70-300 lens on D70 (1 Viewer)

Have a D70 and want to get a 70-300mm lens at reasonable price for Bird photo's. There seem to be several sigma and nikon lenses at this range for similar prices (£150 to £300). Would be grateful for advice as to which best quality lens at this level.

I have an older Sigma 75-300 Apo that I use with a Nikon F601 AF. It was secondhand when I got it. It's a very sharp lens and produces good images. The macro is reasonable - about one quarter life size, but no match for a proper macro lens. The trombone zoom action has become loose over time and will not hold if the camera is tilted.

Make sure that the zoom is long enough for your photography before purchase. I found that 300 mm with a 35mm SLR wasn't powerful enough for taking picturs of distant birds.

AndyC

I sometimes use the Nikon AFD70-300mm ED, which isn't too bad optically... the ED tag is a litle misleading as there's precious little ED glass involved. AF is hardly slick and rapid compared to what I'm used to on the bigger lens but there's worse around and you've got to expect some drawbacks on a lens in this price range.
Incidentally, I can get reliable AF with this f5.6 lens when used with a 1.4x teleconverter (Fuji S2 camera)

regards,
Andy

Thanks for quick replys guys. I currently have the sigma 170-500 lense but as now have my Swaro scope and about to get a 4500 to use with it i cant see myself using the 170-500 much so wanted a lighter more practical lense i could hang on my D70 for close quick photos and still carry my tripod/scope about for longer composed photos etc. The 170-500 is too heavy on the camera aswell where as the 70-300 could stay on camera base round my neck and not really get in way as much as my current one... I hope yoou can see my thinking behind this and welcome further thoughts/comments etc..
thanks, chris.