On Sat, 12 Dec 1998 12:45:29 -0800, Cyrus wrote:

>I am looking to replace my 300/f4 with a more functional zoom. I have
>the 80-200/f2.8 but it is a beastie on trips and I like the idea of an
>affordable 70-300 "backup" zoom. I liked my 300/f4 until I dumped it in
>the Gulf of Mexico and wondered if the new Nikon 70-300 ED stacks up?
>Any experience with it would be helpful as I cannot find any DECENT
>reviews on this lens. It only has 1 ED element compared to my 80-200's
>3 ED elements. Should I just try a 1.4 Tele? Thanks for any input.

(Kinda hard to give you any directly, what with the "munged" e-mail
address...) Alas, I did not think the three samples of the 70-300
were up to my (or Nikon's former...;-) standards. The 80-200 f2.8
on the TC14/14B/14C very noticeably outperforms the 70-300, the
better 75-300, and the even better 100-300. Too bad, since the
70-300 is so light and compact...