Nikkor Plastic 70-300 F/4-5.6 AF-D ED

This Nikkor 70-300 has been one of the most poorly reviewed Nikkor lens ever.

October 18, 2023

For a reason: it was bad... cheap, super soft, lots of chromatic aberration, some distortion, not a super fast screw driven AF, made of plastic.

Anyways, that lens dating from the D1 series era was bad on low megapixels sensors. I remember trying one at Henry’s, and hating it.

For some reason, I got one last week for 20 bucks. Why not?

Well, it turns out this copy is really above the rest of the batch. I have no idea what is going on with this lens, but it’s super sharp, chromatic aberration is manageable, distortion is also well manageable. Really, its sharpness is quite good. 70mm F/4: sharp. 300mm F/5.6 not bad at all. 300mm F\7.1: sharp. F\/7.1 gets rid of the worst of the chromatic aberrations.

That is not what the reviews said. And not what I remember.

I think that very lens I got is the opposite of a lemon: I still wouldn’t recommend buying one. Most are really bad.

You may also like

Sony RX100 m3: all you need from 24 to 70mm

I got this little camera for $200 a couple years ago and didn't write about it yet.

Olympus OM-D E-M5

August 2018 I bought that little camera for $150. Definitely a bargain considering it was sold boxed, in a not too bad condition, with less than 6.000 clicks, and included two batteries and charger, a 12-50mm F/3.5-6.3 zoom lens, a 45mm F/1.8 prime lens, the tiny Olympus flash, a couple filters (ND1000 and CPL) and a (slow) 64GB SD card that I just trew away and replaced with a Sandisk Extreme Pro.

Sigma 500mm F/7.2 AF APO

How good can be a Sigma 500mm F/7.2 AF lens from 1990? Simple answer: definitely worth 89 bucks BUT there are lots of BUT...

Shooting the Nikon D2Xs in 2022

During summer 2005, after a very long wait, the Nikon D2X was released. At the time my go to camera was the Minolta 7D that replaced my Nikon film cameras for my digital needs. I also shot the Nikon D70 but I prefered the Minolta. Both cameras were quite slow, and 6MP only. I wasn't really convinced by the Nikon D1/x/h/d2h. Soon after buying the D70, the D2X was announced, making me question that early GAS compulsive buy.

Can you take any photo with an outdated crappy camera?

A short essay I wrote back in 2019.

Shooting the Sony A77 in 2022

If you have some A-mount lenses and want an APSC DSLR that can take them natively, you don’t have many options. Especially if you can’t / don’t want to spend a lot of money.

Shooting the Sony Alpha 700 in 2022

I really never was really interested in Sony after they bought Minolta and started their "own" line of DSLRs. 15 years later, I buy a pristine Alpha A700 for peanuts and I quite like the Minolta DNA.

Fun with the DXO ONE in 2023

In 2015, Dxo decided to sell a tiny camera that connected to the iPhone. They used the 1inch 20MP sensor from the Sony RX100 m3 that I really love a lot, 32mm equivalent lens that is pretty bright: F/1.8 and shoots RAW.

Birding with a cheap Sigma 135-400?

When it comes to birding, the common advice is to get a camera with low noise, fast AF, fast burst, big buffer and some long lens, preferably a super fast telephoto. It is indeed good advice, but you'll have to pay thousands of dollars to buy that gear, even on the used market. What if you want to shoot birds on a super tight budget? You'll still need some camera and lens. Maybe consider buying some older inexpensive gear?

Shooting the Minolta Maxxum / Dynax 7D in 2022

The short lived most advanced Minolta DSLR was released in late 2004. It became later the foundation for Sony's A-mount cameras. It featured the first in body stabilization in a DSLR, a 6MP CCD sensor and loads of controls. This camera is a photographer's delight. The body feels right, the controls are great and natural: coming from a film SLR, you just feel at home with the Minolta 7D. And You can use all the now often cheap quality Minolta lenses, as well as the more expensive Sony A-Mount lenses.

↑Back to Top