NIKON AF-P 70-300MM F/4.5-5.6E ED VR
The reinvention of a legendary zoom, Nikon’s latest full-frame compatible 70-300mm is a new classic
NIKON’S 70-300MM TELEPHOTO ZOOMS HAVE BEEN TOP PERFORMERS DOWN THE YEARS, RIGHT BACK TO THE ERA OF 35MM FILM SLRS. THE CURRENT AF-P DX 70-300MM F/4.5-6.3G ED VR FOR APS-C FORMAT DSLRS IS A GOOD PERFORMER, WITH DECENT SHARPNESS AND FOUR-STOP STABILISATION, AT A
PRICE OF £329/$397. HOWEVER, THE LENS WE HAVE HERE IS MORE REFINED.
LIKE ITS ‘DX’ SIBLING, THE FULL-FRAME LENS HAS AN AF-P (‘PULSE’ STEPPING MOTOR) AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM, BUT IT’S UPRATED TO DELIVER SUPER-FAST AND ESSENTIALLY SILENT OPERATION. IT CERTAINLY WON’T SCARE AWAY ANY GARDEN BIRDS. DUAL, SWITCHABLE AF MODES GIVE PRIORITY TO AF OR MANUAL OVERRIDE.
THE FULL-FRAME LENS ALSO GAINS AN ELECTROMAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED APERTURE DIAPHRAGM, RATHER THAN RELYING ON A MECHANICAL LEVER. AS WITH ALL OF THE OTHER LENSES IN THIS TEST GROUP, IT ENABLES GREATER EXPOSURE CONSISTENCY DURING HIGH-SPEED CONTINUOUS SHOOTING. THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT BOTH THE ‘PULSE’ AUTOFOCUS SYSTEM AND THE APERTURE CONTROL MECHANISM ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH SOME OLDER CAMERAS LIKE THE D3000 AND D5000. IN SOME CASES, NEITHER AUTOMATIC NOR MANUAL FOCUSING ARE AVAILABLE, AND ONLY THE WIDEST APERTURE CAN BE USED.
THE VR (VIBRATION REDUCTION) SYSTEM IS MORE ELABORATE THAN IN THE DX LENS. IT’S HALF AN F-STOP MORE EFFECTIVE, RATED AT 4.5-STOPS, AND WHILE IT FEATURES THE SAME AUTOMATIC PANNING DETECTION IN REGULAR USE, IT GAINS AN ADDITIONAL ‘SPORT VR’ MODE. THIS APPLIES STABILISATION ONLY DURING ACTUAL EXPOSURES AND LEAVES THE VIEWFINDER IMAGE UNAFFECTED. THE UPSHOT IS THAT IT’S EASIER TO TRACK ERRATICALLY MOVING OBJECTS, AND AVOIDS ANY SLOWDOWN IN MAXIMUM CONTINUOUS DRIVE RATE.
BUILD QUALITY IS ALSO MORE ROBUST THAN IN THE DX LENS, WITH THE ADDED BONUS OF WEATHER-SEALS. IMAGE QUALITY IS VERY GOOD IN ALL RESPECTS, ALTHOUGH THE EXCELLENT LEVELS OF SHARPNESS IN THE SHORT HALF OF THE ZOOM RANGE DROP OFF A BIT AT THE LONG END.