The Nikon 70-300mm F4-5.6D ED lens was released by Nikon as a replacement for the heavier and supposedly much better constructed 75-300mm F4.5-5.6 AF lens. I personally did not handle the 75-300mm lens hence I cannot comment on whether it is better than the 70-300mm ED lens I owned. If you own the newer Nikon consumer zoom lens such as the Nikon 28-105mm F3.5-4.5D, you will find that the way the 70-300 ED lens extends when zoomed is very similar. The construction quality seems to be a tiny bit lower than that of the 28-105mm lens. I would say this is one of the less robust Nikon lens I have.
The 70-300 ED lens is very light. Its slowness, especially at its long end, is probably the main reason for the weight savings. This also explains why it is not equipped with a tripod collar because there really isn't much need for one.
The manual focusing of the 70-300 ED lens like the other Nikon consumer AF lens, i.e. not very good. It takes about turning the focusing ring ??? degrees to go from the minimum focusing distance of 2.3m (7.5 feet) to Infinity.
The provided HB-15 lens hood makes the lens way more substantial than it really is. The hood can be reversed and stored while being attached to the lens. The hood itself is a lot less well constructed compared to that of the 80-200 AFS lens.
| Lens Type | 70-300mm F4-5.6D ED |
| Lens Construction | 9 Elements in 13 Groups (1 ED Elements) |
| Maximum Reproduction Ratio | 1:3.9 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 1.5m (5 feet) |
| Attachment Size | 62mm |
| Weight | 0.505kg |
The short answer is it depends. This lens is a good walk-around lens if I have to travel light. However, if you plan on using at all the way out at 300mm all the time, I would suggest you look at the other alternatives because it is both slow and a bit soft at the corners for my taste. Stopping down to F8 or so does improve the corners a bit, however, it is definitely not up to that of the 80-200mm AFS lens.
The light-weight 70-300mm F4-5.6D ED lens is a decent travelling lens. If you pair it with the 24-50mm lens, travelling becomes much less of a burden with some compromises on quality. The focusing speed of the lens is adequate, especially if pre-focusing is used. Most slides turned out sharp in the center, especially when stopped down and with good contrast. There are rumours on the net that the lens is made by a 3rd party Tamron but with a Nikon name on it. I have not been able to verify this.
The lens is not an AFS lens, thus in the manual the only recommended teleconverters are TC14A and TC201. I have tried to use the lens with my TC201. With this combination I can get an effective focal length of 600mm which is cool but it is very very slow at F11! Due to the lack of a tripod mount, this combination is very difficult to use. I was not able to use this combination to yield a usable slide. I guess there is no inexpensive solution for a 600mm lens. I also tried the 6T Nikon closeup diopters with it to do some macro shots and did get decent results. The ability to zoom in and out doing close-up shots was handy.
In a nutshell, since I have my 80-200mm AFS lens and my 80-400mm VR lens, I haven't been using the 70-300mm ED lens much. During my last few trips, I even drag along my trusted 75-150mm Series E lens instead of the 70-300mm lens. I guess either I am getting more picky regarding lens quality or I just don't like the 70-300mm as much as the others. I seemed to be unable to produce consistently sharp results with this lens. Probably this could be related to my handling techniques.