Help choosing a telephoto lens - Nikon.
Discussion
Hello PH photographers,
A few years ago I got interested in photography and bought myself a Nikon 5100 DSLR. I also took an evening class, and learned a lot and happy I bought a decent camera body. The lens is quite good for general snaps, it's an 18-105mm.
However I've last year taken a real interest in wildlife photography, quite specifically marine life such as whales and dolphins, birds, seals etc. I have quite a few great trips lined up this year and would really like to invest in a decent telephoto to get some closer images of wildlife.
I'm finding the whole photography review site quite difficult, as they're so technical and I always wonder, well would I really notice what they're criticisng. But I'd rather pay a little more for something that will do the job really well and get good results, than compromise too much and upgrade later.
There's a couple of lenses on my radar and roughly within budget, particularly second-hand. The Nikon 80-400 gets good reviews, although I think the older version won't AF on my camera body. There's on older Nikon 300mm that gets good reviews, but again unsure if it'll AF. Then there's all the Tamron and Sigma versions too.
Then there's the slightly shorter length but with a teleconvertor, which I don't fully understand. They're just like a magnifier right, so can suffer image degradation?
What's my best route, does anyone do any wildlife photography on Nikons and can recommend a good lense? Realistically budget would top out around £500, but second hand is an option, and if another hundred or so would get me something truly a cut above then would consider that.
A few years ago I got interested in photography and bought myself a Nikon 5100 DSLR. I also took an evening class, and learned a lot and happy I bought a decent camera body. The lens is quite good for general snaps, it's an 18-105mm.
However I've last year taken a real interest in wildlife photography, quite specifically marine life such as whales and dolphins, birds, seals etc. I have quite a few great trips lined up this year and would really like to invest in a decent telephoto to get some closer images of wildlife.
I'm finding the whole photography review site quite difficult, as they're so technical and I always wonder, well would I really notice what they're criticisng. But I'd rather pay a little more for something that will do the job really well and get good results, than compromise too much and upgrade later.
There's a couple of lenses on my radar and roughly within budget, particularly second-hand. The Nikon 80-400 gets good reviews, although I think the older version won't AF on my camera body. There's on older Nikon 300mm that gets good reviews, but again unsure if it'll AF. Then there's all the Tamron and Sigma versions too.
Then there's the slightly shorter length but with a teleconvertor, which I don't fully understand. They're just like a magnifier right, so can suffer image degradation?
What's my best route, does anyone do any wildlife photography on Nikons and can recommend a good lense? Realistically budget would top out around £500, but second hand is an option, and if another hundred or so would get me something truly a cut above then would consider that.
Look at the 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 VR, its around £350-400 new and even though its a little old now (had mine about 8 years) its not too bad for the money (its also an FX so on a DX it would act like a 105-450mm).
The only problem I found was it can be a little slow to AF if you have a dull background but otherwise its a great lens for the money (and an excellent 2nd hand buy).
The only problem I found was it can be a little slow to AF if you have a dull background but otherwise its a great lens for the money (and an excellent 2nd hand buy).
Edited by tonyb1968 on Thursday 31st March 20:11
I use a Sigma 50-500 OS for max zoom - it produced decent results on my D5200 but much better results on my new D810.
However, the quality is noticeably better on my Nikkor 70-200 - faster, sharper and just 'feels' better. Therefore, I'd be willing to bet that the Nikkor 80-400 would also be a marked improvement over a Sigma or Tamron. Don't forget its a 600mm equivalent on your body
Why don't you try hiring a lens for a day or two to see how you get on with it? - Saves making an expensive mistake
However, the quality is noticeably better on my Nikkor 70-200 - faster, sharper and just 'feels' better. Therefore, I'd be willing to bet that the Nikkor 80-400 would also be a marked improvement over a Sigma or Tamron. Don't forget its a 600mm equivalent on your body
Why don't you try hiring a lens for a day or two to see how you get on with it? - Saves making an expensive mistake
Nigel_O said:
I use a Sigma 50-500 OS for max zoom - it produced decent results on my D5200 but much better results on my new D810.
However, the quality is noticeably better on my Nikkor 70-200 - faster, sharper and just 'feels' better. Therefore, I'd be willing to bet that the Nikkor 80-400 would also be a marked improvement over a Sigma or Tamron. Don't forget its a 600mm equivalent on your body
Why don't you try hiring a lens for a day or two to see how you get on with it? - Saves making an expensive mistake
How does the 600mm equivalent work Nigel? So is the 300mm a 500mm equivalent then?However, the quality is noticeably better on my Nikkor 70-200 - faster, sharper and just 'feels' better. Therefore, I'd be willing to bet that the Nikkor 80-400 would also be a marked improvement over a Sigma or Tamron. Don't forget its a 600mm equivalent on your body
Why don't you try hiring a lens for a day or two to see how you get on with it? - Saves making an expensive mistake
tonyb1968 said:
vrsmxtb said:
How does the 600mm equivalent work Nigel? So is the 300mm a 500mm equivalent then?
Crop factor of x1.5 so 300mm FX lens = 450 equivalent on a DX sensor Yes, its actually quite good for wild life, it struggled badly on my D750 last year at an air show where there was quite a bit of grey cloud, once the blue stuff came through it was fine, I have now upgraded to a slightly bigger lens (Tamron 150-600mm) which is the bees knees for less than £800 quid 
This is the tamron ive got http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-tamron-150-600m...
Its excellent for the money (plus a 5 yr warranty for a UK one), min focal is 2.5m but I did an example shot for a friend of mine, used the Tamron 15-30mm, picure of a pub about a mile away, you cant see much, changed lenses and shot at 600mm, you could happily read the signs (hand held) when you zoomed into the picture
Did some nice pictures of goats about 20-30m or so away at 600mm, came out very well but have not taken them off the camera yet
Its excellent for the money (plus a 5 yr warranty for a UK one), min focal is 2.5m but I did an example shot for a friend of mine, used the Tamron 15-30mm, picure of a pub about a mile away, you cant see much, changed lenses and shot at 600mm, you could happily read the signs (hand held) when you zoomed into the picture
Did some nice pictures of goats about 20-30m or so away at 600mm, came out very well but have not taken them off the camera yet
The older Nikon AF 80-400 doesn't seem to have great reviews, reports of slow/inaccurate autofocus etc. The newer AF-S 80-400 on the other hand sounds excellent, but is expensive. If you're planning to shoot birds with the lens you will want/need autofocus, and the faster+more accurate the better.
The Nikon AF-S 70-300VR has a very good reputation as others have said.
I use an old Nikon AF 80-200 f2.8 and Tokina 400mm, but on a D7000 and neither will autofocus on your camera so no point me recommending either of those to you.
I haven't tried the Sigma or Tamron options, obviously the extra reach is handy (with plenty of practice to refine your technique) but I don't know if the image quality would be up with the Nikon 70-300VR, others may be able to comment on that.
The Nikon AF-S 70-300VR has a very good reputation as others have said.
I use an old Nikon AF 80-200 f2.8 and Tokina 400mm, but on a D7000 and neither will autofocus on your camera so no point me recommending either of those to you.
I haven't tried the Sigma or Tamron options, obviously the extra reach is handy (with plenty of practice to refine your technique) but I don't know if the image quality would be up with the Nikon 70-300VR, others may be able to comment on that.
Save up and buy the Nikon 200-500. Nikon knocked it out of the park with that lens, its the best value telephoto zoom for Nikon by some considerable margin.
You need to to *incredibly* careful choosing a telephoto lens with the d5100. It lacks the autofocus fine tune function that almost all telephoto lenses need.
That gives you a few options :
Buy a later model Sigma ( 150-600 contemporary or Sport ) and buy a dock and use the dock to focus tune it.
Buy a new Nikon as the native lenses almost never need autofocus fine tune, buy from amazon or similar and use dot tune when you get the lens to figure out if its ok, if not send it back for a new one.
DO NOT buy a tamron with your current body.
Buy a D7100 - the autofocus system is MUCH better, and can be tuned.
You need to to *incredibly* careful choosing a telephoto lens with the d5100. It lacks the autofocus fine tune function that almost all telephoto lenses need.
That gives you a few options :
Buy a later model Sigma ( 150-600 contemporary or Sport ) and buy a dock and use the dock to focus tune it.
Buy a new Nikon as the native lenses almost never need autofocus fine tune, buy from amazon or similar and use dot tune when you get the lens to figure out if its ok, if not send it back for a new one.
DO NOT buy a tamron with your current body.
Buy a D7100 - the autofocus system is MUCH better, and can be tuned.
ExPat2B said:
Save up and buy the Nikon 200-500. Nikon knocked it out of the park with that lens, its the best value telephoto zoom for Nikon by some considerable margin.
You need to to *incredibly* careful choosing a telephoto lens with the d5100. It lacks the autofocus fine tune function that almost all telephoto lenses need.
That gives you a few options :
Buy a later model Sigma ( 150-600 contemporary or Sport ) and buy a dock and use the dock to focus tune it.
Buy a new Nikon as the native lenses almost never need autofocus fine tune, buy from amazon or similar and use dot tune when you get the lens to figure out if its ok, if not send it back for a new one.
DO NOT buy a tamron with your current body.
Buy a D7100 - the autofocus system is MUCH better, and can be tuned.
Just be careful with the Nikon 200-500mm, its already been recalled for a sw update.You need to to *incredibly* careful choosing a telephoto lens with the d5100. It lacks the autofocus fine tune function that almost all telephoto lenses need.
That gives you a few options :
Buy a later model Sigma ( 150-600 contemporary or Sport ) and buy a dock and use the dock to focus tune it.
Buy a new Nikon as the native lenses almost never need autofocus fine tune, buy from amazon or similar and use dot tune when you get the lens to figure out if its ok, if not send it back for a new one.
DO NOT buy a tamron with your current body.
Buy a D7100 - the autofocus system is MUCH better, and can be tuned.
http://nikonrumors.com/2015/10/06/some-nikkor-200-...
I would still stick with the 70-300vr if the budget is less than 500 quid
tonyb1968 said:
I would still stick with the 70-300vr if the budget is less than 500 quid
I'd agree with this. I bought one of these before upgrading to a 70-200 f2.8 and I still use it when I want to keep weight down (it's much lighter than the 70-200). In bright conditions it really isn't that far off the pace of the f2.8 unless you're pixel peeping.Superb lens.
I don't fully understand the reasons, but once you go past about 200mm there doesn't seem to be any size/weight advantage to be had from DX telephoto lenses. For example the Olympus 300mm f4 is the same size as the Nikon and Canon 300mm f4's and the same size as the Sigma 300 f2.8...despite being designed for a sensor half the size of full frame.
http://j.mp/1qpFOsV
http://j.mp/1qpFOsV
vrsmxtb said:
Thanks for everyone's input. I have won the ebay auction on a Nikon 70-300mm AFS VRII today at a price I'm very happy with, as recommended by folks above and after reading great reviews for it.
I think it'll be perfect for my needs, looking forward to trying it out!
If you're not totally delighted with it then there's something wrong with it. I think it'll be perfect for my needs, looking forward to trying it out!
Enjoy!
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