I received a new (to me) lens Friday, a 300mm F4 AF lens. Looks like it was never used. Pretty good for $440 (this is the older non AF-S version though).

I took it up to the mountains for some wildlife photography, but the light wasn't there since it was cloudy/dark and snowy. Got a few decent photos though, but no real keepers.

Shot with the Nikon D600. I need to get a 1.4x teleconverter. (I do miss the 1.5x magnification of a crop sensor for wildlife).

[tessfully]

Well, I think they are excellent, and I love the snowflakes too. Very nice shooting. I am very interested in that lens. Did you use a tripod?

[Colorado CJ]

Well, I think they are excellent, and I love the snowflakes too. Very nice shooting. I am very interested in that lens. Did you use a tripod?

Thanks! The lens itself is of excellent quality and focuses very quickly, considering it is a screw drive. If you don't have a screw drive body, you'll need to get the AF-S version. From what I can see of using it a little, it is a VERY sharp lens wide open. The colors are great too,

I used a Manfrotto monopod for these photos, which is my normal way of shooting wildlife with a telephoto. It allows for no setup time and you don't spook the wildlife with a potentially noisy tripod.

[tessfully]

Thanks for the info. My camera has a screw drive.... I have been looking at the new DA 300 but with results like this I will have to shop around to see if I can find a deal like you got. I was wondering about the monopod as your shots are so sharp and for me this would be a heavy lens. I too use a good monopod on which the head of my good tripod fits. thanks

[slowpez]

You got quite a few keepers in this bunch I would say. The snowy shots are marvelous and I can hear that bull elk bellowing all the way here.

[Colorado CJ]

Thanks for the info. My camera has a screw drive.... I have been looking at the new DA 300 but with results like this I will have to shop around to see if I can find a deal like you got. I was wondering about the monopod as your shots are so sharp and for me this would be a heavy lens. I too use a good monopod on which the head of my good tripod fits. thanks

I think you'd really like this lens. It is MUCH cheaper than the newer AF-S version, but has the same great IQ and sharpness. I read up on it a lot before ordering and it has a following. There are a large number of photos available to look at taken with this lens, both at Flickr and at Nikon Cafe.

I got mine at Adorama, but I've seen others on Ebay and B&H for around the same price.

[Colorado CJ]

You got quite a few keepers in this bunch I would say. The snowy shots are marvelous and I can hear that bull elk bellowing all the way here.

Thanks Susan. I just didn't like the light. I can probably spruce them up a little in post, but they won't be as good as a nice sunset lighting shot .

There WERE numerous bugles all through the mountains and a couple of charges by the larger bull going after smaller bulls that were getting too close. Have I mentioned I reeeely like this time of year?

[Bob Harris]

the photos show much better on this forum CJ, great job as usual.

[Colorado CJ]

the photos show much better on this forum CJ, great job as usual.

Thanks Bob, I appreciate it! Yeah, the photos display larger here, although they do resize now down to a smaller image (these are 1200 pix wide). Pentaxforums used to not downsize images, I wish they still did not (it affects image quality).

[daacon]

Great captures CJ - beautiful wildlife shots.

[Colorado CJ]

Great captures CJ - beautiful wildlife shots.

Thanks Dave, I appreciate it!

[Dma110]

Great captures CJ. Thanks for posting.
Looks like you will get good use with your new toy

Dennis

[dcmsox2004]

those ruttin' in the rain shots are fantastic... excellent work with your new 300 ! dave m