By: PeterPhotogram

If you owned the older version - the 300 mm F4 AFS D lens you probably know how sharp that can be. The old lens was reasonably light, small, (it's still larger than the 70 -200mm F2.8) and if you used it for sports it was phenomenal. But the older lens had one big problem - the rear element was open - and the hood was built into the lens front. The new F4E Phase Fresnel lens is an entirely different lens all together - and I am extremely happy that it is even smaller and lighter. Don't put this thing on a D800, put it on a on a Nikon D4 and let of huge long burst. The AFS on this lens is fast fast fast. The VR works very well - it can be reasonably hand held at shutter speeds less than 100 easily. I heard that some people had trouble with the VR, but it was fine for me - besides I use this lens for horse jumping shows - and the action is very fast. Also interesting is how the pictures can be edited in Lightroom. With the older AFS D lens you could go to the clarity bar and move the bar to the right. On the Phase Fresnel you can move it to the right but also the images look very pleasing when you move it to the left as well. Now if you don't want to spend to much money - I suggest looking into getting a used 300 mm AFS D lens that this newer F4E replaced. The old lens is still very fast and very sharp.