New Tele Lens suggestions for my D40

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tonyfong

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Hey everyone,

As in the title, im looking for first tele lens for my D40. Iv been looking at a few

Nikon 55-200mm VR DX AF-S F4-5.6G
Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di LD Macro
Sigma 55-200mm f4-5.6 DC
Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG MACRO

Iv had a shot of the Tamron 70-300mm, and it is a good lens for the price, but I find it hard to shoot at the 300 end hand held, So that has pushed me toward the Nikon VR lenses... I like the idea of some image stabilisation..

Although this is my first lens after the kit lens and I have noo idea. I am looking for a walk around amature lens for shooting anything from wildlife to night photography... a bit of everything.. At the moment I have the 18-55mm standard nikon kit lens for my D40.

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks
 
Please keep selling inside the 'for sale' forum Brains
 
Hi Tony,

I too find myself in a similar quandry. I have the D40 and the nikon 55-200 (non VR) which is a good lens however I find myself needing a bit more reach for wildlife and bits. I have been looking at the Tamron, Sigma and Nikon 70-300.

Having spent meny hours on here and flickr looking at reviews, posts and images it seems that the only way to go is the Nikon 70-300 AF-S VR. Now to find the money:shrug: :bang:

From what I have managed to glean from reviews etc you get what you pay for and for this end of the market the Nikon seems to be the benchmark and what most people seem to end up with if they purchase the others first:thinking:.

Hope this helps :thumbs:.
 
Tractor Boy said:
Having spent meny hours on here and flickr looking at reviews, posts and images it seems that the only way to go is the Nikon 70-300 AF-S VR. Now to find the money:shrug: :bang:
Click to expand...

Couldnt agree more. The Nikon lens is excellent VR works very well and I found mine was very sharp throughout the range. Its has an almost silent A/F motor.

Heres a shot I took at 300mm hand held with VR on.



Click on the pic for full size image

Allan
 
Tractor Boy said:
Having spent meny hours on here and flickr looking at reviews, posts and images it seems that the only way to go is the Nikon 70-300 AF-S VR. Now to find the money:shrug: :bang:

Hope this helps :thumbs:.
Click to expand...

The 70-300 VR is quite good for the money.



2350762866_cf1642abdb_o.jpg


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This is a JPEG straight out of my D60, from the SD Card fo Flickr. Its sharp even at 100%.

However 300mm really isn't a widelife lens per se - it'll be too short for many things, and often for wildlife you can never have a long enough lens. You also can't add a TC and retain acceptable performance, and the lens is slow at f/5.6 on the long end.

If you can live with the limitations its just fine, and better than the price tag suggests though.
 
tonyfong said:
I am looking for a walk around amature lens for shooting anything from wildlife to night photography... a bit of everything.
Click to expand...
You've had some good suggestions regarding a lens for wildlife. However, that sort of focal length wouldn't generally be suitable for a "walkaround" lens. Your 18-55mm kit lens would be OK for that (which is precisely why Nikon package it with the camera) or there are any number of alternatives with focal length ranges succh as 17-50, 17-70, 18-105, 18-125, 24-70, etc etc.

What do you have in mind when you say "night" photography? Lenses which are good for photography in poor light without a flash or a tripod tend to be more expensive. But if you plan to use a tripod or flash then you can just use the same lens you would for "day" photography.
 
Thanks for all the advice so far... Nikon seem to be the way forward here although its a little out my price range at the moment. Im looking to spend under £200... (cheap skate?).. anyhow.

What im really looking for is a good tele lens to get me started in some more 'up close' photography without the need of running up to everything. Has anyone tried the 300mm lenses without VR? How do they find getting sharp images without the tripod in say your everyday british overcast lighting at midday?
 
the 70-300mm vr will be the best bang for your buck. it is a bargain for the sharpness it gives.

pay the extra £80 and don't regret buying something cheaper.

Even go 2nd hand if you have to although you wont be saving much.
 
Yeah i really like the reviews and comments about the VR, although I think i may go for the 200mm version just now as it is only £150 for one. Compared to my 55mm range just now, I think this will be a good tele lens to start with as it will complete my range from 18 to 200mm with my two lenses??
 
The 55-200 VR is just as good optically as the 70-300 VR, so if you only want to go to 200mm its just as good.
 
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