Camera Labs

I have just purchased a D70s with the 18-70mm Kit Lens and I am considering a longer lens for sports and wildlife.

Has anyone had experience with this lens?
Is it worth the price ($600 Canadian)?

I would appreciate any opinions offered and other lens suggestions.

Thanks

Hallo mzanier,

which longer lens do you mean for sports and wildlife?

The Nikkor AF-S DX 55-200mm 4.0-5.6G ED? That one does not have the VR image stabilisation that is very helpful with long lenses if you don't want to carry a tripod around. That is sold in Germany for around 300Can$. A test of this lens can be found here: http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses ... /index.htm

The Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm 4.5-5.6G IF-ED is 50% longer PLUS has image stab but also is about 500 Euro (incl. 19% VAT). This translates into 770 Can$. You will certainly have more fun and a better chance to get steady shots with this lens. A test of this lens can be found here: http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses ... /index.htm. The verdict is pretty positive.

I personally don't have any of these lenses (as you can see in my signature), but owning the 18-200, I can assure you that VR image stab works like a charm with longer focal lengths!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Hi mzanier, welcome to the Cameralabs forums!

I have heard good things about the 70-300mm VR and hope to test one in the near future. It's also an ideal match in terms of focal length to your existing 18-70mm. I believe forum member Phil Lee has one, so hopefully next time he's on the board he can let us know what he thinks! I'm sure he's been pointing it at some wildlife too!

As for the 55-200mm, Nikon does have a new version with VR, and it's really affordable too at around 250 USD, but I think it's more pitched at people who bought, say, a D40 / D40x and want something to complement their 18-55mm kit lenses. It's definitely more of a budget lens than the 70-300mm VR.

The 70-300mm is certainly the obvious choice for your setup, although you may also wish to check out the older 80-400mm VR - I've seen several wildlife photographers using this one, although it was before the latest 70-300mm VR came out. And it does cost a lot more... And, er, it doesn't have AF-S...

Anyway, I do plan to test the 70-300mm VR in the future, along with the 55-200mm VR.

Gordon

Thanks for the replies!

I think the logical choice is the 70-300 VR and it's now just a matter of fitting it into my budget.

Hi there. Gordon is right, I do indeed have the 70-300mm VR lens for my D80. I got it to complement the 18-70mm kit lens which is does very well. I've used it for wildlife photography where it worked very well in good light. The variable aperture means that it is quite slow at the longer end of its focal range (f/5.6) but it does still perform well.

I got back from a 3 week trip to New Zealand yesterday where I used the 70-300mm VR lens for photographing sperm whales, dusky dolphins, albatross, fur seals, sea lions, blue penguins and yellow eyed penguins amongst others. I will post some of the photos later in the week when I've had a chance to go through them. In the meantime here are a couple of my favourite shots I've taken with the lens before I went away:







You can see all the photos I've uploaded to Flickr that were taken with it here.

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Nikon D80, Nikkor lenses: 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX, 50mm f/1.8 AF D, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR, SB800 flash
My photos on SmugMug