Nikon AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D (USED)

The AF-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D ED lens is a telephoto zoom lens for Nikon SLR cameras.  It's a practically sized relatively strong zoom lens in a light housing with high quality optics.  Designed to take over when wide angle lenses run out of magnification the 70-300mm D ED is perfect for use as a general purpose lens particularly for outdoor photography.  With it you can change magnification and framing quickly without having to change lenses or your shooting position.

Zoomed to it's widest setting at the 70mm focal length it produces a 34°20' angle of view on a 35mm frame film and FX digital bodies.  When zoomed all the way in to 300mm it produces a 8°10' angle of view.  Used on DX format bodies the final image is cropped in for the approximately of 1.5x more magnification.

To help produces high resolution and high contrast even at maximum aperture the lens incorporates an ED (Extra low Dispersion) glass element into it's 13 element 9 group optical design and all optical surfaces are fully multicoated.  The lens close focuses to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) with a maximum reproduction ration of 1:3.9

The lens offers extensive compatibility across effectively the entire range of Nikon SLRs because it has a Nikon F Mount as well as FX full frame 35mm negative size coverage and the option of using the mechanical aperture control ring.  Autofocus with this lens requires a camera with a built-in focus motor, manual focus is possible on all models.

Introduced in 1998, the Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D ED effectively replaced the Nikkor 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6.  The newer design benefits from a slightly brighter maximum aperture on the short end and a two-touch layout (separate rotating zoom control ring instead of push-pull zoom operation).  it's also noticeably lighter too so (not heavy enough to require the integral tripod mount it's predecessor has).  Later on Nikon released other 70-300mm lenses as entry level options: the similarly titled 70-300mm f/4-5.6D (limited release, without Extra low Dispersion glass) and 70-300mm f/4-5.6G (no ED glass, no mechanical aperture ring).  Newer models with VR and built-in focus motors are also available though at some additional cost.

All things considered the AF-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6 D ED is a nice solid option best suited for Nikon 35mm SLR and FX format DSLR users wanting a respectably good telephoto without the encumbrance and expense required by larger aperture models.