AF-S NIKKOR 28-300MM F/3.5-5.6G ED VR (field experience and more)

[MFloyd]

Here, we call it the "Swiss knife" lens. I have an excellent experience with this often disregarded lens.  I use it where I have to travel light and where I have to use as well wide-angle and tele, without having the opportunity to take two bodies; where changing lenses is risky; or where I'm doing other things at the same time e.g. serving as a crew member; air shows and yachting are some of my favorite domains. The relative low aperture has never been a major problem, except for some situations were I need a very shallow depth of field (in the latter case I make a Ps fix).  To illustrate the above:

air shows:


Nikon D4s @ 36mm f/11


Nikon D4s @ 250mm f/5.6


Nikon D610 @ 300mm f/5.6

yachting:


Nikon D4s @ 180mm f/6.3


Nikon D4s @ 28mm f/6.3

As you probably notice: sharpness is not a problem; the lens has a lot of distortion and vigneting: but this is quite well taken care off by Ps.

Now your comments, critiques, pictures 

[longzoom]

Beautifully made,  very interesting images, MFloyd!   20131103-009 by 20131103-009-2 by longzoom, on Flickrcom/photos/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr.     D800, at 300mm, 100% crop was printed last time to the size of 120X180cm, for scene decorations, (crop, I mean!). One of the best sharpest lenses it is, if one gets a good copy! Your copy is among the best I've ever seen! (Mine one too, BTW!)   LZ

[longzoom]

20121014-20121014-015-8 by longzoom, on Flickr.     This one is a crop of 100%,  at 180mm, f8.0.  D800. LZ

[Airy]

I did a whole trip to Venice (Italy) with D700 + 28-300 + 50/1.4G for some night shots. My son and I enjoyed it. He inherited the whole (except the 50/1.4, later replaced by a 50/1.8G) and also did two family wedding shootings with that gear.
The only very apparent flaw of that zoom is the strong pincushion distortion above 35mm, but it is such easy to fix automatically... so I dare say that Nikon designers made the right compromise.

[chambeshi]

This thread is most interesting and the great photos are reassuring. Some people criticize a lack of sharpness at longer FL, which where most use such a zoom.

Noting the CA problem, Bjorn rates the 28-300 a 4 minus across 3 Nikons tested - recommends stopping down....

Here are 3 overviews.

http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/578-nikkorafs28300vrff?start=2

https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-28-300mm-vr

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/28-300mm.htm

According to New York photographer Jay Maisel, he uses a 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G VR ED as his solo lens [cf his 2 superb books - It’s Not About the f-Stop pg 138-140... and Light, Color, Gesture]. And he was pleasantly surprised, being skeptical on first encounter

[MFloyd]

Longzoom, Airy: thank you for very valuable contributions. Happy to notice that your comments and pictures confirm my findings.

It would also be interesting to learn from (more) technically oriented members why this lens ranks low when bench tested. But my reply crossed Chambesi's one. The only review one which goes along is Ken Rockwell's one .... Not particularly my favorite reviewer. Some other photographer who has the 28-300 mm in their bag is Dave Black http://nps.nikonimaging.com/members/dave_black/index.htm

[longzoom]

Very good said, Airy! There is always imminent compromise between geometrical distortions and sheer resolution of any optical system. Fully improved for GD lens will never be absolutely sharp to extreme corners. There are couple lenses fully improved, at all, but price...  Otus I mean. All of 3 of them, as of on today... And, yes, Chambeshi, Bjorn was absolutely correct. My copy was acceptable on D700, D3, D4 bodies at 5.6.   But, on D800-810, at 5.6, the lens is eaten alive by very demanding sensors. So, as you can see, f8.0 to f9,5, my copy is working very well. THX!  LZ

[longzoom]

Longzoom, Airy: thank you for very valuable contributions. Happy to notice that your comments and pictures confirm my findings.

It would also be interesting to learn from (more) technically oriented members why this lens ranks low when bench tested. But my reply crossed Chambesi's one.

   There is no contradictions, MFloyd!  There were 4 different batches of this lens, made by Nikon. Batch-to-batch they improved this optical composition. LZ

[chambeshi]

These latest responses are all the more enlightening :-) So the logical question follows - How does this 28-300 f3.5-5.6 ED VR compare in optical performance against the 70-300  f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR AF-S ?

thanks

[longzoom]

Due to the fact that both of these lenses are famous with great sample variations, my copy of 28-300 is way better than my former copy of 70-300 was. Your way may vary, of course!  LZ

[longzoom]

20120320-03202012 025-2 by longzoom, on Flickr.   To illustrate at 300mm, almost minimal distance, f11.0.   No 70-300 is there to perform so well.  LZ

[longzoom]

20120320-03202012 021-3 by 20120320-03202012 021-4 by longzoom, on Flickrphotos/longzoom/]longzoom[/url], on Flickr.      But, if one wants to make it dreamy, PS and filters are for him/her.   At 300mm, crop.  LZ

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The 28-300 has long been one of my favourite lenses for IR photography. It is highly versatile because of its broad range of focal lengths in conjunction with a VR system that actually is working well for a change. Its AF is spot on also in IR.

Here are some examples, all taken with an IR-modified D200.

[longzoom]

The 28-300 has long been one of my favourite lenses for IR photography. It is highly versatile because of its broad range of focal lengths in conjunction with a VR system that actually is working well for a change. Its AF is spot on also in IR.

Here are some examples, all taken with an IR-modified D200.

     Good lens in knowledgeable hands does make miracles...   LZ

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Thank you.

For my IR work, finding zoom lenses which work tolerably well and avoid the dreaded hot spot issue is quite troublesome. Sometimes older designs are better, however one has to tread carefully as model versions can be quite different in behaviour. The 35-105/3.5-4.5 Nikkor is a classic example; the MF version badly hot spots and the AF-D is excellent. The 35-135 mm f/3.5-4.5 AIS and the successor versions AF/AFD both seem to behave nicely even though their optical designs differ markedly. For my Nikon D5300, however, any advantage of using AF lenses is moot because only AFS models will autofocus with this camera. Given the commonly seen massive focus shift in IR, the non-AFS and MF lenses might require Live View operation. This is exactly a situation for with the AFS 28-300 Nikkor excels as its AF action is unimpeded by the lower-end camera and apparently any focus shift is taken care of automatically.

Just another capture with the 28-300, for which the VR and zooming features came in hand (light levels in winter are pretty low where I live),