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Nikon 120-300 f/2.8 Lens Teardown.

Frank Dernie

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I have sold most of my big Nikon lenses. the 600mm f4 was super but I hardly ever used it because of size and weight.
I have gone micro 4/3.
The Olympus 300mm f4 has the same magnification and aperture but more dof. The best camera is the one you have with you and I have got far more good shots with the Olympus than the Nikon because of that.

Edit: I love the lens rentals blog
 

JeffS7444

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Even if I could afford it, I can't see myself carrying it about very often. For my brand of slacker-birding, maybe give me a Sony RX10 super-zoom outfit; 1" sensor should suffice for my purposes.
 

Wes

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why wear gloves for this?
 

Eurasian

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I'm not a photographer, but this is really impressive.
 

mhardy6647

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Heh, me too! Just an amateur but a Nikon fan... I used to love Pentaxes when I was young and innocent.
As some of y'all already know, my son and I both have this thing about Nikon stuff -- vintage and modern. :cool:
Worst of all (or best of all, depending upon perspective) we enable each other, too.

shelfies1 120315 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
015 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

In particular, he collects vintage Nikkor glass (well, some other kinds, too -- and some not-so-vintage glass as well) -- for reasons that aren't completely clear, a significant amount of his collection lives at our house (as opposed to his). :rolleyes:

003a by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
 

LTig

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I have sold most of my big Nikon lenses. the 600mm f4 was super but I hardly ever used it because of size and weight.
I have gone micro 4/3.
The Olympus 300mm f4 has the same magnification and aperture but more dof. The best camera is the one you have with you and I have got far more good shots with the Olympus than the Nikon because of that.

Edit: I love the lens rentals blog
Same here. Since I bought the Panasonic/Leica 100-400 mm for my Panasonic GX7 I used my Sigma 150-500 mm full format for Nikon just 1 or 2 times. The 100-400 is even able to do close ups, e.g butterflies, with a close focus of 1.3 m at 400 mm, and its stabilizer is fantastic.
 

Frank Dernie

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As some of y'all already know, my son and I both have this thing about Nikon stuff -- vintage and modern. :cool:
Worst of all (or best of all, depending upon perspective) we enable each other, too.

shelfies1 120315 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
015 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

In particular, he collects vintage Nikkor glass (well, some other kinds, too -- and some not-so-vintage glass as well) -- for reasons that aren't completely clear, a significant amount of his collection lives at our house (as opposed to his). :rolleyes:

003a by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
I collected cameras for decades.
I had Nikons going back to a non-syncro model M, motor drive SPs long lenses to use with the 2 reflex housings and so on.
I had always intended to sell up for my pension and when I did most of this lovely stuff was worth less than I paid for it.
The only thing making a significant gain was an F mount Noct-Nikkor 58mm f1.2.
Even the M which is really rare had gone down, I did not expect this.
Canon rangefinder did badly too but rare Leica made up for it.
Overall not a good investment, except the rare Leica stuff, I broke even over 25 years or so, not counting for inflation.
I kept a few favourites, a mint black Nippon Kogaku F and an SP and a 10mm OP fisheye but don't use film any more.
OT rambling again!
 

mhardy6647

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Not entirely OT, is it? :)
I don't think my son, nor I, view this stuff as an investment. When it comes to glass, he's a completist (I think that's a word, even if Chrome doesn't!).
He uses the glass and the cameras, too, although, as he's gotten older & busier with grown-up occupations, he uses digital more than film. He likes lenses with character. http://icouldbeahero.blogspot.com/

He has some cool lenses, and some odder ones.

https://icouldbeahero.blogspot.com/2018/05/24.html
1589544302641.png

1589543915956.png

1589543937343.png


I believe that Lens Mad In Japan was the title pitched for the sequel to Sleepless in Seattle (or maybe to Antonioni's Blowup) ;)

I... putter. But, like monkeys and typewriters, once in a while I hit upon a propitious combination -- like the great ol' Micro Nikkors.

Nikon F micro chrome by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Yeah -- I know Canon "won" -- but I've still got a big ol' soft spot in my head heart for Nippon Kogaku's wares.

OK, enough ruminating -- that titular fast zoom is sweet... :)
 

001

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I suppose I'll get some other camera one day. But I'm hopelessly stuck on my rock-solid, built like a tank, D700. Yep, I know it weighs a bit, especially with a F2.8 200mm strapped to the front. Well, that's what a chest harness is for :) I confess however that for insta-fun, I've started to take a few macro photos with with Android phone which look ok to other people. But, for 'real' photos it's the D700.
nikon-d700.jpg
 
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