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Hello folks,

I am watching a 300 mm f4.5 manual focus Nikkor and was wondering if anyone has any views on this lens. I was considering getting a low cost telephoto with a bit more reach than our 80-200 2.8 for the cricket at the MCG later this year (apparently we are sitting in the nose-bleed section).

Is this the type of lens that is going to disappoint regardless of how much I potentially spend on it, or is reasonably sharp (albeit slow)? (I do have a 2x teleconvertor which would give a total about 900mm but at a max aperture of f9).

Many thanks

Patrick

Patrick,

why didn't you get MattK's lens on Saturday?? Great lens, compact, sharp and well looked after.

http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=22106

unless he sold it to someone else on the night of course.

André

radar wrote:Patrick,

why didn't you get MattK's lens on Saturday?? Great lens, compact, sharp and well looked after.

http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=22232

unless he sold it to someone else on the night of course.

André

Thanks André, but that's a Canon?

(That said, there could be an in joke which I am not getting )

P

Sorry Patrick,

I had copied the wrong link, here is the correct one:

http://www.dslrusers.net/viewtopic.php?t=22106

cheers,

André

Andre,

THanks for the link. The current lens I am watching is going for considerably cheaper than the price Matt is asking (that said, the price can rise substantially before final sale).

I guess I am just seeing if I can pick up a very low cost lens given recent purchases having depleted the camera budget

P

Patrick great lens according to the reviews if you are looking at the ED version. This is a link to a great lens review site. Note the two ED models are rated at 4 & 5 (out of 5) the non ED are rated at 2 & 3. If you saw Matts on Saturday you can see how compact it is. Check that the version you are looking at has the gold band!

Sometimes manual lenses go cheap on Ebay so you may be lucky, if not Matt's is a fair price. Not to frustrate any sales you are also welcome to borrow my 400 /5.6 ED manual lens for 2 or 3 weeks to try out a manual lens. You can also borrow a TC as well, but really I wouldn't use a TC handheld at that length and you probably dont have the right tripod and head to use the TC. You are welcome to borrow both and see what you think.

I have heard there is some sort of cricket game coming up in Sydney, you are welcome to borrow it for that if they will let you in with it (it's a foot long)

Thanks for the very generous offer, Glen, I may take you up on the offer.

This is the lens I am looking at - poor photo of it (as often is the case on ebay), but I don't think it has the gold band.



(this is not my photo, I have taken it from an ebay auction, and if it is not appropriate to show it here, I can delete it and post the full ebay link instead).

Cheers

P

Patrick
The 300mm ED IF is a classic and you will be more than happy with it. It is as sharp as any 300mm lens made by Nikon and handles beautifully on a D200 or better. Good luck with Ebay and if you bomb out then I still have one for sale and am prepared to negotiate (just a little). The lens pictured does not appear to be the desirable ED IF so you may get it for a reasonable price. A similar lens to the one I am selling is on Ebay for over $700.

I thought that photo looked familiar, I've got it in my watch list as well, doesn't look all that well looked after though, i doubt I will be in the running if it goes over $200

Patrick, dont think it is a winner. Unlike a nightclub, where one looks for the girls without gold bands, in Nikon lenses one looks for the gold bands. 2 or 3 out of 5, versus 4 or 5 out of five is no comparison.






Here is Matt's version, gold band clearly visible:

Phillip, I think it is one of those ones where if it goes for not much more than the current price, it may not be a bad deal.

In the end, I am not going to chase this one, but I really appreciate everyone's advice and very generous offers (Glen!)

P