plan on upgrading to one in the future, and want a lens of this type, consider instead the AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR. It’s a bit more expensive at $600, but won’t display a big black circle around your images if you use it with a full-frame Nikon. The image above shows what happens when you shoot with the DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR on the full-frame D850.

Compatibility

It has a traditional mechanical diaphragm actuator, not an E diaphragm, so its diaphragm works on all Nikons.

It works great on my D3300, D500 and D810.

Nikon says forget it on any of the D1, D2, D3 or D4 series, the D800, D700, D610, D600, D300 series, D200, D100, D90, D80, D70 series, D60, D50, D40 series, D7000, D5100, D5000, D3200, D3100 or D3000. It also won’t work on any .

Nikon cautions that you need to have the latest firmware installed for it to work on the D5500, D5300 or D3300.

The problem is that the new AF-P autofocus motor system only works on camera models originally introduced since about 2013. If your camera is too old, the focus system, even in manual mode, won’t work at all, making the lens completely useless with no workaround.

A Good Lens for DX Shutterbugs

The Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR hits a lot of good notes for more casual use. It’s light, small, and affordably priced. It includes image stabilization, which isn’t available in its less expensive twin sibling, which is a feature that’s more than worth the $50 premium it enjoys over the AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED ($396.95 at Amazon) —the two extra letters, VR, are important to have.

If you don’t see yourself upgrading to a full-frame camera, and don’t need to shoot telephoto images in dim lighting, the 70-300mm is a good buy. If you do want to future-proof yourself for an eventual upgrade to a full-frame system, consider instead the AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR ($596.95 at Amazon) , priced around $600.

If your budget is more flexible you can nab a telezoom with a bit more reach. We like the Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary as a light zoom with compatibility for both DX and full-frame (FX) cameras. And if low-light shooting is a priority, consider giving up some zoom range and opting for the ultra-bright Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art, but remember that it’s only for DX sensors and is priced at a premium, around $1,100. But budget shoppers will be happier with the AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm. Especially if you’re able to get a factory refurbished copy, which sells for around $180.

Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR

4.0

See It

$396.95 at Amazon

MSRP $399.95

Pros

Light and compact.
Long telephoto reach.
Effective image stabilization.
Good image quality.
Quiet, smooth autofocus.
Affordable.

Cons

Narrow aperture.
Not great for manual focus.
Some distortion when zoomed.
Modest vignette.
Loses some resolution at the long end.

The Bottom Line

The Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR is a low-cost telezoom lens for DX format SLRs. It’s light, compact, and delivers quality images as long as you don’t zoom in all the way.

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Help Me Help You

I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.

The biggest help is when you use any of when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site’s, and thus my family’s, biggest source of support. eBay is always a gamble (see How to Win at eBay), but all the other places always have the best prices and service, which is why I’ve used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this
page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may
have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you’ve gotten your gear through one of my or helped otherwise, you’re family. It’s great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

If you haven’t helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.

Thanks for reading!

Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

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Recommendations

This is an awesome and inexpensive lens that gives absolutely top-notch results at any setting. It focuses super-fast and has great vibration reduction so you can leave the tripod at home.

Choose the 55-300 VR DX for nature, landscapes and portraits because of its broader zoom range, and this 70-300mm for sports, wildlife and action because of its faster autofocus. Only get the 70-300 VR (FX) for use on an FX or 35mm camera, otherwise you’re paying more for a bigger lens that goes to waste on the smaller DX format.

This 70-300mm has Vibration Reduction (VR), which is critical for sharp shots hand-held. Don’t even consider the greatly inferior non-VR 70-300mm DX AF-P, which is only useful on a tripod and sells for not much of a discount compared to this superior VR lens. The high magnification at 300mm and super light weight of this lens amplifies any slight camera shake, which the VR system eliminates. Without VR the results handheld are usually inferior.

The very best protective filter is the Hoya multicoated HD3 58mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints, and is also multicoated.

For less money, the B+W 58mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.

Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.

got mine at Adorama, who also offers it in kits with free goodies. I’d also get it at Amazon, at B&H or at Crutchfield.

This all-content, junk-free website’s biggest source of support is when you use those or any of when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Nikon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on since you’ll have no way of knowing if you’re missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, store demo or used camera. I use the stores I do because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new camera before you do. Buy only from the for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken, Mrs. Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

Introduction

The Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR is one of a twin set of lenses released at the same time, both featuring a stepper motor and a 70-300mm focal length, but one of which doesn’t have the VR mechanism inbuilt.
The fact that this lens is a stepper motor lens is indicated by the AF-P in the lens name. It’s important to note that AF-P lenses are not compatible with every Nikon model (mostly older models) — so make sure your camera is before buying one of the lenses. It is designed for DX (APS-C) DSLRs, and as such has an equivalent focal length of 105-450mm in 35mm terms. A maximum aperture range of f/4.5-6.3 is available.
For this review, we will be looking at the Vibration Reduction version of the 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 lens. The VR function offers 4 stops of shutter speed compensation, according to CIPA ratings.
The Nikon AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR lens is available now priced at £279 / $399.

Specifications

I
got mine at B&H. I’d also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.