Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Nikon AF-P NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR Fixed Zoom Digital Slr Camera Lens, Black

Top positive review

Absolute Bargain for Z6!

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2019

Bought this for a zoom for my Z6 as don't see a Z equivalent any time soon. First impressions support the various reviews of this lens. It is a reasonable weight and balances well on the Z6 with the PTZ. The zoom is smooth to use and the focus ring works well with the focus peaking. General initial shots at 70mm and 300mm confirm that it is tack sharp. It zooms very quickly, if not quite as fast as the 300mm prime. It comes with a, not particularly great, lens bag, and the lens hood is substantial. It focuses very close and whilst no where near macro is going to be great for friendly birds. Finally the price of this lens makes it a bit of a no brainer. Wonderful addition to the Z6 kit lens and now I just need to find a justification for the, slightly more ;) expensive 14-30 f/4. (For those who follow ByThom also lists these three as his travel option set.).

9 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Anne in Florida

Absolutely Died At 15 Months

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2022

I had to save up to get this lens for a long time since it wasn't in my budget for a long time. (The lens price was 3X the price I paid for my Nikon camera.) I loved the photos I was getting from it and the quick, quiet, accurate autofocus this lens offered. I absolutely loved it! After 13 months, the lens would no longer respond to any setting but a full 300mm zoom. I was upset, but since I mainly shoot photos of wildlife, it still worked for me. ( I volunteer as a wildlife photographer at a State Park on my days off from work for use at the park to help teach visitors about the wildlife there.)
At 14 months, it totally locked up. The autofocus motor just clicks and does nothing. Manual focus will not work at all.
I'm very disappointed with the lack of longevity of this lens. I do not have a disposable income! I would have thought the lens would have lasted a long time since it was a Nikon.
Bottom line, if you can afford to replace this lens every 12-14 months, then it's well worth it for the quality and clarity of photos this lens can give you.
P.S. My Nikon camera is over 6 years old and was a discounted display model that still works fine with the original lens, just at a shorter distance.

One person found this helpful

337 total ratings, 153 with reviews

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From the United States

Papoo Tech

Absolute Bargain for Z6!

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Randy B

Very Good For Birding

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

Just got this lens for bird mating season and it's killing it with a good amount of zoom, very good auto focus, very good VR and great clarity. Have not done any sports yet i think it will be fun there is a sports setting on the switch as well as manual and auto focus The AF P pulse motor is very quick to lock on i am very impressed with it.

I was quit surprised how much of an up grade this is on my D750 over my D5300 with the 70 300 AF P VR DX i had concern that i was buying a duplicate and maybe i should be getting a 400mm now i am glad i did not. I am very happy to have added a good action lens to my bag.

Any lens that would be better than this would be too heavy for me to carry and cost way more than what i would want to send.

Helpful

Peter K.

Very good lens

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024

Verified Purchase

This 80-300mm Nikon lens is very well made and an upgrade from previous models. Great value for money.

Helpful

Dave

Great lens!

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Sharp, light, fast focus, good price (for a Nikon) - this is exactly what I was looking for and I am very happy that it met my high expectations. I have modern camera bodies so I am not concerned about "limited compatibility". Ken Rockwell also says this is a great lens.
07/2018 follow-up: I have used this lens for almost a year now and I love it! I thought it was a good deal when I bought in new for $750. I am really surprised to see it is currently $600.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

dlp1960

Solid as a rock!

Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

I have a Nikon D7100 - and have used a 50 mm prime lens for three years since I got the camera body. My daughter is coaching middle school cross country - I need a lens to get me out farther. I did a lot of on-line research and talked to much smarter folks than I am - and finally landed on this 70-300. WOW. I have had the lens a little less than a week and am just getting to know it - the glass is SO good - images crystal clear and the reach is amazing. Yes, it needs more light than the 'ole prime lens, and it is a lot heavier, but the benefits are well worth it. I recommend this enthusiastically.

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

PRH

Lenses have the greatest distortion at the extreme edges of the image

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

Nikon AF-P Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6E ED VR zoom lens

I have recently purchased the AF=P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, after using the older AF-S 70-300 f4.5-5.6 lens for 12 years. I do not yet have much experience with it, but I can report a few things.

It focuses much faster than the older AF-S lens, and is a bit quieter (although the AF-S is very quiet).

It is a bit lighter than the AF-S lens.

I am using it on an older D5200 camera body. IT WORKS PERFECTLY ON THIS OLDER CAMERA! Some people have claimed it will not work on the D5200 - they are wrong. Read the information on the Nikon web site - they say it will work with the D5200.

The only caveat is that the D5200 (like other older Nikons) has an auto time out for autofocus, and when this times out the lens may change focus. So if you are tracking a subject with the shutter release half way down to maintain focus it will time out after a while. You can change the time out duration in the camera settings. This is an issue with the camera, and not the lens. It applies to all lenses used on the camera, and not just this lens.

The lens is a FX format lens. If you use it on a DX format camera body (like the D5200) the lens projects an image larger than the DX sensor. The result it that the effective focal length is 1.5 times greater, or 105-450mm. There is actually a real advantage to this arrangement. Lenses have the greatest distortion at the extreme edges of the image. Only the central part of an FX lens image is focused on the DX sensor, giving a sharper picture.

The only deficiency I can see with this new lens is the lack of a focal distance scale on the lens body. The older lens had one, but I rarely used it.

The older AF-S 70-300mm f4/5-5.6 lens was amazing. When I have more experience with this AF-P 70-300 f4.5-5.6 lens I will post a more complete review.

31 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ben Stoehr

Perfect condition for a pre-owned lens

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2023

Verified Purchase

I was a little nervous buying a lens from a shop that has only a couple reviews, but the lens came exactly as promised and at a better price than some stores with thousands of reviews. I would definitely buy from this vendor again.

Helpful

Charles Lynn Wilt

Great lens, terrible shipping.

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2022

Verified Purchase

The lens is very good for a consumer lens. Sharp wide open. Typical distortions for this type of lens. More vignette than I expected.

Shipping on the other hand was a disaster. Tracking information showed it being picked up and to be delivered in two days. Next day the tracking information was gone with no expected delivery date. Two more days pass and tracking information returns with its location on the wrong side of the country. When it did arrive the lens was shipped in the Nikon box. Corners were dented etc. I can not believe that anyone would ship a lens in this manner. Lesson learned. I will not purchase sensitive items like camera lenses through amazon again.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Yumeng Xiao

A lens that requires a compromise on image quality

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

If I were to rate the image quality of the 70-200mm f2.8 lens out of 90, I could only give this lens a 75, but shot under the right circumstances, and a few simple adjustments to the raw image afterwards could upgrade the image a final score of 85. Considering the price, weight, and telephoto of this lens, and the fact that I don't want to carry around a triple-heavy lens for images that are only posted on social media, I think this is acceptable. The other good news is that this lens has got high image quality with maximum aperture, so you don't have to shoot down a stop or two for image sharpness. Finally, I hope it will be durable.