which lens is best for my d50 (1 Viewer)

[nez]

I have just purchased a new nikon d50 camera but i need a telephoto lens to go on to it i have two in mind one being the nikkor 80-400 vr lens and the other the sigma apo 80-400 lens with optical stabilisation which of the following will work best on my nikon d50 camera and which nwill give me the fastest auto focus

Thanks NEZ

 

[Keith Reeder]

There's a ton of information about both lenses on the site, Nez - have you done a search?

You might want to look at the site Equpiment Review section too - there are reviews of both lenses:

http://www.birdforum.net/reviews/showproduct.php?product=142&sort=7&cat=14&page=1
http://www.birdforum.net/reviews/showproduct.php?product=140&sort=7&cat=14&page=1

Either lens would be great on the D50.

To answer the question "which will AF faster?", that'll be the Sigma.

The Sigma has an internal focus drive motor, whereas the Nikkor relies on the AF drive motor within the camera: on consumer Nikons like the D50 and D70(s) the internal motor is a bit on the weedy side, whereas the dedicated motor built into the Sigma is really rather good at pushing all that glass and metal around.

That said... if focus speed is the most important thing to you, neither lens is really fast focussing, so you might want to look at the Sigma or Nikkor alternatives with ultrasonic motors (though none of those have stabilisation until you're in Nikkor 200-400mm VR territory - but you might need to remortgage the house for that thing!)

 

[Mattijs]

Maybe you need to ask yourself how bad you need a fast autofocus. I thought it was important, but untill now I have done almost all my photos with manual focus. Autofocus won't work well when the subject is between branches or in reed for instance. But it is good for flight shots.

 

[markho]

I even have trouble on flight shots with auto focus, unless they really are quite close and filling the screen, mind you I have been trying to get a flight shot of my local Hobbies and they aren't slouches when it comes to flying. Still no matter what you get , you will always try to do the impossible with it , or end up wishing you bought something else. Thats consumerism for you.