micloi wrote:
I have both. They are both very sharp but the new one works better with the 2x and has less chromatic aberration. VR helps in low light. Both are great lenses
Didn't try it with the 2.0 tele. Just the 1.7 and 1.4 and for me it was noticeably not as sharp.
Stopped by B&H to try the lens out and brought my kenko tubes with me. I can confirm that this E lens does indeed work with the kenko tubes. Not that anyone was even curious about that besides me...
ThomasCantwell wrote:
Stopped by B&H to try the lens out and brought my kenko tubes with me. I can confirm that this E lens does indeed work with the kenko tubes. Not that anyone was even curious about that besides me...
That's good news. I always liked my 300mm f/4 with a tube or close-up lens for shooting dragonflies.
LeifG wrote:
How do you see the exif? It does not appear on my PC or ipad.
Just download an exif reader plug-in to your browser (usually Firefox or Chrome, just search for "exif" in the plug-ins/extensions). For me, I hover my mouse over any photo and it displays the exif. Others require you to right click and "view exif", but I prefer just having it done automatically.
The one I use is simply called "Exif Viewer" in the Chrome extensions. I displays all the "need to know" info, but you can get others that offer even more detail.
Micoli - great shots, and thanks for actually posting them at a decent size. Looks to be very little impact to IQ with the TC's.
Nothing I have seen yet regarding the possible VR issue on DPreview or LensRentals, where I would have also expected it to surface. Interesting that Thom is alluding to it though.
"I can say that my assistant has been shooting with several lenses this week, including my 300mm f/4E, and he is seeing a difference in edge acuity with the front shutter curtain turned off on the D810. Once we have a chance to look more carefully at the results, I'm sure I'll have something to say about it."
"I can say that my assistant has been shooting with several lenses this week, including my 300mm f/4E, and he is seeing a difference in edge acuity with the front shutter curtain turned off on the D810. Once we have a chance to look more carefully at the results, I'm sure I'll have something to say about it."
So he thinks it's a shutter issue? I'm having a hard time understanding that since I can't reproduce it myself.
Yes for many years, however I considered the weight, size, and the VR as relevant in my statement that it is a big step up from the previous version. Both are sharp lenses, no question about that.
VinnieJ wrote:
So he thinks it's a shutter issue? I'm having a hard time understanding that since I can't reproduce it myself.
Probably not a shutter issue by itself but perhaps the 300 VR's mechanism picking up on the shutter vibration and reacting to it in undesirable ways. I've seen such behavior on the A7r with certain stabilized lenses although never on a Nikon body.
I have the VR issue with the 300/4E VR on a D7100 with sharpness dropping < 1/200s and picking up again at 1/40s.Today I tested the lens on my V1 using its electronic schutter. I got sharp pictures down to 1/80s and at 1/160s they were clearly sharper than with my D7100. So another indication that schutter vibration at certain speeds could cause the VR issues.
"But testing the VR at 1/160 sec and 1/80 sec revealed a major issue: the effect of VR was almost negligible with the result that the almost undamped shake ruined most of the shots in this range of shutter speeds. See a typical 100% crop on the right.
I repeated the tests with a second copy of the lens with the same results. And there are reports on the Internet from other users with similar findings. Nikon was informed of the problem but did not come back with a statement at the time of writing."
Let's hope there is indeed quality variation in the first batch as then it can be fixed. Not sure how many 300/4E VR's have been produced so far, but cannot imagine they made several different batches already.
Mine is from the Netherlands and the Nikon Service Point here has internally forwarded my case "for further investigation". I know there were more cases in the Netherlands.
ArendV wrote:
Let's hope there is indeed quality variation in the first batch as then it can be fixed. Not sure how many 300/4E VR's have been produced so far, but cannot imagine they made several different batches already.
Mine is from the Netherlands and the Nikon Service Point here has internally forwarded my case "for further investigation". I know there were more cases in the Netherlands.
It seems most (if not all ?) of the affected lenses are from Germany & the NL, in which case, yes, it does look like one particular batch.
