Nikon 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Lens

brettprobertbrettprobert
edited February 2016 Posted in » Nikon Lens Talk
I'm considering replacing my 18-55mm and 55-200mm kit lenses with this lens. Wondering if any of you have experience with it and could share your good and bad critical impressions? Thanks!

Comments

  • leeboleebo
    edited February 2016
    Sorry, sure don't.
    I have the AF-S 18-55mm and the AF-S 55-300mm. I also bought a 24mm f/2.8 nikkor AF prime lens used with a bargain price of $130. I was looking for a prime 35mm or 50mm at the time, and the 24mm seemed like a good idea.
    On lens info, I find reviews on ebay and amazon by doing a search on the lens, usually the ones with the new price will show the reviews.
    I also go to bhphotovideo.com or adorama.com to see reviews there. There are usually a lot of them.
    Last camera I used was a film Nikon D60 years ago. I bought a Nikon D7100 kit with 18-55mm and 55-300mm zooms at a great price of $999 around Thanksgiving at mikes camera in Colorado Springs. The criteria was my wife and I wanted a camera to go click when the button was pressed, and the Nikon had 54 sensors; enough to focus quickly we thought. Having grandkids and phones, a press of the button on a phone camera and the kids scurried out of the picture by the time the phone camera went click.
    I've looked at reviews on dpreview.com of lens but I can't see they actually review them, they just gives specs.
    I would think the 18-300mm would be a great lens, as it could do everything.
    leebo
  • brettprobertbrettprobert
    Thanks. I've read many professional reviews but was looking to connect to a real owner/user. Appreciate the feedback.
  • leeboleebo
    edited February 2016
    That's why I like the above reviews, real people using the products. Hope somebody responds. My wish list is some sort of Nikon tele-converter, and another prime 50mm or 85mm. I can wait on the primes, get to play with the 24mm for now.
  • brettprobertbrettprobert
    edited February 2016
    Good stuff. I've read all the reviews on Amazon and Adorama. Pulled the trigger and bought it. I'll be anxious to see for myself!

    I love the primes too. My 35mm rocks. I do a lot of nature photography and find myself changing lenses all the time and missing shots. The 18-300mm will hopefully be my walk around lens for landscapes and bites and everything in between on my photo walks.

    What body are you using the 24mm on?
  • leeboleebo
    edited February 2016
    The Nikon D7100 dx body. I got outside today and took some shots of my son in law standing next to his pick up truck. Was afraid I'd have to be way too close and in the person's personal space to take pictures with the 24mm. I am falling in love with it and its great detail. I took an inside shot of my wife last night that showed the table lamp lite making her hair look beautiful.

    Please see mention of Nikon lens with coyote in this discussion forum. The zoom 55-200mm at 220mm is clearly my best forever by chance wildlife shot.

    Glad your going to get the lens, can't wait to hear the good news.
  • brettprobertbrettprobert
    edited February 2016
    Good stuff. The 24mm sounds like great fun. The 18-300mm comes tomorrow so I'll keep you posted.
  • brettprobertbrettprobert
    edited March 2016
    Well, so far I love it! It's very big and heavy but it's pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I do exclusively nature photography and I'm constantly switching lenses between telephoto for wildlife, mid range for general natural elements, and wide for landscapes. I'm just a hobbyist and will always be, and this lens is a great nature walk around lens. The focus is fast and accurate. The image quality is surprisingly sharp! I read lots of mixed reviews and was prepared to return it but that will not be happening. Very pleased indeed!
  • leeboleebo
    edited March 2016
    Great news!
  • WillaBlakeWillaBlake
    edited May 2017
    Im a hobbyist using a Nikon D5100. I bought the Nikkor 50-300mm lens. Has anyone had a lens that goes from being great to everything being blurry, almost smokey? I had the camera and lens cleaned, and they said they had never seen anything like it, and there's no way to get to that area. They thought something was growing in it. Any suggestions for an all in one lens? I take grand kids sports shots of basketball, football, baseball, softball, volleyball and soccer! Please help!
  • WillaBlakeWillaBlake
    edited May 2017
    My other interest is nature and pets! Not a pro, but I waited a long time to buy!
  • brutobruto
    edited May 2017
    If you can afford it, the Nikon 70-300mm VR lens is very nice, only a little bigger than the 55-300mm, more robustly made and with much better focusing. But that's not an all in one, and if you are also using an 18-55mm it leaves a little gap. It's a bit expensive, but used ones can be found. Make sure, however, that you get the right one, as there have been several versions. The first, the 70-300mm AFD, is a decent lens but won't auto focus on your camera. The second, the 70-300mm AFG, is generally considered to be a lousy lens. The third, the 70-300mm AFS-VR, is generally considered to be one of Nikon's best. This lens is usable on FX as well as DX cameras, has good build quality, very fast AF and internal focus. This is the one you want. Recently Nikon has introduced a couple more, one with and one without VR, which are for DX format only, and use stepping motors that will not work correctly with your camera. So be very careful which version you're looking at if you go this way.

    My wife has the VR version mentioned above, bought used from KEH, and is very happy with it. Her other lens, the 18-140mm, is also very nice and the pair make a good combination.

    I've had problems with my 55-300mm, which is a decent lens when it works well, but in my case the focusing became rough and glitchy. I sent it back under warranty, and got a brand new one, and that has been decent but had an intermittent, and fortunately temporary so far, complete AF failure. I was on safari in Botswana trying to shoot a lion when it stopped focusing, and in frustration I gave it a whack, and it's worked fine since!

    Lenses do sometimes grow fungus inside, but it usually does not affect newer ones. If you do have fungus in a lens, make sure it is not packed closely with others. Leave it outside and don't put it in a case, as that will promote growth. Depending on how bad the fungus is, you can sometimes get a little improvement by putting it in bright sunlight, but it sounds as if it's too far gone.
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