Nikon 1 NIKKOR VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Lens (Black)

I've always wanted a lens that could take a top quality closeup of a feeding hummingbird from 20 feet away, and this is that lens. Yes, it cost a lot more than the Nikon 1 J4 body with which I use it, but is still a bargain compared to any lens able to do the same on a full-frame camera. Plus, and this is important to me, I can carry ALL of my daily use lenses in a very small and light camera bag. Even at full extension (300mm), this lens is much smaller and lighter than the 300mm full-frame lens I recently noticed being used by another photographer, and also opens wider for use away from full daylight.I recently considered getting a new fixed lens camera with over twice the resolution of my J4, but decided instead to make up the quality difference with great lenses, and ended up with a camera that is even more pocket-able, yet far more flexible when very wide angle or very long telephoto shots are needed, for less money overall. Another surprising factor is that my shots in JPEG format are already usually above 8MB in size, which already limits me to sending one photo per email to some of my friends.I hope the Nikon 1 series continues and keeps improving. If it does, Nikon can be sure I'll keep buying.One other suggestion: if you buy this lens ever expecting to use it on a tripod, also get a NIKON TR-N100 TRIPOD MOUNT VR 70-300. Together they balance perfectly on my tripod's Manfrotto 128LP Micro Fluid Head, even allowing me to swap batteries as needed (important, given how quickly my J4 chews through them.)

Small, perfect sharpness, depth of field that no other lens can provide. You just need enough light when use with Nikkon 1 J5 to show its power.

Don't get me wrong: this lens is AMAZING and I simply LOVE it.I also think that Nikon 1 concept is great: quality light weight, small, fast and quite camera with interchangeable lens.Being able to easily hold in one hand more than 800mm is not trivial at all.This lens, for its size, has great: build, optics and speed.Unfortunately it has just one BIG problem: durability.Despite its good and solid construction, I believe that this lens has some inherent problem causing it to stop functioning properly after about 6 to 12 months of use.I purchased my lens at November 2014. After a little more than 6 months the lens started making some strange noises mainly at 200mm to 300mm. It sounds like something is slipping inside the mechanism of the lens. In some of the times I got an error on the screen saying:"Lens error. Contact a Nikon-authorized service center." (image attached).Of course the lens was kept properly and never fell.As time passed (few months) the problem became worse and I started getting this error all the time along with the same strange noises.Luckily, the lens was under warranty and after contacting Nikon I decided to send it for inspection.Nikon told me the lens could not be repaired and that they will send me a new piece.When the new lens arrived it was easy to tell that it is not brand new. There were some marks on the tripod mount hinting that this lens was probably used for some testing. I didn't mind about it so much, since I mainly cared that the lens will work properly.I tested the lens and it was working pretty well. It seemed like this piece was having some small backfocus issues, but it was not a big deal, so instead of waiting a long time for a replacement I decided to stick with this one.After about 6 months of using the new lens, I started having the EXACT same problems again. Unfortunately this time I had no warranty because the old lens was replaced.Since the EXACT same problem happened to the lens twice I can only assume that there is some inherent problem with the design or construction of the lens.

Pros.-Well built and solid feeling.-Constructed of metal.-Light for its construction and zoom rang.-Sharp throughout entire zoom rang.-No need to step down to obtain sharpness.-Contrast and colors rival $5k + lenses.- Bokeh is Amazing soft and dreamy at 300mm.-Auto Focus is fast and accurate. (V3 used to test)- Focus limiter switch.-Zoom and Focus ring are smooth and responsive.Cons-Tri-pod foot not included.-Foot collar none existent. (Foot can not be rotated)-No Auto Focus recall/memory button.

This lens preforms well (for a 1” sensor camera) and is well built. But I took off a point for cost. This is too much money to put on a 1” type sensor. I took off another point because of bad design. With the lens mounted, the camera cannot be attached to a tripod because the tripod mount “attachment location on the lens” protrudes below the bottom of the camera. I think the worst part of this is that Nikon wants $60 for the actual tripod mount ($2 worth of plastic and a screw) if you want to actually use a tripod; this on top of $1,000 for the lens. Maybe this is why there is such a shortage of these lenses. Nikon realizes this is a bad design priced too high for the market. In any case, if you are really considering this lens be ready to spend $60 more for a tripod mount.

An astonishingly good lens, which makes the 1 system nearly complete.Ironically, since it is so good, it's also the heaviest lens in the 1 system lineup, so be prepared. Great glass does have some heft. But boy is this great glass. And for the reach and quality, there are few rivals. This plus the V2 body is the lightweight birder's tool you have been looking for.Now if Nikon would just make some fast wide lenses -- even wider than the wide zoom, and faster, we'd have a system that rivals most DSLRs from a few years ago.