Has anyone purchased the gray market 300mm f4?

I traded in my 18-300mm (DX) lens when I upgraded from a D5100 to an FX body.. And Adorama insisted I give serious thought to purchasing the gray market version with 3 year Mack warranty. I ended up taking their advice but am still within the 30 day return window.

I am not worried about resale value.. As I plan to keep this lens around for a long time. Are there any other downfalls I'm missing?

I'd be grateful for some input..

I have not seen such kind of device before this is really amazing. I would like to use it.

adamz said:
msmoto - I would love to see the 80-400vr replacement, but though I'm half Your age I may not live to that particular moment :)

Ha...I don't have the patience to wait around for the next best thing. Maybe change my mind if they do actually ever update any of these long awaited lens updates, but so far I have only seen new lenses and no updates really.

msmoto - I would love to see the 80-400vr replacement, but though I'm half Your age I may not live to that particular moment :)

At present I would be reluctant to purchase any VR lens as the VRIII technology is here, I cannot imagine Nikon not putting this into the next generation lenses. And, with the competition out there, this may occur fairly quickly, possibly within twelve months for the majority of the VRI lenses, such as the 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6.

I find that the longer end fixed lenses and the 200-400mm zoom can have a longer than normal wait period. I do think that the 300/F4 should be more common though, I waited I think about 4 months for a 400mm after I ordered it.

I have always used my local camera store, Adorama, B&H, and only amazon if they had a sale that nobody else could beat.

I cannot speak about American dealers, as I'm not in the states, sorry no recommendations.

Thanks for the timely reply! Would you recommend a site other than Adorama or BW Photo? Their prices seemed much more competitive than Amazon. If Adorama is the best price I can get (not interested in 'gray market' item), I'll just pay the difference from trade-in.

Usually shipping times for the lens is a week or two, you'll just need to place and order and wait. A number of big retailers have them in stock, so I doubt production has stopped.

Has anyone else thought of purchasing this lens, lately?

I traded in my Nikkor 18-300mm to Adorama and was hoping to purchase a Nikkor 300mm f/4 as a replacement. But Adorama and BW photo have been sold out of the lens for at least a week, if not longer.

Is this a sign that Nikon has depleted their stock and we may see a VR version soon? I don't know if I should wait for news in the near future. Or jump on the AF-S version of the Nikkor 300mm f/4 when Nikon supply more stock to these companies...

Thx - but again, there are only upgrades available. Seems there is no option for getting the progarm unless you already have it... Never mind :-)

I found this. http://www.nikon-image.com/support/downloads/digitalcamera/software/other2.htm There might be a option for english when you download. Check it out first.

I C - thx for the info so can not get it then :-)

This is the updater. Maybe you have to have the disc to install 1.0.0? I'll look for the next few minutes.
http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18057/kw/short%20movie%20creator

It says this:
*Short Movie Creator full version installer is currently included with Nikon1 camera shipments.

That's kind of annoying. Sorry, Jan.

I thought I would like to try it, but I am unable to find any download links for the full program - I can find lots of links for updaters, that do not work if the program is not there in the first place. Any suggestions?

Tcole:

Thanks for your feedback and posting those shots. Bokeh is nice, I wonder if the diffraction optics to be used in the new version would affect the sharpness.

I have not shot tons of sports with it. I have 2 high school football games I took some pics at. I mostly wanted it for animals and I have become fond of it for portraits as well.

Overall my impressions so far. Have to keep the shutter speeds up on it without the VR. I need the kirks tripod collar, but haven't wanted to invest in it yet, but it will be the next step. For sports shooting it seems to work pretty well...the games were at night and I had to bump the ISO up pretty high to get the shutter speeds fast enough, but I think you would have to do this even with the F2.8. The bokeh is amazing and anything you want to single out it gives you great smooth bokeh. I have been pretty impressed so far and I am glad I got it and didn't wait. It it harder to shoot then any other lens I have with the shake, but it is tamable with some work. I think VR would be a helpful addition to the lens, but it would only be helpful in certain situations and the lens as is now is sharp, has great bokeh, and is excellent overall.

Here are some sample shots so far and I haven't uploaded any from the last football game I went to.

Have been fooling around with a borrowed 300 2.8 vr2, amazing lens. VR really helps with handholding at night soccer games. Cant really afford to buy one myself (yet), so am really hoping f4 would be upgraded soon.

Any chance this would happen before March '13?

Tcole: How are you liking it for action, and portraits?

I thought maybe there was some notes here on trying to subdue the glare but most discussion seems to be on theft. I'd agree that most thieves can spot a camera of value and taping stuff doesn't cut it. If you photograph enough you will develop your own style. I do not fear someone interrupting me with gear questions but I can understand in some settings this may be a problem. I have never had a gang even try to steal camera gear from me but it does happen. Once I had a group of bad guys cross the street in NYC and they realized I was not in the least bit intimidated and after several minutes they asked me to take a group photo, which I did. There are more people on this planet than it can support. Your camera and your skill can help tell a story and hopefully you will make a difference. I myself don't like tape as it can make it very hard to clean the camera up. I think camo wrappers are the easiest and classiest ways to subdue gear. I have been in places were tape was used to keep gear from making noise and when the camo wrappers are used with tape it can keep the sticky tape residue from defacing critical areas.

For me, I simply just put it in the backpack, when its not in use. I never freely carry it around in a crowded area, and I do not use the straps either. When I do use it, I have it held by my side and most importantly, I do not take my hands off of it or lose track of it. And if you feel like you really are going to a hostile area, make sure to bring pepper spray also.

I do not use the bright nikon straps but a plain black strap. That it.

framer

warprints said:
I've never taped up a camera. My cameras were stolen one time - in a burglary, so taping would not have helped. One other time I was at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and was going down a back street to get to a different vantage point, when I was confronted by a nice young man who advised me that someone could easily take my cameras from me. I generally carry my main shooting camera in a fashion that I think MSMoto described in her original post. When the guy said that to me, I looked at my camera in my hand with the strap wrappen around my wrist, and said "I'd like to see someone try." We stared at each other for a few moments, and with an expletive, he walked away.

LOL, I remember you sharing that story before warprints, I wish I had been there to witness it :-) Personally I hope being a third dan in jujitsu and knowing how to spin my magnesium bodies on my Black Rapid DR-1 like nunchaku, will have a similar ability to deter. :-) Hopefully I'll never have to find out. (There are always bigger fish in the sea).

I've never taped up a camera. My cameras were stolen one time - in a burglary, so taping would not have helped. One other time I was at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and was going down a back street to get to a different vantage point, when I was confronted by a nice young man who advised me that someone could easily take my cameras from me. I generally carry my main shooting camera in a fashion that I think MSMoto described in her original post. When the guy said that to me, I looked at my camera in my hand with the strap wrappen around my wrist, and said "I'd like to see someone try." We stared at each other for a few moments, and with an expletive, he walked away.

I never used the gaffers tape on any of my film cameras F,F2,F3,fm-2,fe-2. Never felt the need,now with my digital body suddenly there seems to be great interest. So I use the tape to cover up the nikon logo & model on my D200 & on my 80-200.

I hear ya, I just woulda thought that big 70-200 hanging around a persons neck would be a bigger "Hey! I'm expensive, steal me!" than the smaller Nikon logo, I do see your point though.

What no Gold 'F' to reflect warm tones for portraits?!?!

Great videos on that thread btw. But seriously, what photographer doesn't want the "bazooka lens" f/.95 with great bokeh, awesome contrast and speed of thought focusing? It would balance so nicely with my D10x, that is until I can upgrade to the D11 - way better DR, high ISO and infinite buffer. :)