Nikon 70-300VR Test Photos

[MaxxxRacer]

There has been alot of talk about the Nikon 70-300VR lense around the forums here (mainly by me). I will be purchasing one in the near future, but I went to the camera store to test it out before I purchased. Let me tell you.. this lens is crazy... Check out the photos in the link.. I put the photo details as the title for easy viewing.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxxxracer/sets/72157604105187942/

After taking the photo below I about crapped myself. I would have never thought I could take a shot at 300MM at 1/8 of a second and not get blur. And the scarriest part was is that i was shaking like a leaf while taking the photos. I am generally pretty steady.
300MM 1/8 second Handheld With VR
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/2329804893_203469aaeb_b.jpg


300MM 1/10 second Handhel Without VR
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2410/2330630958_fdacfcc455_b.jpg

[alexio]

The resolution of those photographs is way too low to draw any conclusions. The pictures that I see I can easily take with my Olympus E510 using either of the kit lenses.

[MaxxxRacer]

click on the pictures.. the full rest shots are on there... sheesh...

big enough for you??
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxxxracer/2329804893/sizes/o/in/set-72157604105187942/

[Soulburner]

That reminded me that I need to order one :)

My D80 w/18-55 VR should be here today as well.

[alexio]

click on the pictures.. the full rest shots are on there... sheesh...
Yes big enough but I'm not impressed :shrug:

[NickS]

Yes big enough but I'm not impressed :shrug:

Compared to the first one, with I'm guessing a very long shutter speed being held w/o tripid? VR rocks from what I can see.

[MaxxxRacer]

Yes big enough but I'm not impressed :shrug:

whats your issue alexio? You want 25MP??

As virtually any pro will tell you, resolution means nothing. Crazy resoution is only useful in studio photography and landscape photos. These two types of photography are used on the covers of magazines and require the highest resolution possible.

In these cases, medium format film is generally used. The best landscape photographers use medium format, as does playboy for their centerfold shot. (they dont use it for the whole shoot due to cost and PITA factor).

Lastly, if you look at the MTF graphs, you will find that at 14MP most glass is to soft to actually use the 14MP so it does not help you there either. With Canons 1Ds, you MUST use only the absolute best glass (usually crazy expensive non-zoom lenses) to get the best out of the camera. Medium format does not suffer this issue as much due to the large exposure area. Dust and defects on the lens show up much smaller than 35mm DX or ASPC sized sensors.

So.. Alexio. I ask again, what do you not find impressive? If you are looking at the content of the photos, yes I agree.. Nothing impressive. But this was inside of the camera store. Its not like they were going to let me go to yosemite for the weekend to test it out :lol:


Compared to the first one, with I'm guessing a very long shutter speed being held w/o tripid? VR rocks from what I can see.
I edited the titles on the pics to show the info on them. but yes they are handheld and VERY slow shutter speeds. Both shots were indoors under flourescent light.



That reminded me that I need to order one :)

My D80 w/18-55 VR should be here today as well.
Lowest Price is stil at US1 Camera, linked below. Price has gone up though. It used to bet 402. Now its 430 shipped.

http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4153

On a side note, here is some interesting and VERY scary tests of the Nikon D3
http://youtube.com/user/Lilkiwiguy87

[alexio]

whats your issue alexio? You want 25MP??

As virtually any pro will tell you, resolution means nothing. Crazy resoution is only useful in studio photography and landscape photos. These two types of photography are used on the covers of magazines and require the highest resolution possible.

In these cases, medium format film is generally used. The best landscape photographers use medium format, as does playboy for their centerfold shot. (they dont use it for the whole shoot due to cost and PITA factor).

Lastly, if you look at the MTF graphs, you will find that at 14MP most glass is to soft to actually use the 14MP so it does not help you there either. With Canons 1Ds, you MUST use only the absolute best glass (usually crazy expensive non-zoom lenses) to get the best out of the camera. Medium format does not suffer this issue as much due to the large exposure area. Dust and defects on the lens show up much smaller than 35mm DX or ASPC sized sensors.

So.. Alexio. I ask again, what do you not find impressive? If you are looking at the content of the photos, yes I agree.. Nothing impressive. But this was inside of the camera store. Its not like they were going to let me go to yosemite for the weekend to test it out :lol:
I said I wasn't impressed because the "subjects" of the photographs don't really show the quality of the lens. About the MP thing, I know that of course. I actually prefer to not use the full 10MP of my camera to reduce sensor noise. IS is nothing too special, but very low chromatic aberration and geometric distortion is. From those pictures I can't tell how the lens is performing in those aspects.

The image stabilisation in the lens is a pretty handy feature, but my somewhat entry level Olympus E510 has this feature build into the camera itself and the results are very good using different lenses, so having an expensive lens isn't always necessary. I'd be impressed if you'd take some pictures in the semi dark without the flash using a 2s shutter speed to show-off the IS function of the lens (without a tripod) showing the lens performing well.

I'm not saying the lens isn't good, I'm just saying those photographs don't show it's potential qualities ;)

[MaxxxRacer]

lol.. well you should have said that in the first place. lol. Would have saved me a few minutes of typing.

Well, no one is expecting a 2s shutter speed to be blur free with any lense. It MAY be possible with the 16-85VR that just came out with a subject that is VERY close and at 18mm, but its still highly unlikely.

Here is some info on the VR capabilities in real world testing.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/70-300-vr.htm#vr .

I was able to better his results, but I found that if I fired at 3FPS, 1/20's wasnt possible at the time. Maybe when I am not sick and shaking like a leaf it would be possible.

As far as CA and distortion, this lense is excellent from 70-200mm on both counts, and CA starts to get noticeable from 200-300 getting worse as you approach 300. That said, I have seen a number of excellent shots taken at 300mm with this lens and no CA. In the photos i posted above you can see some CA on the left and right hand sides of the sign. I messed around in photoshop and DxO and was able to remove it so that you cant tell unless you pixel peep.

[Soulburner]

Lowest Price is still at US1 Camera, linked below. Price has gone up though. It used to be 402. Now its 430 shipped.

http://www.us1photo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4153
Thanks. As a sidenote...my D80 arrived today. Got it with the 18-55 VR for $877 shipped. Once I'm done eating it's time to play ;)