[cistercian]

Don't send him back under the table, last time it took several years to winkle him out again 

 

  Actually the older AF-S 300mm F4 lens is a goodie and can be found for €800, no real flare issues either.....not so sure about purple fringing though! 

  

 Oh and of course it's metal..........nice!

 I have this lens...the AF-S 300 F4D. I was testing it on my new D7200 tonight. It is excellent and purple fringing is no problem at all.

   It is heavy and very solid...and I cannot fault it's optical quality. It focuses fairly quickly too. I bought it because I find none of the Nikon 70-300 zooms acceptable...so I ended up with the 300 and the 70-200 F4 ED VR which is just fantastic for a zoom to me.

 

 The 70-200 lives on my D500 and a 24-70 f2.8G ED is the default lens for the 7200. I find it's quality to be merely acceptable but

   it is nice to have the flexibility in that range of focal lengths.

 

 I would never get the new fresnel 300...I fully understand the appeal of the low weight...however the compromises are not acceptable to me. I think the old version is better all round...except for weight!!!