If you are looking to buy the best Nikon D300 lens within your budget, you will 100% agree when I say:
Choosing the right lens is a challenging task.
The heavily acclaimed D300 is among the finest, best-performing Nikon cameras, although its full potential is unreachable unless you have a proper lens (or a pack of them).
There are a lot of different manufacturers and even more types of lenses.

For this reason, I decided to make things simple and make a guide that will guide you to your final destination – The best Nikon D300 lens in 2024.
There are five most essential lens types:
- Macro lenses
- Wide-Angle lenses
- Prime lenses
- All-In-One lenses
- Telephoto lenses
Today I am going to talk about some of the most valuable Nikon D300 lenses, so feel free to browse away:
Here are the results!
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens | Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Lens | Nikon 35mm f/1.8G Lens |
Versatile zoom lens delivering outstanding performance and image quality for professional photographers. | Exceptional macro lens capturing intricate details with stunning clarity and beautiful bokeh. | Compact prime lens offering wide aperture at an affordable price, perfect for various photography styles. |
5.0 | 4.9 | 4.8 |
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens
Versatile zoom lens delivering outstanding performance and image quality for professional photographers.
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Lens
Exceptional macro lens capturing intricate details with stunning clarity and beautiful bokeh.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G Lens
Compact prime lens offering wide aperture at an affordable price, perfect for various photography styles.
Best for Low-Light photography
Capture stunning detail with Nikon's 35mm f/1.8G lens; optimal sharpness, stellar low-light performance, and bokeh mastery await.
Capturing ‘that’ moment in poorly-lit ambient is near impossible without a proper lens. Luckily, Nikon’s AF-S 35mm f/1.8G is more than capable of tackling the issue.
It features integrated autofocus, boasts a 35 mm focal range, excels in low-light conditions, and it’s pretty light in general.
Although its aperture and zooming properties aren’t top-notch, this lens offers exceptional manual focusing, rapid aperture response, and fast, reliable autofocus, among other things.
It should also be noted that this is a budget Nikon lens, so it can always be used as a backup.
Pros
- Excels in poorly-lit situations
- Rapid aperture response
- Quality autofocus
- Budget Nikon lens
Cons
- Poor zoom quality
Best for Macro photography
This is a macro lens from Sigma company that packs a massive punch for the buck and it offers super aperture,focal length and it is weather-sealed.
Macro photography is where only a handful of lenses can be used. You’ll need a model that offers superb aperture and focal length, and the first thing that comes to mind is the Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Nikon lens.
This lens features a 105mm focal range and f2.8 aperture, although it doesn’t offer any magnification whatsoever.
Luckily:
You won’t even need it for macro photography, which means that this lens doesn’t present any pitfalls and tradeoffs.
It’s pretty heavy, but its durability and the fact that it is weather-sealed go a long way, providing a drastic boon to its overall value for the money.
While we’re at it, the Sigma 105mm packs a massive punch for the buck.
Pros
- Huge focal range
- Great aperture
- Weather-sealed and highly durable
- Optical stabilization technology
Cons
- Heavy
Best for Sports Videography
Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 is an excellent choice for sports as it has exceptional built-in autofocus, precise tracking and pristine clarity.
- Lens Type: Wide Angle
- Mounting Type: Canon EF
- Focal Length Range: 17-35mm
- Minimum Focus Distance: 0.28 meters (11 inches)
- Weight: 1.01 pounds
- Dimensions: 3.54 x 3.29 x 3.29 inches
Filming live-action sports is much trickier than shooting footage of still objects.
Apart from the fact that your target(s) will always be on the move, you’ll need adequate image stabilization to eliminate the potential blurring problems.
Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 is an excellent choice for sports videography. It features exceptional built-in autofocus; its performance does not change drastically while zooming (and focusing), and its precise tracking is why most sports filmmakers value it.
Additionally, its variable aperture is easily one of the most significant advantages it has to offer. It’s versatile enough to handle filming footage of close-up fast-paced sports footage and take long-range clips with brilliant precision and pristine clarity.
Pros
- Variable aperture
- Works excellent while handheld and while mounted on a tripod
- Excellent focal range
Cons
- Moderately heavy
Best for Close-Up photography
This Nikon lens offers wide-angle to medium telephoto zoom capability and it provides high sharpness, clear details and good build quality.
Close-up photography requires a lens that can provide a good mix of high-quality autofocus and image stabilization. More importantly, you’ll need a lens with superior close-distance shooting capability.
One of the most incredible things about the Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f2.8G is its minimum focus distance of approximately 0.38 meters.
It’s also a highly durable lens that boasts a weather-sealed shell; it offers a medium focal range and excellent optics.
The only thing people don’t like too much about it is that it weighs a ton (900 grams), but employing a tripod will quickly fix this issue.
Pros
- The minimal focus distance of 0.38 meters
- Durable and weather-sealed
- Optimal focal range and aperture
- Great optics
Cons
- It weighs quite a bit
Best for Interior photography
This prime lens from Nikon offers superb quality and edge to edge sharpness, it produces great portraits while being budget friendly.
Most photographers know that a lens suitable for use under low-light conditions is also great for interior photography.
The AF Nikon 50mm f/1.8D is a budget and, by all means, a fundamental lens, but its lack of versatility makes it perfect for situations as ‘special’ as this.
You’ll be able to make adjustments on the fly, although you probably won’t need to because this lens sports an exceptional built-in autofocus feature.
Its super-integrated coating reinforces and boosts the quality of already-great optics, which means that it’s great for situations that demand accuracy, fast-tracking, and precision.
It is one of the best budget lenses for the Nikon D300 camera.
Pros
- Super-integrated coating
- Tremendous optics quality
- Easy to make adjustments on the fly
- Works great for low-light and ultra-bright environments
Cons
- Rock bottom versatility
Best for Sports and Travel photography
This is a fast lens from a Nikon company with an excellent optics, superb image stabilization and one of the best autofocus in the market.
- Lens Type: Telephoto
- Mounting Type: Nikon F (FX)
- Focal Length Range: 80-400mm
- Minimum Focus Distance: 5.7 feet (1.75 meters)
- Weight: Approximately 3.5 pounds (including tripod collar); 3.3 pounds (without tripod collar)
- Dimensions: Approximately 7.99 x 3.78 x 3.78 inches
Filming sports events and one’s travels is much different from taking photos. Sports and trips have one thing in common: certain highlight moments only offer you one opportunity to earn your shot.
To capture these moments accurately, you’ll need fast, reliable autofocus, above all other things. That’s precisely what Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D will be able to provide for you.
This is probably one of the most substantial Nikon lenses on the market. Still, it compensates for this little flaw with optimal minimal focus distance, excellent optics, superb image stabilization, and one of the best autofocus features of this brand.
Again, you will undoubtedly notice that it’s massive but pricey. Still, it also boasts various top-shelf features to contrast these drawbacks, such as the tripod collar and the focus-distance limiter.
It will suffice to say that this lens offers a substantially higher versatility level than most boutique Nikon lenses.
Pros
- Top-notch image stabilization and autofocus
- Tripod collar
- Focus-distance limiter
- Decent zoom ratio
Cons
- Heavy and pricey
Best for Night photography
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G is a prime lens that is amazing for portrait photography and it has premium autofocus and produces sharp and crisp photos.
Taking photos of the night sky, the beauty of the stars, or the moonlit trees’ elegance is challenging and virtually impossible without a lens suitable for night photography.
Even though Nikon’s 50mm f1.4G is relatively inexpensive and works like a charm for capturing photos in the dark, according to some poorly-rounded glass.
It boasts built-in autofocus, easy manual focus adjustments, and a fast aperture.
It rocks a high-quality ring-type ultrasonic motor, eight optical elements, and seven visual groups.
Even though it lacks image stabilization features, it’s still one of the most excellent standard-prime Nikon lenses for the D300.
Pros
- Excellent aperture and magnification
- Optimal focal range
- Superb optics
- Ring-type ultrasonic AF motor
Cons
- No image stabilization
Best for Architectural photography
This is a great wide-angle Nikon lens with an silent autofocus, good color accuracy and it performs best when used for street photography.
Next, we have Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G lens for Nikon D300. This is essentially the Jack of all trades in the Nikon world.
It features a weather-sealed frame, superb image stabilization, built-in autofocus, and excellent internal focusing, and it works well in pretty much every situation.
It rocks seventeen optical elements, twelve optical groups, and five particular elements, and its only downfall seems to be its weight.
It’s so great for architectural photography that it can tackle any target, regardless of size or complexity.
Pros
- Superb versatility
- Internal focusing
- Weather-sealed frame
- Built-in autofocus
Cons
- Heavy
Best for Landscape photography
This is a telephoto lens from Nikon that features excellent image stabilization, great manual focusing and exceptional optics quality.
Let’s wrap it up with Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens.
Essentially, this is the ultimate Nikon D300 lens that is the best lens for landscape photography.
It features excellent image stabilization, FT manual focusing, a tripod collar, and exceptional optical quality, but it’s pretty heavy.
That’s its only downside: it offers excellent value for the money.
Pros
- Tripod collar
- FT Manual focusing
- Built-in autofocus
- Excellent optics and zoom
Cons
- It weighs quite a bit
Tips for Getting the Most from Your Nikon D300 Lenses:
Utilize the crop factor. With the D300’s 1.5x crop, telephoto lenses become even more telephoto. A 200mm acts like 300mm!
Use fast shutter speeds. The D300 lacks image stabilization, so use speeds around 1/focal length to reduce blur from camera shake.
Employ fast prime lenses for sharpness and bokeh. Primes like 50mm f/1.8 excel due to their wide apertures and simplicity.
Clean lenses and sensors frequently. Dust on glass elements can reduce image sharpness. Use proper cleaning techniques.
Use lens hoods to control flare. Hoods prevent stray light from hitting the lens and causing reduced contrast and ghosting.
Fine-tune autofocus for accuracy. Use AF Fine Tune to calibrate lenses to the D300’s sensor for perfectly sharp shots.
Balance size/weight for handholding. Smaller primes can be handheld more easily than large telephotos, which benefit from monopods.
Consider weather sealing for outdoor shooting. Lenses like the 24-70mm f/2.8 have weather sealing for humidity and dust resistance.
Learn skills like panning, HDR, and timelapses to maximize the D300’s capabilities.
Use lower ISOs when possible to minimize noise. The D300 has great high ISO performance but lower ISOs look even cleaner.
Nikon D300 Lenses – Wrapping Up
One of the best things about Nikon lenses is that you have many models to choose from.
Deciding which one is best for you is tricky, but luckily, you’ll be able to find what you were looking for in our reviews.
I hope this Nikon D300 lens guide helped you make the right decision. Check out this Nikon lens if you are still unsure what the right lens is.
Feel free to post comments below for any questions, and I will do my best to help you pick the right lens.
You can also read other guides on our website, such as the Nikon D500 lens guide and manual for Nikon D5000 lenses.
Happy shooting!
Hi,
Is the Nikon AF-P 70-300 compatible with the D300?
Yes, it does, but you will have to manually focus it.