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Sharpest 300mm tele for Nikon
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May 21, 2016 20:49:14   #
Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA
 
Trying to decide on a 55-300 or 70-300 between Nikon, Tamron or Sigma. I've read many , many reviews most say the Nikon 70-300 is the way to go it seems but alot like the Tammy too. I'm looking for the sharpest to from about 250 to 300. Any info would really help. PS now I am using a D3200 and gonna get at least a D7200 in near future. Thanks I value all of your advice as I know you are not getting paid to tell how great your stuff is.

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May 21, 2016 21:52:54   #
mas24 Loc: Southern CA
 
I will only vouch for Nikon's 55-300mm lens. It sells for about $400 new and is a highly recommended telephoto lens. There were 623 reviews on this lens by B&H, and it had an average score of 4.5 out of 5 stars maximum. Nikon makes a budget 70-300mm lens costing only $170 new. It sells well for the budget minded. I always thought that the FX lens 28-300mm did not belong on a DX format camera. I was wrong. The best of the above is the FX 28-300mm. Tamron, Sigma are good choices too. Good luck deciding.

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May 21, 2016 22:42:57   #
Leon S Loc: Minnesota
 
Although I have use and really like my 70-300 vr Nikon, I too wouldn't mind having a 28-300 vr Nikon. Not too long ago I stopped the car at an old falling apart house and was surprised by a pair of vultures roasting on the roof mostly hidden by over grown scrub trees. I would have liked to have something wider than the 70-300 to get the shot as they took off. But with the time involved and being surprised maybe nothing would done any better than what I had on. I really like the speed of focus, the sharpness, and the price of the Nikon 70-300 vr. I use it on a D700 and a D810 so it will do a great job on your DX camera too.

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May 22, 2016 04:53:17   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
Royce Moss wrote:
Trying to decide on a 55-300 or 70-300 between Nikon, Tamron or Sigma. I've read many , many reviews most say the Nikon 70-300 is the way to go it seems but alot like the Tammy too. I'm looking for the sharpest to from about 250 to 300. Any info would really help. PS now I am using a D3200 and gonna get at least a D7200 in near future. Thanks I value all of your advice as I know you are not getting paid to tell how great your stuff is.


If you are looking for a sharp lens at 300mm, your best bet is a prime - either a 300mm F4 or a 300mm F2.8. The 55-300 and the 70-300 are consumer oriented lenses that generally have only fair performance at 300mm. The 28-300mm AF performance is dismally slow, has pretty awful image quality past 150mm, and it has poor sharpness in the corners and edges at any focal length and aperture. It is so bad that it did not make Nikon's list of recommended lenses for the D800. Now, because you plan on using your lens on a cropped sensor body, the results are going to be a little better than on a full frame camera, but still not up to a higher standard of quality.

I would suggest taking a look at the Nikon 200-500 and the Sigma 150-600 Sport, or if you want something a little lighter the Contemporary 150-600. Any of these will give you good to excellent performance at 300mm, and will be significantly better than the 55-300. 70-300 or the 28-300.

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May 22, 2016 05:53:55   #
whitewolfowner
 
The Tamron 150-600 is a great lens too. If you're looking into the used market, the older Nikkor f4.o autofocus lens is a beauty and tack sharp. Some say its better than the 2.8.

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May 22, 2016 07:37:39   #
Fotomacher Loc: Toronto
 
When I was shooting D700, I bought the Nikkor 28-300 vr lens. Peeping the pixels, I found it a bit soft. Traded for a Nikkor AF80-200 F/2.8D and picked up a mint used Nikkor AFS 300 f/4. Fixed aperture zooms and primes are all I will use. The sensors are so good that sharp focus is critical. I traded my D700 for a D810 and can not conceive of using any lens that is f/5.6 "wide open". JMHO.

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May 22, 2016 08:53:17   #
imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida
 
Royce Moss wrote:
Trying to decide on a 55-300 or 70-300 between Nikon, Tamron or Sigma. I've read many , many reviews most say the Nikon 70-300 is the way to go it seems but alot like the Tammy too. I'm looking for the sharpest to from about 250 to 300. Any info would really help. PS now I am using a D3200 and gonna get at least a D7200 in near future. Thanks I value all of your advice as I know you are not getting paid to tell how great your stuff is.


I believe the latest Nikon 300 f4 E may be the ultimate sharpest. In zoom lenses, I will also tell you that the older Sigma 100-300 f4 is right up there - as I have used one along with the Canon 300 2.8. Most of the Sigmas are screw drives but I believe there were a few later models with HSM for Nikon. Your D3200 cannot use screw drives but a D7200 can. The Sigma is around $600 most places and I would only buy with some sort of warranty - like from KEH. The Tokina AT-X pro 100-300 is also said to be very good.

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May 22, 2016 09:08:59   #
RSQRD Loc: SW Florida
 
Where do you find a 70-300mm VR II Nikon for 170 bucks?

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May 22, 2016 09:21:49   #
wingclui44 Loc: CT USA
 
whitewolfowner wrote:
The Tamron 150-600 is a great lens too. If you're looking into the used market, the older Nikkor f4.o autofocus lens is a beauty and tack sharp. Some say its better than the 2.8.

I don't know which older one you are talking about, there are an AF version and the AF-s D version, the older Nikon 300mm f4.0 D AF-s ED IF is a great sharp lens, its focusing is faster than the much older AF version, not heavy and much cheaper than the new one. I have one with a 1.4x tele converter for replacing my broken Sigma 50-500mm zoom.

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May 22, 2016 10:29:01   #
wj cody Loc: springfield illinois
 
evidently you are looking for a zoom lens and not a telephoto. nikon's go to 300mm lens is the remarkable 300mm f2.8. pricey but wonderful.

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May 22, 2016 11:00:45   #
mas24 Loc: Southern CA
 
RSQRD wrote:
Where do you find a 70-300mm VR II Nikon for 170 bucks?


It is not a VR II. It is Nikon's budget 70-300mm lens. You can buy it at B&H.

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May 22, 2016 12:18:44   #
cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA
 
Many good suggestions here, but this depends upon how much you want to spend. Probably the best would be the Nikon 300/2.8 for only $ 5,500.00! Recently I purchased the Nikon 300/F4 PF lens and I'm really loving it. I would suggest it as a great choice for $ 2,000.00! Any zoom, ending in 300mm would work, but none would be the best or the sharpest. Owning both of the first two I suggested I can comment they are both fantastic lenses with the F4 version being much lighter and much less expensive. It sees a lot of time in the field for me! Best of luck.

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May 22, 2016 12:47:22   #
CraigFair Loc: Santa Maria, CA.
 
Royce Moss wrote:
Trying to decide on a 55-300 or 70-300 between Nikon, Tamron or Sigma. I've read many , many reviews most say the Nikon 70-300 is the way to go it seems but alot like the Tammy too. I'm looking for the sharpest to from about 250 to 300. Any info would really help. PS now I am using a D3200 and gonna get at least a D7200 in near future. Thanks I value all of your advice as I know you are not getting paid to tell how great your stuff is.

I have had both and I think the IQ of the 55-300 is better.
And the review bare me out.
But the Nikon or Tamron 70-200mm far outweigh the aforementioned Lenses.
Craig

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May 22, 2016 16:04:39   #
whitewolfowner
 
wingclui44, glad you asked, I failed to put in the lens, I only said f4.0. The lens I'm referring to is the Nikkor 300mm F4.0 AF Ed lens. If I remember correctly, it was the model before they introduced the the model with the AF-S motor. And it's a true f4.0 too. I remember reading an article that the AF-S model could not be a true f4.0 because they reduced the front opening from 82mm to 77mm, which made it more like a f4.5 lens. Simple math proves this. It is extremely sharp. I have many professional athletes refer it to being a "killer" lens.

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May 22, 2016 16:29:44   #
wj cody Loc: springfield illinois
 
while i mentioned the 300mm 2.8, you are correct, the 400mm f4 is really another lovely lens. a bit slower in the maximum aperture wars, but just as good as its larger, and way more expensive, brother.

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