Lens for shooting some surfing?

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Deleted member 67434

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Hi folks

Been photographing for a couple of years now, mostly landscapes and daft pictures of the cats.

As you might have guessed from my username I am also a surfer (well, ex surfer due to a smashed knee). I live in a spot that is known for exceptional surf conditions and this weekend we have a monster swell coming our way (12ft, offshore). So I am ditching the board and grabbing the camera (well for one day, then it'll be out with the GoPro and in the water the next day when the swell drops off a bit!). Only problem is I don't have a long enough lens to get the action. My main camera is an old Nikon D300.

There are a number of breaks nearby, the key one is shot from land where the waves break roughly 75 yards off the reef.

I am not looking to buy a lens for the weekend, just to rent one to see how well I do (using lensesforhire.co.uk). I have seen the Nikon 300mm f2.8 which will set me back £130 for the weekend. Would this be long enough to get some decent shots of the action?

Any other suggestions or possibilities?

(I'm also going to get a monopod and a small set of ladders to gain a bit of elevation)
 
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what about a waterproof housing and some flippers, and get some shots a bit different to the others.
 
300mm on a D300 will be nice and long. Should do the job. Din't forget to protect the camera and lens with some sort of waterproofing. You may not be in the sea but you will still get coated in seawater. Look after the equipment!
 
or the new 70-400 vr.

hopefully light shouldn`t be a problem at a sunny english beach:thinking:
 
400 would be better, I've done some surfing work from the beach with a 200 and it's nowhere near close enough, I don't think 300 would be enough extra personally but I guess it'd depend on where you're thinking of standing!
 
Last time I shot surfing I wished I'd had a five or six hundred mil lens let alone a four hundred!
 
Thanks for the info folks. Looks like conditions are changing for the weekend ahead so it might get put off until another time.

The 300mm 2.8 was top of my list in case of poor light, the break isn't that well lit at this time of year (as in no direct sun) courtesy of the cliffs. I'll look into how much extra it will cost for a converter as well. Although won't that make focusing an issue?

Oh how I wish I had some underwater gear so I could actually get in the water but sadly I'm shore based for now!
 
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