What zoom for a D750?
Discussion
My wife has a Nikon D750 with the standard kit lens (24-120mm I think). She's been thinking about getting a zoom lens for it. and as she has a birthday coming up relatively soon I thought it might be helpful if I was able to make some informed hints, but I currently know very little about photography. She mainly takes photos of wildlife if that makes a difference, and walks a lot so weight might be an issue.
Looking a few articles and Nikon's lens finder web site, the AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED looks like a sensible option, but would the more expensive and presumably heavier AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR be a better bet?
I think AF-S means the lens has the autofocus motor built in, so an unnecessary option as the D750 has the motor?
Vibration Reduction on both presumably makes sense for a zoom lens.
Any others worth looking at?
Looking a few articles and Nikon's lens finder web site, the AF-S VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED looks like a sensible option, but would the more expensive and presumably heavier AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR be a better bet?
I think AF-S means the lens has the autofocus motor built in, so an unnecessary option as the D750 has the motor?
Vibration Reduction on both presumably makes sense for a zoom lens.
Any others worth looking at?
Simpo Two said:
It might be an idea to ask her what she wants. I think you're on the right lines but who knows!
Don't worry I plan to, but I figure it might be useful if I have a vague idea what she's talking about and can make the odd helpful suggestion. 
The lower the f stop the higher the shutter speed you can use right? So the 28-300 with f/3.5 one might be better for shooting moving stuff than the 70-300 f/4.5, but not quite as good optically? Or is that not likely to be an issue except in low light conditions anyway?
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Friday 26th February 13:38
See that's why it's useful for me to ask questions, I hadn't thought about max aperture changing with focal length.
Presumably the other place you'd notice the difference with the F/2.8 is in the wallet? A quick google found a 120-300mm F/2.8 sigma for 2 grand compared to €600 for the Nikon 70-300
A-level physics was a long time ago, but larger aperture means shorter focal depth right? I'm guessing that's good for photos of things like birds where you might want to blur out branches, but less good for bigger animals where you might wand the background/scenery in focus?
Are Tamron any good? They keep cropping up on searches. Browsing a local shop they have the Tamron SP AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di VC USD Nikon F-mount and Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD Nikon F-mount, which presumably are supposed to be clones of the Nikon ones, but are they any good? They've also got a second hand Nikon 28-300 which is a pretty significant saving.
Presumably the other place you'd notice the difference with the F/2.8 is in the wallet? A quick google found a 120-300mm F/2.8 sigma for 2 grand compared to €600 for the Nikon 70-300
A-level physics was a long time ago, but larger aperture means shorter focal depth right? I'm guessing that's good for photos of things like birds where you might want to blur out branches, but less good for bigger animals where you might wand the background/scenery in focus?
Are Tamron any good? They keep cropping up on searches. Browsing a local shop they have the Tamron SP AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di VC USD Nikon F-mount and Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD Nikon F-mount, which presumably are supposed to be clones of the Nikon ones, but are they any good? They've also got a second hand Nikon 28-300 which is a pretty significant saving.
Thanks folks, useful stuff here. I'm assuming her idea will be to keep the current lens, so the only benefit of the 28-300 would be not needing to carry both.
Her previous camera and lenses were all second hand so no issue with that, a local shop is listing the 28-300 and one of the Tamrons second hand at the moment so I'll keep an eye out for a other second hand stuff.
How big can you realistically go to and still get steady shots hand held, these lenses all have stabilisation built in but there must be a point at which you just can't hold it steady enough.
Her previous camera and lenses were all second hand so no issue with that, a local shop is listing the 28-300 and one of the Tamrons second hand at the moment so I'll keep an eye out for a other second hand stuff.
How big can you realistically go to and still get steady shots hand held, these lenses all have stabilisation built in but there must be a point at which you just can't hold it steady enough.
Turn7 said:
Exactly......the 70/200 is a fabulous lens and the TC''s give versatility....
Yes,its not light, but chances are you will be on some sort of mount anyway....
Main use will be when out walking, in which case I'm guessing it's probably better to sacrifice a bit of quality for light weight.Yes,its not light, but chances are you will be on some sort of mount anyway....
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