Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 D ED Autofocus IF Lens (USED)

Note: This lenses Hood still works and stays on, but it does have some shake. THe screw doe not press against the exterior of the lens all th way, but it does enough to hold the lens hood on. 

The AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 D ED IF AF-S is a high-end telephoto autofocus lens for Nikon Digital SLR cameras and 35mm film SLR cameras.  It's a thoroughly professional grade lens that produces top level sharpness, contrast, and color.  It's narrow 8°10' angle of view, bright f/2.8 maximum aperture, and ultra fast AF-S SWM (Silent Wave Motor) make allow it to keep up with demanding fast paced sports and action.  It's also an incredibly effective portrait lens outdoors or in large spaces because the 300mm f/2.8 D is able to precisely isolate narrow areas of background, compress perspective, and provide beautiful ultra shallow depth of field when desired.

The Nikon 300mm f/2.8 D ED IF AF-S uses 11 elements in 8 groups (not including the protective front glass or 52mm drop-in filter), three of those elements are made of ED (Extra Low Dispersion) glass and the results are simply superb.  The f/2.8 maximum aperture produces an amazing amount of pleasant background blur, allows access to fast shutter speeds, and makes shooting in dim light or with teleconverters possible.

Autofocus performance is ultra responsive thanks to a high speed AF-S SWM (Silent Wave Motor) driving an internal focus mechanism that also allows full time manual focus override.  The provided focus limit switch can further reduce AF seek time when in use by restricting the focus range to either infinity to 8m or 8m to close focus.  Four exterior AF function buttons allow additional focus control and set-up customization.

Originally released in 1996 the all new Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 D ED IF AF-S (Nikon USA part# 1943) is the replacement for the previous Nikkor 300mm F/2.8 D ED IF AF-I (Nikon USA part# 1942) that adds a AF-S SWM (Silent Wave Motor) and better manual close focus capability.  A newer Nikkor 300mm F/2.8 D ED IF AF-S II (Nikon USA part# 2125) was released in 2001 with significant weight reduction and a closer minimum autofocus distance but also more expense.  This model remains popular due to it's outstanding performance and lower price.