Photos from the el-cheapo Nikon 70-300G

bloomphotogbloomphotog Registered Users Posts: 582 Major grins
edited October 8, 2009 in Cameras
A recent thread sparked my interest in seeing what this $100 lens is capable of. It has quite a bad rep for overall image quality but I was interested in seeing how it would work under semi-controlled conditions. So, I took it and my D700 out the park with my family and shot for about an hour.

It is seriously not bad for portraiture! Most of IQ issues would only show past 8x10.

Here's a few shots, feel free to contribute you're own as well. This could be the reference thread for Nikon's cheapest zoom! :D

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672671125_NZ9LK-L.jpg

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joshmartinezphotography.com

Comments

  • GP ImagesGP Images Registered Users Posts: 152 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2009
    Great shots Josh! Colors are great. Good looking family too.
    http://gpimages.smugmug.com/
    My blog: HERE
  • craig_dcraig_d Registered Users Posts: 911 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2009
    Well... these pics look sharp (at this greatly-reduced size, anyway), but the bokeh looks kind of mediocre. If this is a $100 zoom, then I'd say it's good for the price.
    http://craigd.smugmug.com

    Got bored with digital and went back to film.
  • bloomphotogbloomphotog Registered Users Posts: 582 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2009
    craig_d wrote:
    Well... these pics look sharp (at this greatly-reduced size, anyway), but the bokeh looks kind of mediocre. If this is a $100 zoom, then I'd say it's good for the price.

    Yeah the bokeh is kind of inconsistent. If you nail the distance to subject/focal length you can get some pleasantly blurred OOF area. From my experience, it looks very similar to the 5x expensive 70-300VR. You really need 2.8 zooms to get really nice smooth, creamy bokeh. (Still saving for the new 70-200! :D)

    For those familiar with the 50 1.8, you know what the wide open sharpness looks like. Kind of hazy, but still in focus and relatively sharp. This lens produces a similar effect until stopped up to f/8 or higher.
    joshmartinezphotography.com
  • angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2009
    Happy Kidz!~

    Priceless!

    Yeah...I compared that lens two years ago and bought the Quantaray 70-300mm simply because it focused about a ft. closer....Great, Cheap Lenses! Cheap and great...what a combo!

    297112710_whEPA-M-2.jpg
    tom wise
  • bloomphotogbloomphotog Registered Users Posts: 582 Major grins
    edited October 8, 2009
    angevin1 wrote:
    Happy Kidz!~

    Priceless!

    Yeah...I compared that lens two years ago and bought the Quantaray 70-300mm simply because it focused about a ft. closer....Great, Cheap Lenses! Cheap and great...what a combo!

    297112710_whEPA-M-2.jpg

    Nice! The bokeh is almost identical to mine.
    joshmartinezphotography.com
  • angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited October 8, 2009
    Yeah Josh, It's amazing what you can get out of these things. Turn it around though and this thing gives new meaning to purple fringing!:D
    tom wise
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