When I heard of these "new" AF-S lenses coming out and their "lighter" weight and closer minimum focusing distance (MFD), I wasn't really too excited. Personally, I hadn't used a 300f2.8 for many years so it wasn't a lens that solved problems for my photography. I'll be straight with you, I didn't plan on buying the new 300f2.8 II. But that all changed!

I have two projects coming up where I need a "fast" aperture wise telephoto that can focus close (my subject is smaller than house cat). I'm working in the dark woods of No. California where eking out any kind of shutter speed is a challenge. Further more, I'm on either snowshoes or going up mountain sides, smaller is definitely better! The 300f2.8 II beside being a beautiful lens, solves my problems to a "T"!

The 300f2.8 II is nearly one pound lighter than the pervious AF-S version. It is as physically big though as the previous AF-S version. This loss in weight without a reduction in size comes from the incorporation of magnesium in the barrel and internal workings. This lighter weight but stronger metal makes a big difference to the lens designs!

The MFD improvement though is where I'm really excited. Dropping the MFD from 10' to 7.5' (AF) is a big improvement! Keep in mind that I'm using it on a D1 which increases my focal length 1.5x. This makes the 300f2.8 AF-S II a 450f2.8 lens that focuses down to 7.5'! And when I attach the TC-14e, I have a 630f4 lens that focuses down to 7.5'. All of this with the quality and speed of an AF-S lens! It was pretty much a no-brainer putting the 300f2.8 II in my camera bag.

You're probably wondering when I'm going to get to the sharpness question. There is no difference in optical performance between the 300f2.8 AF-S and 300f2.8 AF-S II, they both deliver killer images! If you're main tool in photography is the 300f2.8, you'll have to decide if the smaller MFD is worth the money because you're not going to gain anything optically.