Pistnbroke Loc: UK

Why do you keep commenting on a lens that will not fit the camera ???

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Maybe he likes to manual focus!!!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Yes, it is a screw drive lens - so will not AF with your body - a very DECENT lens tho - and it is the lightest in it's class ! Being screw drive means it is very durable with no focus motor to go bad. You may want to consider ditching the 5300 for a 7100.....or 7200

If you do manage to obtain a 7100 or 7200 make sure you do a focus calibration with the body.
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mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Maybe you should consider typing in ALL CAPS!!!! Relax, dude. All comments are free and may offer different insights.

To the OP, 70-300 lens can give you an equivalent 450mm FOV on that camera. How far away are you? Zooming with your feet might be a good solution!

Karen1955 Loc: NC

I understand that since my camera doesn't have it's own focus motor built in that I have to depend on that function being part of the lens. I was of the understanding that this lens had it a own focus motor based on the "IF" in the line up of acronyms.

Karen1955 Loc: NC

Thanks for all the input. I've begun to look into either a Tamron 150-600mm or Sigma 150-600mm and will probably pass on this other older lens.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

The "IF" is for internal focus - and it is confusing - ALL Nikon stuff is confusing ! - but the internal focus is driven by a mechanical screw which is what Nikon started with in 1987 - only relatively recently have they started putting the focus motor in the lens - like Canon did in 1987.
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imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

If you get one of these lenses your only focus calibration option will be to send to Nikon ($$$) for calibration - otherwise your focus optimization will be a crap shoot unless you get their (Tamron/Sigma) focus calibration USB/software options ($$).
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Karen1955 Loc: NC

@imagemeister this "focus calibration" is a whole new subject to me! Is this necessary because of the camera I have in relation to self focusing lenses or is this necessary across the board no matter what camera body I have?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Across the board regardless of body - it is mostly because of the long 500-600mm focal lengths involved. But, you could get "lucky" and the lens you get needs no adjustment - a crap shoot.

But if you had a 7100-7200 you could do the calibration yourself and save $$.
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Karen1955 Loc: NC

Okay, thanks, good to know!

Red Alder Loc: Eugene Oregon

I bought a Tamron 150-650 last week for about 900$ new. 250$ doesn't seem too much. If you have AF fine tuning it seems to help.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Tamron "SP" lenses are, in general, their better quality series. Most of them are quite good, some are even "pro quality".

I don't have experience with that particular Tamron, but have used a number of other SP lenses over the years. I currently have their 90mm and 60mm macro SP macro lenses (the 90mm is a vintage, manual focus lens... the 60mm is a modern, AF-capable "crop only" lens).

That 200-500mm (model number A08.... or in this case, Nikon mount would be "A08N") is a relatively old design. I don't know exactly when it was introduced, but have seen reviews by folks who bought it used 12 years ago and it appears to have been originally sold for use on film cameras. I saw reviewers using it on Konica-Minolta and Canon 10D DSLRs... cameras that date from 2003, 2004 time frame. (I switched from film to digital in 2004 when I purchased a then new 6MP 10D.)

According to the Tamron website, the AO8 lens was discontinued in 2014.... so one you are looking at might be only 5 years old. But, since people were using them around 2004, it also might be 15 or more years older.

Lens age doesn't necessarily mean it won't produce wonderful images on a modern camera. I use a number of Canon lenses I bought and used originally on film cameras. Some I use were introduced in the mid-1990s and they still work great on digital. But a lens that's been long discontinued may be difficult to have serviced or repaired, if anything is needed.

I really can't say how well that lens works from personal experience. Because you use a Nikon D5300, you really must check whether it has a built-in focus motor or if it's a "screw drive" lens that won't be able to autofocus on your camera. Even if it has built-in focusing motor, there can still sometimes be "issues" with older third party lenses on newer cameras. So look for other Nikon shooters using that particular lens, for more info. Preferably people using relatively recent D3000 or D5000 series cameras (all of which require lenses with built-in focusing motor, to be able to be able to auto focus).

As best I can tell from the Tamron website, the AO8N has a built-in motor, so probably will work. They don't specifically say, but they do note discontinuing a bunch of other motorless Nikon-mount lenses in 2008/2009: http://www.tamron-usa.com/product/discontinued.html Since they don't note that with the A08 model, this suggests that the A08N has a built in focusing motor, but doesn't guarantee it.

It sounds as if the 200-500mm was made right up to the time that Tamron introduced their first 150-600mm. They have since replaced that with a second 150-600mm "G2" version, with improved image quality.

There are some user reviews of the lens on Amazon and elsewhere, but you may have to take those with a grain of salt. Sometimes "bad" reviews are for silly reasons or simple because the buyer didn't know how to use the item properly, or bought the wrong thing for their purposes.

I'd also recommend you confirm that the particular lens you're considering includes the original tripod mounting ring and matched lens hood. If either of those is missing, they will likely be difficult and expensive to replace. Maybe even impossible. At $250, that's lower priced than other copies of that lens I've seen. They typically sell for $400 or a little more. I did find one in poor condition for $279, but that was an outlier (and questionable, due to condition).

I'd also echo what a previous response suggested... If possible buy it with right of return, inspect and test the lens thoroughly immediately, in case something is wrong. It it's a private party selling it, that might be a problem. But if it's a store, they should agree. Some stores offer a 14-day "no questions asked" right of return (shipping is at your cost). Some also give 60 day or 90 day warranty on used items.

Looking for a lower cost telephoto, you also might consider Sigma's 120-400mm, 150-500mm and 50-500mm, especially the later "OS" versions with image stabilization (and newer optical formulas). They can be found at fairly reasonable cost and are pretty good lenses (though I am pretty sure the newer 150-600s and 100-400s both Tamron and Sigma now offer are better). Be warned about the 50-500mm, in particular... it's no "lightweight". In fact, it was nicknamed "the Bigma". A friend of mine used one for a while. I seem to recall it weighs around 4.5 lb. I think the 200-500mm Tamron you're considering is about 2.75 lb.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Actually, a Tamron 100-400 might be a good fit for you. Optical testing shows it to be very capable @ a good price point and less of a need for calibrating - smaller/lighter too !
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Karen1955 Loc: NC

@amfoto1 thank you for such a detailed answer. I contacted a couple camera shops via email and have heard back from both, confirming what was mentioned by another member earlier, that this lens does not have its own focus motor, would mount on my camera but would be exclusively a manual focus. Argh! The owner, a private seller, states his lens is in very nice condition with no lens scratches, etc. He's upgrading to another Nikon camera model that comes with 200-500mm and he doesn't need both, obviously. As much as I want a super zoom like this and at such an affordable price I just wonder if I could effectively manual focus and be happy with the results.