The Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G ED VRII De-Coded
Weighing in at over 6 pounds and with an average cost of over 4 thousand used this pro level lens is not for the faint of heart but does not dissapoint.
The 300 f/2.8 was my first foray into large glass, and as such it holds a very special place in my heart. I had never experienced a true pro lens before with the closest thing being my 70-200 f/2.8, and although that lens is a tried and true workhorse for any serious amateur/semi-pro/pro, it is simply not in the same league as the 300 f/2.8…
As soon as you pick up the 300 (or any of the other big primes for that matter-200 f/2, 400 f/2.8, 500 f/4 etc.) it quickly becomes apparent you are now entering into another ballpark altogether. The sheer difference in weight and build quality grabs your attention immediately, and the results on the back of your LCD keep it there permanently. While the 70-200 is an excellent portrait and general purpose zoom which is famed for it’s lovely compression and bokeh it simply does not compare to the 300 f/2.8. With it’s ability to isolate and render your subject in tack sharp focus followed by a transition into buttery smooth bokeh, the results you get with this lens are unreal. It produces a distinct falloff quality that is hard to describe and is second only-and barely to the Nikon 200 f/2G ED VRII and 105 f/1.4E ED which both reign supreme in that regard-but neither of those having the reach that the 300 affords (more about that in a bit). One of the reasons you simply do not hear about how good this lens is in comparison to the 70-200 is in part because of the barrier to entry. At well over $3,500 used and 5k brand new this lens is not one many get there hands on (pro’s excluded) especially compared to the much more attainable zoom which can be had for sub $1,500 (especially if you get a VRI model).
Like the 70-200 the 300mm shares the ability to pick and choose a subject and then bring all attention onto it by employing the powerful f/2.8 aperture yielding a shallow depth of field. This effect is only more pronounced with the 300 given the increase in lens compression that takes place with the extra 100mm of reach. With that said when shooting with this lens one must make sure not to fall into the trap of always maxxing out the aperture for every shot. Often times the circumstance really calls for the lens to be stopped down to a more modest f/5.6 or f/6.7 (where this lens is truly at it’s sharpest anyway) and you will still get a beautiful bokeh while also attaining critical focus from front to rear. As mentionedat the 300mm focal range and higher you have to really take into account for the tremendous amount of lens compression that does take place as you can easily fill the frame with your subject and find that f/2.8 just won’t cut it. And I don’t know about you, but you can have the sharpest eyes possible but if there’s an immediate falloff and the rest of the subject’s features are soft it’s very distracting, and to me the shot is ruined. Along with the lens compression factor your distance to subject can and should come into play when making the determination of chosen aperture value, but more often than not you will be filling the frame with your subject (I mean that’s kind of why you get this lens to begin with right?) so you need to adjust aperture accordingly. I personally tend to gravitate to f/6.7 or f/8 and reserve the f/2.8 for when my plane of focus and distance to subject allows for me to pull off the shot. But make no mistake when those two things are aligned (i.e. plane of focus/distance-to-subject and I feel I can nail focus) the result is almost always tremendous- especially in portraiture.
And on that note; although this lens is often not often thought of as a portrait lens, I’d like to shed some light on some distinct advantages that it has in that regard. Most people are at their best photographically speaking when they are “caught in the moment” mid-laugh or carrying on like you’re not even there. And the range of the 300 truly lets you just disappear from the scene all while capturing up close and personal images of your subject who is totally clueless as to how up close and personal the images are that you are getting of them. I have found this unique characteristic of the 300 f/2.8 to be incredibly powerful and especially useful for in capturing candids of people; especially for those who struggle a bit in front of the camera.
Shot at easily over 20 yards, I told my lovely model here to just have fun and pretend like I wasn’t even there, and with the range of the 300 I soon wasn’t as literally disappeared into the periphery.
f/4 @ 1/750’th ISO 200
As far as handling goes the 300 is about as big as you’re gonna want to go when it comes to hand-holding. Paired with my gripped D850 the setup weighs in at 4112 grams or 9lbs give or take. Doable but I would keep it to a limited shoot for sure as you’ll be feeling that heft before long. When I head out with wildlife in mind I often pair this with the tc-14 or tc-20iii teleconverters for some extra reach and when I do I have it mounted to my Gitzo monopod with a Wimberly Mono-Gimbal Head and I’ve had much success with that setup.
In conclusion if you feel like you’re at that point with your photography where your skills are sharp and your fundamentals sound but you find yourself just not getting the types of shots you see from photographers you follow and admire, I would posit that an upgrade to some big boy glass is the next step in your journey. That said, I would strongly recommend shooting on full frame when it comes to Nikon’s FX gold ring glass. While DX cameras like the d500 most certainly do benefit from exotic primes and other high end lenses, the crop body cameras just don’t have the sensor size or resolution to take full advantage of these next level lenses in my opinion. I don’t mean to oversimplify and everyone’s situations and needs are different, but I think that if you are ready to shoot big glass you’re ready for full frame. When I stepped up from the crop sensor D500 to the D850 and married it to the 300 f/2.8 it was night and day. The higher grade optics of pro level glass is truly apparent when coupled to a high megapixel body like the D850 or D810 and is something that can really only be appreciated in person. But I can assure you though that despite the initial investment, once you make the move, you will not regret it.
