This is just a placeholder for my upcoming review. But in the meantime, people always ask, why did you buy it? Here are my quick answers: Show
Interim Field Tests (pending the full review)So far, the lens has been incredible. I use this plus my 14-24 quite a bit. It has been very solid, focused extremely fast, and the flexibility is incredible. In fact, it’s so flexible, I’m still getting used to it… I keep saying to myself, “I forgot I could zoom in so far!” Nikon 28-300 Lens Photo ExamplesBelow are some sample photos from the lens… I’ll add more as time goes on! Above: The Most Beautiful Road in the World (Queenstown to Glenorchy) — Shutter 1/30; f/5.6; 44mm; ISO 100  Above: A Peaceful Farm in Gibbston – Shutter 0.7s; f/5.6; 28mm; ISO 100 Above: Sheep on the way to Paradise, NZ — f/5.6; 70mm; ISO 100 The winter lake in the evening — f/4.8; 28mm; ISO 100 More Example PhotosTo show you how much I like this lens and the range of the thing at the same time, here are two photos I grabbed while visiting the space shuttle. I’ll let you figure out which one was at 28mm and which one was at 300mm. Originally released in August of 2010 the Nikon 28-300mm VR lens has to be one the most versatile lenses available. Often you can find this lens in the used gear department for approximately $700 CDN. Like most folks, before I purchased this lens for my own gear bag I read several on-line reviews. I did not believe that the lens could really be as bad as folks were leading on. Here is a selection of some items that I noted during my internet readings:
I determined that in order to find out for myself I would need to add this lens to my gear bag. Right before I boarded the plane for my Cayman Brac Photo Tour in February I did just that. It is now one of my most favorite lenses. The lens does have one annoying habit, or at least my copy does. When the lens is pointed downward the zoom creep is very evident. Nonetheless, my honest opinion is that this lens does produce stellar results when good technique and creative vision is applied. Often I can be found in-the-field with my 28-300mm lens attached to one of my Nikons ready to capture those fleeting moments where changing lenses is not an option. The 28-300mm range is perfect for such circumstances. I have never been one to trust the so-called internet experts. I much prefer to take gear out into the field and put it to the test. A real world review illustrating the quality of the lens with photographic examples. Having the ability to zoom from 28mm to 300mm is a definite plus. On Cayman Brac I was able to photograph nesting Brown Boobies at close range and then quickly zoom out to 300mm to capture Brown Boobies in flight as they approached the cliff edge on their return to their nests. Brown Booby pair at the nest, Cayman Brac Nikon D500, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 55mm ISO 800, f8 @ 1/400 sec. I also find the lens to be a powerful tool for my landscape work as illustrated in the below image of a winter wheat field at sunset near my rural home in Thornton, Ontario. A Singh Ray 3-stop reverse Graduated Neutral Density Filter was also used in the capture of the sunset scene below. Winter Wheat at Sunset, Thornton, Ontario Nikon D800, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 82mm ISO 100, f16 @ 3 seconds. Having a minimum focusing distance of a mere 1.6 feet throughout the entire zoom range is also a huge bonus to my frog photography. In the past I would have to switch lenses to create my signature frog-scapes and close-up portraits. With the Nikon 28-300 I can simply zoom the lens from wide to telephoto and create both scenarios in mere seconds, as illustrated in the two Bullfrog images below. Bullfrog, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario Nikon D500, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 48mm ISO 500, f8 @ 1/800 sec. Bullfrog, Horseshoe Lake, Parry Sound, Ontario Nikon D500, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 300mm ISO 500, f8 @ 1/640 sec. While photographing Wood Ducks in Toronto, Ontario I am also able to create stunning portraits and close-up feather details due to the short, minimum focusing distance. While I was photographing feather details of a Wood Duck hen that had chose to sit beside me on a particular outing I had noticed that a lovely drake Wood Duck had also come into close proximity allowing me to zoom out and create a tight head shot of him. The versatility of the Nikon 28-300mm lens allowed me the opportunity to create both these images without the need to switch lenses , which would likely had caused one of the two birds, or both, to move further away. Drake Wood Duck, Toronto, Ontario Nikon D500, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 300mm ISO 2000, f5.6 @ 1/250 sec. Hen Wood Duck Feather Details, Toronto, Ontario Nikon D500, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 300mm ISO 1000, f11 @ 1/80 sec. While walking along the shoreline of the Caribbean Ocean in Cayman Brac I came upon a dead crab. The shell of the dea crab was beautifully colored with interesting details too. To create the below macro shot of the crab shell details I used my Canon 500D Close-up Filter on the Nikon 28-300mm lens and stopped down to f22. There is some minor softness in the extreme corners of the image but this is due to the curvature of the shell. Ideally I should have used the focus stacking method to gain perfect sharpness in the corners. Crab Shell Details, Cayman Brac Nikon D500, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 300mm Canon 500D Close-up Filter ISO 100, f22 @ 1/40 sec. For those of us longing for some cooler temperatures in this heat wave, I have included a winter river detail image from my Muskoka Winter Waterfall Spectacular Workshop this past January 🙂 Winter River Details, Muskoka, Ontario Nikon D800, Nikon 28-300mm VR Lens @ 300mm ISO 100, f16 @ 1.6 sec. Posted in Amphibians, Animals, Birds, Caribbean, Cayman Brac, Landscapes, Macro, Macro Photography, Muskoka, ontario, Photo Gear, Reviews, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged andrew mclachlan, bird photography, Birds, bullfrogs, caribbean, cayman brac, cayman islands, creative visions, frog photography, frogs, Horseshoe Lake, landscape photography, muskoka, nature photography, ontario, Parry Sound, photography, winter, winter photography | 6 Comments Is Nikon 28 300 a good lens?This 28-300mm VR replaces the entire bag of lenses or zooms used to carry. No longer do I carry any other lens in this focal length range. This 28-300 really does replace every other wide, normal, tele, macro and zoom. It's superb for photographing anything that holds reasonably still. What is the 28The versatility of the AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR offers a broad focal length range that's perfect for travel, landscapes, portraits and distant subjects. Optimized for edge to edge sharpness on both FX and DX-format D-SLRs, this 10.7x zoom can focus as close as 18-inches from a subject. When did the Nikon 28Product information. Can I use Nikon 70 300mm lens?This 70-300mm VR G AFS lens works perfectly on all digital cameras, and most autofocus film cameras made since about 1990. It's a G-type lens with no aperture ring. It won't work on any manual focus camera. See Nikon Lens Compatibility for more. |
