Camera Labs

Hi, I'm new to the site and fairly new to DSLR photography. I am a keen wildlife watcher especially birds and am having trouble choosing the correct lens for the job. I have just invested in a D7000 with kitlens (18-105 mm) and have been looking at the sigma 50-500 , 150-500 and a few of the nikkor lenses including AF-S DX 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II ,
Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED ,Nikkor AF VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED . I would prefer something that doesn't need a tripod for best results. I'd also like to use it for motorsport photography too. Could the kind members of this site help put me out of my misery ? Many Thanx

Budget?

I think first and foremost you need to decide how much length you need. If you could get away with only 200mm, a 70-200 is the obvious lens. Sigma makes an unstabilised one if budget is an issue for half the price. F2.8 is more important than stabilisation in my opinion, but thats another story for another day. 200mm should be fine for motorsport, but for wildlife you may want longer.

If you do feel like you need longer, then I guess the 70-300 or 80-400 are the next obvious ports of call, as are their equivalent Sigmas. Not really a fan of the 70-300 as its the same price as the aforementioned Sigma 70-200. but if you need the length you need the length. The 80-400 is a decent lens, although the focussing can be a little slow, we'll be due an AF-S upgrade in the next couple of years I guess.

If you feel like you may be able to get away with a fixed focal length, then you should look at the 300mm f4. I owned the AF-S one a while back and used it with my 70-200. The focussing is very quick, all be it not quite as fast as the 70-200. The size is great though, which is why I like primes, its smaller and much lighter than a 70-200.

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Nikon D5000 and D300 with 12-24mm, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 60mm f2.8 Macro, 18-200mm, 17-55mm f2.8 (all Nikon)

Hi jeremy , thanx for the ffedback. A friend of mine has leant me his Nikkor 18-200 though to be honest I still feel it falls a little short on distance for me. I'm finding that I still have to try and get closer to the bird life in order to try and get the kind of shots I want, naturaaly the little devils fly off, lol. Reading a post elsewhere i've found that i can get a second hand Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR AF IF-ED. My budget is £1000 , if I got the 400mm lens would i be able to use a 1.4 TC with it without losing any performance or features of the lens ie VR and AF ? Or should i wait to see if any new lenses come on the market that would better suit my needs ? would f/4.5 - 5.6 work for me for wildlife and motor sports ? So many questions , sorry, I'm newish to photography.
Regards cbrpilot

D7000, 18-105mm kit lens

The 80-400 does not take Teleconverters (or you lose indeed all AF, VR and performance). Also 4.5-5.6 depends on the weather if it is enough for motorsports, but generally best results are with brighter and faster focusing lenses.

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- Wout -
Nikon D80 with 18-70 DX, 70-300 VR, 35 1.8 DX
Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with 488RC0 midi ballhead
Lowepro CompuRover AW and Nova 200 AW

You may also find our Nikkor lens guide helpful:

http://www.cameralabs.com/lenses/lens_b ... nses.shtml

As Wout said teleconverters dont work on that lens.

This is because teleconverters will slow down the aperture of your lens. So if the lens is already only an f/5.6, a teleconverter may take that to f/8 or even f/11 and this wont work on your camera for various reasons.

Therefore only use f/2.8 or brighter lenses with teleconverters, or occasionally f/4 lenses with small teleconverters I believe.

Sounds tbh like your best bet will be the 80-400 at about £800 used or £1200 new. This will give you the best image quality at the long lengths, but does autofocus fairly slow.

An option I wouldnt write off would be to get a Sigma 70-200mm OS or non OS, with a 2x teleconverter to turn it into a 140-400 f/5.6 at will. This will reduce the image quality and autofocus speed, but then you also have a sweet 70-200.

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Nikon D5000 and D300 with 12-24mm, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 60mm f2.8 Macro, 18-200mm, 17-55mm f2.8 (all Nikon)

I would say 70-300. It is relatively good for its price.

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Olympus E-500, 12-60, 40-150, 70-300

On that kind of focal lenght you really should consider a tripod or at least a monopod, at 400mm i don't think that any vr sistem could compensate no matter how steady your hand is.

Thanx for your thoughts and feed back, i think i'll wait a little while and see what/if the updated version of the AF VR 80-400 f/4.5-5.6D ED brings. Hopefully it wont cost an arm and a leg. I am also looking into getting a tripod too, just that i'm spoilt for choice. I have been using a friends AF-S DX VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens and still find it a little short for my needs.

Hi all, almost every day I scan the various forums and the nikon rumours page for news of an update to the above lens (AF VR 80-400 f/4.5-5.6D ED). Does anyone have any news or suspicion of when this update will materialize ? Or indeed an idea of the price range. I am reluctant to buy a second hand copy of the lens in its present form as i dont want to lose money on then having to resell an already secondhand lens. I have also decided against going for a Sigma lens as there qaulity and capabilities seem to be in doubt. Many thanx .

An updated version (VR11) has been talked about for a couple of years or more. Who knows. I'd expect it to be maybe £150 ish more expensive than the present 80-400 if it materialises.
tbh, if you could do with one now, why wait. You can pick them up for around the £800 mark in excellent condition.

Where are you located?

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Hi people, just wanted to thank you for your replies and tell you that i am now the proud owner of a new Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED. Couldn't hold my breath any longer for an update to the 80 - 400, lol.