Lens help please (1 Viewer)

[tim.birdboy]

I have been searching for quite a long time for a decent lens for my (borrowed) Nikon D70. Currently the owner, my sister, has a Nikkor 50mm. She is willing to let me use it for bird photography, if I buy the lens. I need the lens to be at least 300mm and AF (of course), and preferably under $400. I have looked through many of the Nikkor and Sigma, and haven't found anything that strikes me as decent. Whether it is zoom or not does not matter to me. My question is, what is the best Nikon-compatible-under-$400 lens that is readily available? What is my best bet?

Thanks!:king:

 

[pabs]

The only cheap lens i would recommend is the sigma 170-500mm. I used this lens with a D70 for a couple of years and have taken many good shots with this setup. It is light as well as cheap. The downside is that the focus can be slow but it was only a problem photographing flying birds which I used manual focus for successfully.
regards,
Paul
www.birdlist.co.uk

 

[tim.birdboy]

Thanks pabs! I'll consider the Sigma 170-500. Do you have any photos/examples? I'd love to see them.

And also, has anybody had any experience with the Quantaray 70-300mm?

 

[sweet_srrndr72]

nikkor 70-300mm

i have great luck with my nikkor 70-300mm. i really won't buy anything other than nikkor. these are super inexpensive and just a great lens. most of the pictures here were taken with it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/97716561@N00/

 

[Doug Greenberg]

Is your primary use for the lens bird photography? If so, then there is no good reason to get a zoom lens, as you will be paying for a feature you don't really need and which will compromise optical quality where you need it most, i.e., at the longest focal length and the widest aperture. Your budget is limited, so I would recommend you consider a used 300mm. or 400mm. tele. You might be able to find a Nikkor 300mm.f4 AFD lens used in your price range. This lens is very sharp even wide open. An alternative is a used Tokina 400mm. f5.6 ATX AF lens, a compact tele that performs well and focuses remarkably quickly. In either case you might watch the listings at ebay and other used markets, as these lenses come up for sale regularly.

 

[tim.birdboy]

Great photos sweet_srrndr72! Do you have the Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR, or the Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6G AF? The latter is about $300 less than the former.

Doug: Yes, bird photography! Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see if I can find any used lenses.

 

[ikw101]

Tim

Just a quick reply to second Doug's recommendation on the ED version of the 300mm f4. The D70 isn't known for blazingly fast autofocus therefore the more help you can give the camera the better. In my experience the amount of extra light the F4 lens gives you over a F5.6 is significant and enables you to lock on to a subject almost instantly. It's also a much better lens than the zooms and especially the 3rd party zooms

You may also want to consider your own approach to photography. Some people prefer tightly cropped close ups therefore 500mm lens whilst other prefer a more atmospheric bird in habitat approach. If you go down the latter route quality and speed of the lens is more important than reach.

 

[stbear]

Good advice on the used 300 F4. The lens is sharp and works well with a 1.4 extender for a little more reach when additional funds become available.