Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR: Real-World Sample Images

Nikon’s 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G for FX-format DSLRs (ie. full-frame) is designed as a lens for all seasons.

It has a broad zoom range, from 28mm to 300mm, and built-in vibration reduction. At about 800g (28.2 oz) it isn’t a small or light lens — that’s the price of covering this much range in one barrel — but it’s still one lens instead of three.

So it’s a very good option to have as an all-purpose, take-anywhere lens for travel photography or general-use photography.

Being in the F-mount lineup, Nikon has since discontinued it, so the $1,049.95 MSRP it carried originally is now just a reference point. In practice, this is a used-market lens, and recent used prices have run roughly $450 to $500 for a good copy.

That convenience and price point come with compromises. With a maximum aperture of f/3.5 to f/5.6, depending on how much you have it zoomed in or out, it’s not an especially fast lens. And while the optical quality is good and perfectly suitable for a great many uses, it’s not up there with higher-end (and more expensive) pro lenses.

It also reaches the slow end of that aperture range sooner than most people expect. The maximum aperture is already down to f/5.6 by around 105mm and stays there all the way to 300mm, so f/3.5 is only on offer right at the 28mm end. It’s worth keeping in mind when you’re reading the aperture noted under each of the photos below.

Here’s a collection of photos I’ve taken with this lens to provide some examples of how it performs under real-world shooting conditions. These go alongside my hands-on review of this lens and a side-by-side comparison with the Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD.

These have been shot on either a Nikon D800 or D810 and processed in Lightroom. Some of the ones from the Arctic have had a little more processing applied to bring out the details in the ice — I do love the detail of ice — particularly by boosting local contrast, but others have had minimal processing done to them.

Sample images taken with a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR zoom lens

Zoom range of the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR zoom lens

Here are some practical examples of the zoom range, from fully zoomed out at 28mm to fully zoomed in to 300mm.

One thing worth knowing when you’re looking at the 300mm frames: you only get a true 300mm field of view when you’re focused well into the distance. Because the lens focuses internally, the effective focal length shortens as you focus closer — at the 0.5m minimum focus distance, 300mm frames more like 135mm, and at a couple of meters it’s closer to 150mm. Even at 50m or so it’s around 275mm. That’s how the design works rather than a fault, but it does explain why a nearby subject at 300mm doesn’t look as big as you’d expect.

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Price & availability

This lens is for Nikon F-mount. Nikon has discontinued it — its Nikon USA listing is now archived — so any new copies still sitting in stores are leftover stock rather than current supply.

But it’s also quite widely available on the used market, where it can be quite a bargain. I’d be inclined to look first at used copies from reputable outlets like KEH and MPB (both of which back their sales with solid return policies and warranties).

If you’ve since moved to a Z body, this is also a lens worth keeping rather than selling. It’s an AF-S G lens with its own focus motor, so on the FTZ or FTZ II adapter you get full autofocus and the lens’s own VR, plus in-camera distortion and vignetting correction. The lens’s optical VR handles pitch and yaw while the camera’s IBIS takes care of roll. The catch is balance more than anything — it’s a big-ish lens on a small mirrorless body.

Accessories for the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

The Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR takes standard 77mm screw-on filters: Polarizer | UV/Haze | ND

The lens hood is model HB-50. You can get an official Nikon-branded one or, for about half the price, an aftermarket version.