Go Back   Wild About Britain > Photography Forum > Wildlife Photography

» Log in

User Name:

Password:

Not a member yet?
Register Now!

» June 2012

S M T W T F S
2728293031 1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

» Stats

Members: 50,187
Threads: 82,434
Posts: 853,804
Top Poster: glsammy (15,069)
Welcome to our newest member, Della
Reply

 

LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 12-03-2007, 04:08 PM
Member of the Wild Empire
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 262
More pulling power

After much deliberation on my part, I've decided that my 300 f/4 lens does not have the pulling power that I would like (even on a DSLR), and need something of at least 400mm focal length. Ideally this will be a zoom, and I'm contemplating either the Nikkor 80-400 f/4-5.6 D ED-VR AF, or the Nikkor 200-400 f/4G AF-S. The latter has been described by Bjørn Rørslett as "...(this) might well be the finest telephoto or zoom lens I've ever tested": and at the price I should hope so!
The question is: although the 80-400 has VR, which is a plus for lenses of that length, will it even approach the quality of the 200-400. This lens, although bereft of VR, does have Silent Wave focusing which can also be an advantage. Has anyone on this forum have any experience in the field with either optic? I'd like a bit of input (persuasion?) before I commit to getting the lens (in the case of the f/4 lens, a once in a lifetime purchase).

HW
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 12-03-2007, 07:21 PM
eeyore's Avatar
Knight Grand Cross of the Wild Empire
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: i'm right here
Posts: 11,154
Re: More pulling power

well i generally rely on my suave good looks and raffish debonair charm ..... oh sorry you're talking about long lenses

it is also worth looking at third party lenses - the bigma (sigma 50-500) is one of the most popular this is without image stabilise but does have HSM which is the equivalent of silent wave focusing

if you want image stabiliser the ossie (sigma 80-400 OS) is worth a look too
__________________
Some people are like slinkies, good for nowt, but they make you smile when pushed down stairs
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 12-03-2007, 07:47 PM
Member of the Wild Empire
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 457
Smile Re: More pulling power

Quote:
Originally Posted by HowlinWolf View Post
After much deliberation on my part, I've decided that my 300 f/4 lens does not have the pulling power that I would like (even on a DSLR), and need something of at least 400mm focal length. Ideally this will be a zoom, and I'm contemplating either the Nikkor 80-400 f/4-5.6 D ED-VR AF, or the Nikkor 200-400 f/4G AF-S. The latter has been described by Bjørn Rørslett as "...(this) might well be the finest telephoto or zoom lens I've ever tested": and at the price I should hope so!
The question is: although the 80-400 has VR, which is a plus for lenses of that length, will it even approach the quality of the 200-400. This lens, although bereft of VR, does have Silent Wave focusing which can also be an advantage. Has anyone on this forum have any experience in the field with either optic? I'd like a bit of input (persuasion?) before I commit to getting the lens (in the case of the f/4 lens, a once in a lifetime purchase).

HW
I have not used either lens but have done a considerable amount of research via the internet on both. The 200-400 is reputed to be one of the finest lens ever produced by Nikon and is a natural step up from the 70-200, Nikon converters again working with the 200-400. The 80-400 is nowhere near the standard of the 200-400 but is still a fine lens for the price. It's the old, old story - you get what you pay for! The 200-400 costs 4 times as much so it's hardly likely to be on a par is it? Search the internet and you will get all your answers. We are treading the same path that thousands have trod before. Unless you're very well off join the ranks of those saving for their dream lens. In the meantime use a lens such as the Bigma which, though nothing near the standard of any Nikon lens, is excellent value for money and will give years of pleasure. (A good job cos it will take me years to save up!
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 12-03-2007, 09:23 PM
Gandalf's Avatar
Active Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 96
Re: More pulling power

HowlinWolf I, like SeaJay, have done a fair bit of research on the internet especially at the nikonians site where a lot of people use both lenses and post many images as to their respective quality. Being just under £4K the 200-400 is obviously superior, being acclaimed as one of Nikon's best ever lenses. Even with TC 1.4 and 1.7, gives tack-sharp images.
The 80-400 is a more modest price, just £1000, but doesn't have silent-wave motor and is not recommended to be used with nikkor TCs, but can with Kenco Pro 300 1.4 TC for Nikon AF-S.
I have the 80-400mm and find it useful but it takes some practicing with and re-evaluating of one's long-lens-technique.
So, all-in-all, if money or time's no object, get the 200-400, but if it is, get the 80-400.
You won't be disappointed with either.
__________________
Gandalf: per digitus ad astra

Last edited by Gandalf; 12-03-2007 at 09:28 PM. Reason: grammer
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 12-03-2007, 11:54 PM
peterjclarke's Avatar
Wild Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 156
Re: More pulling power

As eeyore mentioned the Sigma 50-500mm is a real contender. I read review of the 80-400VR and the college I'm at has one but its not a very fast focusing lens. Why Nikon did not make it an AFS lens I will never know. I've heard good stuff about the 200-400 but its very pricey indeed. The Sigma 500mm F4.5 prime is another I feel you should consider. A mate of mine recently bought one and is thrilled to bits with it.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 13-03-2007, 04:12 PM
wildlifesnapper's Avatar
Commander of the Wild Empire
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: N.E. Derbyshire
Posts: 2,044
Re: More pulling power

Hi

I don't think that I would go from a 300mm to a 400mm as there isn't too much difference between the two really.I would probably look at something that goes to 500mm like the bigma or little bigma.

neil
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 14-03-2007, 11:11 AM
Active Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
Re: More pulling power

Hi
What are you going to do with the photographs?

The "Bigma" might be just what you need?? I would have thought the 200-400 with converters is more flexible and better quality but it will cost you. Such a lens would deserve a good tripod and head.

A 500mm is a great idea (esp sigma F4.5) but if you go down that road you have to remember all of the kit that goes with such a beast and remember it doesn't have IS (VR or OS). You will need to spend LOTS of money on supprorting it (ie a good tripod and head) and then spend a few months working on technique to get the most out of your kit!

Jason
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 15-03-2007, 09:59 AM
Zebethyal's Avatar
Wild Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Harrow, Middlesex
Posts: 101
Re: More pulling power

I am also in the market for a lens in this area and at present my leaning is definately towards the Nikon 80-400mm f/4-5.6 VR for the following reasons:

The Nikon 200-400mm f4 AFS VR I am sure it is a wonderful lens but is well outside my price bracket and way too big and heavy for me to bother taking it with me most of the time so for me would not be a worthwhile purchase.

The Bigma is another one being seriously considered and around the same price as the Nikon 80-400mm however much bigger and heavier, slightly faster focusing but no VR and very little gain in length (it is actually only 460mm), much greater range, but how often does anyone who owns this lens actually use it at anything below about 200mm?

As for the Nikon 80-400mm f/4-5.6 VR it is smaller and lighter than the other two though also the slowest to focus is likely to be used by myself more often than either of the other two because it is smaller and lighter, most people do not bother with its tripod mount either (it gets in the way), making it even lighter.

On most sites where I have seen the last two compared, everyone has opted for the Nikon over the Bigma.

Regards

Tim
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 15-03-2007, 01:12 PM
Active Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 28
Re: More pulling power

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zebethyal View Post
As for the Nikon 80-400mm f/4-5.6 VR it is smaller and lighter than the other two though also the slowest to focus is likely to be used by myself more often than either of the other two because it is smaller and lighter, most people do not bother with its tripod mount either (it gets in the way), making it even lighter.
Don't rush to take off tripod mount! The only lens I hand hold (occassionally) is my medium telephoto while stalking and I use the tripod ring to rest on the top of my left hand - any small advantage is worth using. But mainly I try to find a tree, wall, post, rock etc to rest the lens on and then the tripod mount stops the (expensive) lens getting scratched.

Jason
Wild Light Photography: Welcome to Wildlight Photography
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 15-03-2007, 04:57 PM
Member of the Wild Empire
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 262
Re: More pulling power

Thanks for your input, people. Maybe the 200-400 lens is a bit too far out there, so I've come up with a contingency plan which is as follows: I already use the Nikkor 300mm f/4 AF-S, which gives superb results, and am now considering the addition of the TC-14 E II which will take the focal length up to 420 mm and an aperture of f/5.6. The addition of the Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 AF-VR ( with the occasional use of the converter, giving me a 98-280 f3.5 option) would make make things more versatile, and the lens has Silent Wave focusing (as does the 300mm). The TC-14E II is designed for use with both lenses.
The field of view of a DSLR will increase the effective focal lengths of these combinations, (hopefully) giving me the extra reach as and when I need it.
I'm considering the Nikkor zoom over anything else because of the optical performance.
Any thoughts or comments?

HW
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
Reply  

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


» Online Users: 167

» New Wildlife Posts

Go to first new post Hedgehogs are waking...
Last post by ~T~
Today 01:09 AM
75 Replies, 1,871 Views
Go to first new post Fungal Plant Parasites
Last post by Chris Yeates
Today 12:38 AM
760 Replies, 40,529 Views
Go to first new post Which genus is this LBM?
Last post by Chris Yeates
Today 12:24 AM
12 Replies, 208 Views
Go to first new post Fungi for ID
Last post by Chris Yeates
Today 12:15 AM
4 Replies, 87 Views
Go to first new post To Many Cat attacks!
Last post by sweedie
Today 12:11 AM
0 Replies, 24 Views
Go to first new post You see loads of them...
Last post by tigertom
Today 12:00 AM
9 Replies, 287 Views
Go to first new post River bank weed
Last post by Sofija
Yesterday 11:42 PM
1 Replies, 36 Views
Go to first new post Birding 2012 Year List!
Last post by pressld2
Yesterday 11:36 PM
1,369 Replies, 29,010 Views

» New Environment Posts

Go to first new post "Earth In Crisis As...
Last post by Malkie
01-06-2012 10:15 AM
12 Replies, 644 Views
Little plastic bags
Last post by Trekkie
27-05-2012 03:16 PM
9 Replies, 795 Views
Why Wind Won't Work!
Last post by Lancashire Lad
25-05-2012 11:17 AM
5 Replies, 435 Views
Severn Barrage (and...
Last post by zail
20-05-2012 05:32 PM
7 Replies, 648 Views

» New Activity Posts

Go to first new post Coast to Coast Walk -...
Last post by foxy mars
Yesterday 02:35 PM
130 Replies, 4,017 Views
Go to first new post Coast to Coast Walk in 9...
Last post by foxy mars
Yesterday 01:45 PM
0 Replies, 37 Views
Go to first new post Moths on Greater...
Last post by Closescapes
Yesterday 10:59 AM
6 Replies, 154 Views
Go to first new post Osprey Hide in the making
Last post by speyghillie
Yesterday 09:44 AM
122 Replies, 5,824 Views

» New Community Posts

Go to first new post Check when uploading to...
Last post by FungiJohn
01-06-2012 06:53 PM
0 Replies, 29 Views
Go to first new post Spammers!
Last post by Deb London
01-06-2012 01:53 PM
8 Replies, 199 Views
Go to first new post Ivinghoe Beacon and...
Last post by Pete Collins
31-05-2012 07:16 AM
5 Replies, 264 Views
Planet Earth Live ...
Last post by davedotcom
30-05-2012 07:40 AM
27 Replies, 1,372 Views

All times are GMT. The time now is 04:05 AM.


Copyright Wild About Britain 2009

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120