NIKON AF-P 70-300MM F4.5-5.6E ED VR
Nikon’s FX format 70-300mm zoom is new and improved, but with a massive price hike. Is it really worth the money?
With a selling price of around £430/$500, the Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR was one of our all-time favourite telephoto zooms. It packed ring-type ultrasonic autofocus and effective VR (Vibration Reduction) into a robust casing, delivering very good handling and performance. Nikon has since launched a few less-impressive DX (APS-C format) budget telephoto zooms, and the FX (full-frame) lens has now been superseded by the new AF-P 70-300mm f4.5-5.6E ED VR, with a hike of 50 per cent or more in the asking price. So what’s new?
The optical path is upgraded with the aim of delivering better sharpness throughout the zoom range, despite featuring just one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element, whereas the old lens had two. The new model features additional weather seals and is slightly lighter in weight. A new ‘Pulse’ (stepping motor) autofocus system is incredibly fast and uncannily silent in operation, and the aperture is electromagnetically controlled. As featured in Canon-fit lenses, this enables exposures to be more accurate and consistent, when shooting in high-speed continuous drive mode. A downside of both the AF-P autofocus system and ‘E’ aperture control is that they’re incompatible with a number of older Nikon DSLRs.
VR is also uprated to a 4.5-stop system, compared with the older lens’s 2.5 stops. The ‘Active’ mode of the old stabiliser is replaced with a ‘Sport’ mode. This applies stabilisation only during the actual exposure, making it easier to track erratically moving objects in the viewfinder. Overall performance and image quality are excellent, but it’s very expensive for a 70-300mm zoom.