Hands-On with the Nikon 300mm f/4 PF Lens! 🔍 👀

[@ridealongwithrandy]

I know this vid is old, but i just won a bid on eBay for the PF and am very excited to paste it on my D500 for some bird stuff, critters too!

[@MattJacques]

Awesome, Randy! Definitely a great combo there, 'old' gear/vid or not! 🙌

[@knoxyish]

i use that combo for aviation and its great still super sharp and very light 630mm at f5.6!!

[@Audimann]

Use it on apsc ad FF camera's and it really delivers. I also got the former version , the 300mm f4 ED IF. Must say that it is really hard to see the difference. The ED IF has no VR but if you use a high enough shuttertime you can easily get the same sharp pics.

[@sloppyjoe9156]

I'm currently planning on recreating this setup (except with a d610 which will eventually be replaced with a better FF F mount camera. a Focal length of 420(or 300 f/4 without TC) at 5.6 sounds great for my wildlife and occasional sports gigs

[@MattJacques]

Very nice! That TC flexibility really makes it such a great little lens for so many situations...

[@kennylim136]

I can't agree more! Just got same lens and although paired with a somewhat old tech d7000, the AF is spot on and fast. At equivalent of 450mm on the d7000 the reach is quite good even on small birds like nuthatches and chickadees. Thanks for review!

[@MattJacques]

Awesome - thanks for stopping by and checking it out, Kenny!

[@gerryshanahan1685]

Great review. I was thinking of buying one this week, to replace a Tokina 300mm 2.8 that I bought a hundred years ago, that can't be repaired. Not paying €6000 for one stop. Your review was not pretentious like some other peoples. great work.

[@MattJacques]

Hey Gerry - thanks so much for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed the review and really hope I can get back to making more videos this year...

[@CamillaI]

Best beginners wildlife combo for me the D500 with 300pf great inflight shots very light and macro use equivalent brilliant. Great review

[@MattJacques]

Thanks!! Yeah I’ve been using the 200-500 for birding, but I’d agree this would be an even better combo. 500 PF even more fun perhaps, but also 2x the money!

[@CamillaI]

@@MattJacques I would stick with the 300mm from my experience a 1.4 tc gives you more at F5.6 . Put a 1.4 on the 500pf and you have a slow f8. I Have owned all three but won't be buying any of them back however

[@MattJacques]

@@CamillaI Excellent point... that extra stop makes a huge difference, especially when you start bogging down the AF system.

[@kb8729]

Im not sure 5k is a beginners set up 😅😅

[@MattJacques]

@@kb8729 Haha I hear ya for sure... but when you consider that the full 'pro' route can easily cost $18-20k for one supertelephoto lens and body, $5k is somehow a bargain. 🤣

[@evanmcknight2566]

I have this exact set up and I don't think you can get a better combination of a light weight telephoto set up from any other system. Even MFT is going to run a very similar weight with something like the Olympus 300 f4 and will cost more and I don't think the auto focus is on par with a D500. I also own and Olympus Em1 Mk ii and it may be a better all round camera for things like underwater photography (being able to use live view is a big deal) and video, I think the D500 is still the way to go for better auto-focus and taking action stills. This lens and TC combo has kept me with one foot in the Nikon F-mount system. Thanks for the review.

[@MattJacques]

Hey Evan! Thanks for your comment... I agree 💯 Nikon still has a few winners in their lineup like the PF lenses. And as much as competitors seem to be dominating / innovating more quickly in the mirrorless world, the trusty D500 somehow is still the go-to wildlife shooter's body.

[@lescobrandon3047]

I’ve been using this lens with 1.4 teleconverter on my Z7 and FTZ and enjoy only 420mm but the lens is definitely my sharpest. The lens replaces my old Nikkor 300mm f/4 which is just as sharp but much heavier.

[@MattJacques]

Awesome - that's great to hear... gotta love when there's actual progress with lens technology like this PF lineup!

[@jasonjohnson2047]

Have you tried shooting your Z7 in DX mode with this setup to get to the 630mm focal length? In DX mode you would still have the same megapixel count as the D500. I am curious because I have the Z7 and I'm thinking about going this route.

[@lescobrandon3047]

Jason Johnson - No idea about that. Let us know how it works for you. May be useful.

[@MattJacques]

@@jasonjohnson2047 that's definitely a great option! I think the only downside, and reason I've kept my D500, is the autofocus capabilities for things like birding isn't quite as good on the mirrorless systems yet. It's not bad by any stretch, though so 💯 a good way to go.

[@fehergabor3745]

Hi Ken! Do you use TC14 III with the 300 PF?

[@Youtube_Race]

Great

[@JCCruising]

Thanks for the review. Definitely starting to lean towards this lens instead of the 2.8. Have a look at our channel when you have a moment :)

[@darrensean8080]

I guess Im quite off topic but does anyone know of a good site to stream newly released movies online?

[@0ecka]

This 300F4 on crop is equivalent to 450F6.1. And why put such nice optics on the D500 or any crop? Which simply ignores 60% of the FF projection, crops it away and 60% of the light doesn't even hit the sensor. You are just wasting it. It's pointless.

[@MattJacques]

Thanks - have a nice day!

[@malltraeth100]

This 300F4 on crop is equivalent to 450F6.1. You are wrong, on a D500 it's still F4 but becomes a 450 mm lens, I should know as I shoot with the D500 and 300 mm F4. The F-number would only increase with user input or if a TC was fitted.

[@0ecka]

@@malltraeth100 I never said that it transforms into 450F6.1 when you put it on a crop camera. That would be silly. Why do you even suggest that? Is it really so hard to understand? The images will look like if they were taken with a 450F6.1 on FF. That's what equivalence means. While the F-stop number means nothing without the camera format context. Phones can have F4 optics too ... big deal. But using FF optics on crop cameras is a huge waste.

[@malltraeth100]

@@0ecka Yes it was hard to understand because you didn't explain yourself clearly., I suggested it because that is what you typed. Plus dismissing crop cameras just because you don't like them is a bit silly, I own several full-frame cameras plus the D500 and the images produced by the D500 is up there with the best of them.

[@0ecka]

@@malltraeth100 The D500 is nothing like a 45mp FF. Not even close. And you can just crop the FF down to 40% and get the same thing. Or you can crop less and have even higher image quality. Plus, you don't have to compose it perfectly right (or at all) while shooting. Plus, you don't need fancy AF systems to do that, you can just use the center point. FF is a better crop camera than the actual crop camera. That's all.