Author Topic: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P  (Read 7005 times)

Les Olson

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Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« on: September 27, 2017, 12:22:20 »
I had the chance for a couple of days wildlife viewing in Tanzania, but baggage restrictions were severe, so I took the AF=P 70-300.  Based on previous experience, I expected 300mm on DX to be too short, and I was surprised to see how well it worked.  That was mainly because it was possible to get closer to animals than I have found previously, particularly in Ngorongoro Crater, but even for smaller and further animals the images withstood modest cropping very well.  The combination with the D500 was excellent, with very fast and accurate AF.  Here are some examples of the long end - all handheld and with light-handed post-processing in LR - a little increased contrast and saturation but very slight sharpening.

Lion by Les Olson, on Flickr

Thomson's Gazelle by Les Olson, on Flickr

Grey Crowned Crane by Les Olson, on Flickr

The wide and was also useful:

The Herds of Ngorongoro by Les Olson, on Flickr

 

Frank Fremerey

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2017, 12:24:41 »

Are you happy with the IQ of this lens? We have seen that before that Nikon sells good IQ lenses in cheap housings for small budget.
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Les Olson

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2017, 12:32:08 »
The IQ looks fine to me, and given the size and weight, and the price, I am very happy. 

It is certainly a great improvement over the old FX 70-300 AF-S but I don't know how it compares to the new FX 70-300 AF-P.   I would be surprised if it matched the 200-500 or the 80-400, let alone the 300/4 PF, but even the 200-500 is 1000 euros more. 


Akira

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2017, 13:04:05 »
When I tried the 70-300P on my D750, I was impressed both by the image quality for the price and the fast focusing speed.  And, Les, your images corroborate it.  Great images!
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Frank Fremerey

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2017, 15:52:06 »
The IQ looks fine to me, and given the size and weight, and the price, I am very happy. 

It is certainly a great improvement over the old FX 70-300 AF-S but I don't know how it compares to the new FX 70-300 AF-P.   I would be surprised if it matched the 200-500 or the 80-400, let alone the 300/4 PF, but even the 200-500 is 1000 euros more. 

Now I see there is a DX-version of the lens for just over 300€ and an FX-version for 500 Euros more
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Daniel Bliss

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2018, 03:54:55 »
Realize this is getting to be an old thread but just wanted to put a word in for this lens. I recently got one, and it is a night and day improvement on the old 70-300 AFS ED VR in terms of optics; there's no purple fringing whatsoever (a huge problem on the old one beyond 200), flatness of field and general performance are excellent across the range and side-to-side, and it appears to outresolve the D800 sensor. There's tremendous overhead on the VR -- more than four stops at the 300mm end and solidly 2.5 at the 70 end at least in my hands (except that it does what other recent VR lenses do on the D800 and loses it a bit between about 1/80th and 1/160th on the longer zoom settings) -- and the autofocus seems even faster than the already sprightly old version was. At $600 plus sales tax in the US, it should probably be among the first telephoto lenses that any FX user looks at.

The only even minor flaw is Nikon's continued failure to produce a film camera that supports fully electronic mounts; this isn't the end of the world on the long telephoto E lenses because they'll still work with AF or MF and at maximum aperture where you're mostly using them anyway (you just can't stop them down on, say, an F5, F6 or F100), but with these AF-P lenses, it's not possible to focus them manually or automatically on a camera that doesn't 100 percent support electronic connections and even the F6 is too old for that.

gryphon1911

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2018, 05:17:40 »
I got this lens (FX version) and used it on the D500 and the Z6.  it is without a doubt one of the best variable aperture zooms I've ever used.  I'm not surprised at the quality it produces on the safari images.
Andrew
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Nasos Kosmas

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #8 on: December 15, 2018, 08:45:57 »
Realize this is getting to be an old thread but just wanted to put a word in for this lens. I recently got one, and it is a night and day improvement on the old 70-300 AFS ED VR in terms of optics; there's no purple fringing whatsoever (a huge problem on the old one beyond 200), flatness of field and general performance are excellent across the range and side-to-side, and it appears to outresolve the D800 sensor. There's tremendous overhead on the VR -- more than four stops at the 300mm end and solidly 2.5 at the 70 end at least in my hands (except that it does what other recent VR lenses do on the D800 and loses it a bit between about 1/80th and 1/160th on the longer zoom settings) -- and the autofocus seems even faster than the already sprightly old version was. At $600 plus sales tax in the US, it should probably be among the first telephoto lenses that any FX user looks at.

There is a missunderstanding round here, do you speak for the DX lens or there is a new FX AF-P lens from Nikon?

chris dees

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2018, 12:38:42 »
There is a missunderstanding round here, do you speak for the DX lens or there is a new FX AF-P lens from Nikon?
There are 3 AF-P lenses, two DX and one FX. One DX is without VR, the other one can’t control the VR on lens. Both are fairly cheap and good.
The FX is the best of the bunch and of course more expensive but still affordable (in Holland €699 - €100 cash back until mid January).
Chris Dees

Akira

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2018, 12:50:57 »
There are 3 AF-P lenses, two DX and one FX. One DX is without VR, the other one can’t control the VR on lens. Both are fairly cheap and good.
The FX is the best of the bunch and of course more expensive but still affordable (in Holland €699 - €100 cash back until mid January).

Chris, there is yet another AF-P DX lens: 10-20mm/f4.5-5.6.  It has VR which cannot be controled on the lens either.
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gryphon1911

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2018, 14:06:08 »
Chris, there is yet another AF-P DX lens: 10-20mm/f4.5-5.6.  It has VR which cannot be controled on the lens either.

Agreed, but I think he is referring to the 70-300 flavors of AF-P type lenses.

If we want to add another AF-P lens to the mix, Nikon also makes a DX 18-55mm AF-P, of which I have and works rather well on the D500.
Andrew
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chris dees

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2018, 15:01:14 »
Chris, there is yet another AF-P DX lens: 10-20mm/f4.5-5.6.  It has VR which cannot be controled on the lens either.

Yes I meant 3 AF-P 70-300 lenses. 😬
Chris Dees

CS

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Re: Safari with D500 and DX 70-300 AF-P
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2018, 16:54:39 »
I recently read that Nikon claims that the DX version of the 70-300 w/VR knows when it's on a tripod. I suppose that we should now think that VR on/off control is unnecessary for this lens. However, some bodies are able to turn VR on and off, while others, namely the D7200, do not have that capability.

So,  if the lens is mounted on a D7200 you can just ignore the lack of on/off control for tripod use, but, you will need it if the lens is mounted on other bodies?  The FX  model of this lens isn't as smart as the DX version, so it has the on/off switch?

Some pretty silly questions here, but this all comes from  Nikon being questioned about the lack of VR control on the lens itself plus not adding that control to the D7200 via a firmware update. Maybe somebody here can clear this up, I found the response from Nikon to be too cryptic to understand.  :-\
Carl