AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

I purchased this lens for use with a Nikon D3300 camera. I wanted a wide-ranging zoom lens to cover as much "territory" as possible without having to change (and carry) extra lenses. I read a number of online reviews before purchasing and I would encourage others to do the same. The chief competitor for this lens is the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (product 2196). Product 2196 differs from the lens being reviewed here (product 2216) in three significant ways: 1) it goes one f-stop faster (f/5.6 vs. f/6.3) at 300 mm focal length, 2) it weighs 9.9 oz. more, and 3) it costs about $100 more (as of this writing). Most reviews I've read indicated the sharpness and clarity of the two lenses are comparable. For me, the weight savings (and price) trumped the 1 f-stop. Saving a half-pound around my neck all day was more important to me. The $100 savings wasn't bad either. One real bonus feature of this lens is its great macro capability. At 300mm it will focus amazingly close and the image quality is superb. It is now my go-to macro lens. A minor downside is that as of this writing, there is no firmware (yet) for auto-correcting lens distortion for this lens. For me, this is not an issue, but just be aware. As others have pointed out, this does not come with either a case or a lens hood. Again, be aware. Bottom line: this is a great "cover lots of bases" lens. I am very happy with it. UPDATE: As of 12 September 2014, lens distortion correction firmware is available for this lens (firmware L 2.005). See the Nikon website for details and installation instructions. I installed this on my D3300 and distortion corrections worked properly. One other comment. After upgrading to the new firmware, my older version of ViewNX 2 (free Nikon software) would not work with RAW files on which the corrections were applied. After upgrading to the newest version of ViewNX2 (free), everything worked fine.

Outstanding lens very impressed with the results from using it photographing little league sports.

First thing you notice when you open the Amazon box is the small size of the Nikon product box. It just doesn't look like it would house a telephoto lens - especially an 18-300mm lens. Upon opening the box, it is indeed a small lens for what it is. It's weight is 550 grams compared to the hefty 828 grams of the original 18-300mm lens it replaces. 550 grams is also about the same weight of the 18-200mm lens. This newer lens is lighter, smaller and less expensive than the lens it replaces. I replaced and sold my 18-200mm, and my 55-300mm for this one. It is true, and I was a bit mystified, that this lens does not come with a lens bag or a lens hood. But on the other hand, the Nikon lens bags do nothing to protect the lens in any way. So I always buy my own. And as far as the lens hood goes, ken Rockwell recommends you leave it home anyways when using this lens. I've taken a few shots and the images are impressive to my non-technical eyes. I believe, as my research concludes, that this lens is just as good if not better than the lens it replaces, If my review was helpful, and I hope it was, please choose the yes option in the comments section below. Thank you. Richard

Functions as expected, no issues noted! Haven’t fully tested it but it does fit as designed and very durable! go through the full spectrum as designed and very easy to use. Fits right in my pockets and comes on very quickly! Good value and bring out the color, autofocus is nice and overall just great

I own a variety of amateur glass for my Nikons. Body's; I use a D5100 and D5500. This is by far my most commonly used lense. During family outings, parks, zoo days, this is my go to lense. It allows me to capture near and far without carrying two cameras or swapping lenses. However, compared to my 18-55 and 55-300, the pic quality does suffer ever so slightly at different ranges. When out at 300, this lense falls about 10% short of where the 55-300 can reach. and the pic quality at that range is arguably better on the 55-300. I say arguably because ive never went 1:1 on these shots to compare. The real 1:1 testing I have done has been in shorter range, and while the zoom reach is definitely shorter, the quality is so similar at close range its hard to decipher.. Ive taken shots at the local zoo with both and taken very similar shots on different days, and i do prefer the 55-300 for quality, but still use the 18-300 for its versatility. What this has allowed, which is awesome.. is for me to carry my second camera with a prime lense instead of having the 18-55 on it. Now i carry either a 35 or 50 on the d5100 to grab great portraits. Sometimes i like to pull in really far, and get a close up of an animal, then come back out and grab a pic of the boy with the animal in frame in the background. Having this 18-300 allows all of that in one package. I attached some pics i caught with this lense. Pros *) 18-300 in one lense, that in it self is a HUGE pro **) Extremely small and light weight. Its lighter and smaller than the 55-300. Is that a pro however? ive read and found personally, when a lense with similar or more attributes is smaller than a comparable model with less.. The image quality is usually what pays the price. Cons *) 18-200 moves very freely, and nice. 200-300 meets some opposition and stiffness. **) 300 on this lense and 300 on my 55-300 are not the same 300. Sadly i noticed this with my tamron 16-300 as well, i had hoped the nikon wouldnt do that to me; but it has. Would i recommend this to others, absolutely. Would i recommend it over the 55-300; that depends on situation. I personally feel I will have a use for both. I just need to figure out how thats going to work for me. All of this is on DX bodies only, as this is a DX lense I feel its fair to only bring those up. On an FX body you need to enable a DX crop mode and loose a chunk of the resolution only using the center of the image sensor. No point in doing that :P I personally dont own an FX body yet, but the plans are there to add one to the mix sooner than later :) Pics and what lense was used - 55-300 jaguar snow leopard red panda boy in green shirt 18-300 lions boy in blue

First of all, this lens makes life so much easier. I love not having to carry around two lenses, and swapping between them for various shots. Also, the reviews on here complaining about the quality of the pictures it takes need to consider a few things: First of all, you are using a zoom lens. You will not get fixed lens quality from a zoom lens. Also, the quality of the shots this lens is capable of is just as good as the 55-300mm Nikkor lens. The ghosting that is described occurs in all lenses if you zoom in all the way and then blow up the picture beyond what it should be. I love this lens! It is simple to use, works great and even works as a Macro lens. I am no professional, but for the average daily hobbyist, this lens is perfect. If you want to go spend thousands of dollars to get a better quality zoom so you can magnify the pictures, then do that, and don't write negative reviews about a lens that you tried to make do more than you knew it was capable of when you bought it. Update** I have now had this lens for a few months, and I am still more and more impressed with it. I have managed to take a few pictures that have now been rated in the top 50 trending on the National Geographic User Submitted Photos page. The capability and portability of this lens are just getting better and better. I am including some more photographs, now that I have had a chance to expand on it some.

This isn't the sharpest, lightest, or best lens you will buy. But for the price, and for being an all-in-one from 18-300 mm, it's excellent. I have sharper lenses, but they're primes, and if I'm not shooting a wedding or corporate event, this is the one lens I put on my camera. Photos are very sharp, and perfect for sharing with friends, family, and even printing for my wife's scrapbooks. The low-light capability of this lens is very decent when coupled with my D7500. I've taken some very nice photos and video with this lens. I like that it is also lighter than my older 18-200 and the VR appears to function better as well. When used at the extremes (18 or 300), you will need to do some lens correction in Lightroom or Photoshop, but it's not so bad that if you skip it, it will look bad (unless you're taking photos of something that needs to be straight; then you will notice it). It's an easy fix, and well worth it. I highly recommend this lens as a good walk-around lens. Nothing else I've tried matches its versatility to price ratio.

I’m a professional photographer, and have my favorites for portraits, but I wanted to give this lens a try since I had given away my 70-300mm lens and I was missing it. I found myself only using the 70-300 lens for moon shots the last few years. So naturally the first photos I took with this new lens is a photo of the super moon this week! Extended all the way out to 300mm. I’m really impressed with this lens. It’s so much lighter, and the clarity zoomed in at 300 is amazing! I have yet to use it at the wide angle, but I’m really looking forward to having this lens in my camera bag!