Blurry Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8G VR II
Related: focus skew, image stabilization, lens mount / sensor parallelism, lens skew, Nikon AF-S 300mm f/2.8, optics, quality control
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The Nikon 300mm f/2.8G VR II is reviewed in DAP.
The awful performance I observed is ridiculous for a 300mm f/2.8 lens costing about $5800. Its problems are documented in multiple ways in my review.
Every other super telephoto that I’ve used from Nikon and Canon has been outstanding, so it’s a rude awakening to learn that quality control can be omitted even with these ultra expensive lenses.
The 300/2.8G VR II arrived extremely well-packed in a large and pristine box, with ample styrofoam “peanuts” surrounding Nikon’s own box, in which the lens was further encased in a cordura carrying case set inside two styrofoam spacers. There is just no chance this lens had anything whack it en-route, the sample had to come from the factory in optical misalignment as seen on these pages. Or it’s just the crappiest super telephoto every made (not likely).
Not just one sample
But it wasn’t just my brand-new sample. Reader Thorsten Kril writes to say:
Mine was awful, too. Far behind the 200/2 and 500/4, and even slightly behind the 300/4 when shooting both wide open! At f/4 it caught up with the 300/4. I didn't know what to make of it, so for now I returned it without getting another one. But it must be a bad sample. It's hard to believe those get out there with lenses of this price range.
