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300mm f/4 AF-S vs. 80-400mm VR on a D70s (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mario Hummer
- Start date
Mario Hummer
Active member
pe'rigin said:
Pe'rigin/Steve,
I got news for you guys (I'm sure you will all be shocked...): wives are the same North and South of the equator... I'm sure there's a Darwinian explanation for that...
Believe it or not, given the paucity of options under Nikon, I had indeed thought about that particular lens. And I bet that beauty would happily take a 2xTC, at still a fast f/5.6, and fire away gorgeous pics. Of course, it starts to bump against the 200-400VR pricewise (w/ a slight edge for the prime at the corners, i.e., above aprox. 10mm from center, since we're talking an APS sensor). The 300 f/4 comes a close third.
Mario
P.S. My wife says all this about wives is a bit overblown... Hmmm... do I see a window of opportunity here...
Mario Hummer
Active member
rezMole said:
I did look into the Sigma 300 f/2.8. Its MTF, especially @ 30l/mm, is significantly lower than Nikon's 300 f/4 even. Sigma's 120-300, @ 300mm, is indeed better MTF-wise than Sigma's 300 f/2.8, corroborating what you said, but still a tad lower than Nikon's 300 f/4. So, although in a price range closer to Nikon's 300 f/2.8 VR, these Sigma's don't have OS and seem to be more of a competitor to the Nikon 300 f/4, being still a bit worse optically that the latter.
And, of course, when we go to 300 f/2.8's we're talking about twice as much weigtht as a 300 f/4, so that's another thing to factor in.
Mario
skyhighphoto
Member
Mario,
I have the Sigma 80-400OS and really like it. A prime lens like the Nikon 300 might give a better picture, but having the versatility of a zoom is great. Also the Nikon 80-400 will be slower to focus on the D70 compared to the Sigma 80-400.
Duane
I have the Sigma 80-400OS and really like it. A prime lens like the Nikon 300 might give a better picture, but having the versatility of a zoom is great. Also the Nikon 80-400 will be slower to focus on the D70 compared to the Sigma 80-400.
Duane
Doug Greenberg
Well-known member
A 300mm. f2.8 tele is significantly larger and heavier than the other lenses that have been discussed in this thread. If the idea here is to have a top-performing lens that is highly portable for walkaround bird photography, I would be very skeptical about choosing a lens like this.
Mario Hummer
Active member
skyhighphoto said:
Yup, I hear you on all accounts. The versatility of the zoom comes in handy (although I slightly misphrased towards the end of my original post) when shooting birds, as they disappear from your field of view when you're on the long side of the lens. Zooming out often allows you to retrieve the creature. I should have chosen turtles instead... ;-)
Thanks,
Mario
