Which Zoom lens should I go for?

[d33p]

Hi Folks,

I'm reasonably new to the photography section of PH and even newer to the world of digital photography!

I have a Nikon D70s which came with an 18-70mm lens...this isn't enough and I need something that can take sports and wildlife shots from a distance as well as do the stuff my current lens does.

There are just hundreds of lenses on the market so what do I go for?

Do I go for ED or G lens? (whats the difference?) someone said dont go for the Nikkon G lens
Do I go for Nikon or Sigma (im on a budget!)
Ebay or Online? New or secondhand?

What are your recommendations? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Major Bloodnok]

I'm quite happy with the 70-300 f 4-5.6 G lens (cost about £130 in Jessops a year ago). Because it's cheap, the front of the lens rotates when focussing, so orientation-specific filters are a problem, but I don't use filters (I do it all in post-processing).

Pictures here http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j21 were taken with it (rainy, not very bright day).

[Major Bloodnok]

I should point out that I've fiddled with a lot of those pictures using RawShooter Premium - they were rather darker than they appear when first downloaded..

[bernie_eccle]

Major Bloodnok said:

I'm quite happy with the 70-300 f 4-5.6 G lens (cost about £130 in Jessops a year ago). Because it's cheap, the front of the lens rotates when focussing, so orientation-specific filters are a problem, but I don't use filters (I do it all in post-processing).

I have the same lens and am fairly happy with it, although I think if I were buying again I would perhaps go for the ED lens which should have better glass. That said I think I paid about £70 for my lens on eBay.
I took the picture below with the Nikkor 70-300 f 4-5.6 G lens

Stewart

[d33p]

Thanks guys,

To be honest I did notice the G lens price and was confused as to why it was so cheap...it seems to do quite a good job from what I've seen from the pics you posted albeit with certain limitations.

Just out of interest how much should I expect to pay for a s/hand ED lens on Ebay?

[Gemm]

I don't know much about Nikon lenses but Sigma 70-300mm APO is a decent lens for the price. I'm interested to know how this lens is compared to Nikkor equivalent within Nikon community? In Canon community, it's considered to have better optical quality than Canon 75-300mm (although slower and noisier AF than USM version).

[_dobbo_]

I've got a Sigma 70-300 which saw occasional use on my D70. Since I've now sold my girlfriend into slavery and used the money to buy a Nikkor 80-400VR the Sigma is currently waiting for me to get off my arse and sell it.

It's a bit slow and noisy to focus, but the pics are reasonably good quality and you get a macro mode as well which can be handy. Can't say if it's any better than the "G" lens from Nikon, have never used one.

[UKBob]

When youve made up your mind, read the reviews on www.fredmiranda.com

Opinions vary, but the general strengths and weaknesses of each lens are pointed out there, which helped me enormously in choosing my first piece of new glass.

[chris.mapey]

d33p said:

Do I go for ED or G lens? (whats the difference?) someone said dont go for the Nikkon G lens

The ED lens is a bit sharper for image quality, and feels "better made" as its metal not plastic construction

d33p said:

Do I go for Nikon or Sigma (im on a budget!)!

I'd spend the money once. Look at the onlinje reviews, and have a test drive of the likely short list.

How often are you going to use the lens? I bought a budget Sigma a while ago, I have now decided that it's not sharp enough, and I need to upgrade to the Nikon 70-300 ED...

If I hadn't spent the £60 on ebay on the Sigma, I'd be closer to the Nikon now, however, it's been useful to see how much use the longer lens before laying out on a lens that would remain in the bag...

d33p said:

Ebay or Online? New or secondhand?!

Ebay is good. Have a look at other online sources & compare the prices to ebay, there is often not much in it.

HTH

Chris