Nikon AF 70-300mm comments?

Brooksy

Brooksy

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I am thinking about one of these for my D3, just something not too pricey to start off with.
I found one on eBay Here

As I said, just something to play around with until I get used to the camera properly, oh and the wife lets me spend £1000's ;)

Thanks
 
TBH it seems an odd choice, for what they are I'd atleast stretch to the newest VR version of this lens.

If you really only want to spend that much money on a lens then why not look at stre cthing to the 50 1.4 d they sell for not much more and would compliment a D3

Hugh
 
If you just want to play around and get used to the camera I think I'd be more inclined to pick up a cheap nifty fifty.
 
Didnt think of that for just a walkabout. I was thinking about when I goto the caravan at weekends. Not far from Heysham powerstation. Thought I could grab some of that also. Perhaps 2 lenses are in order :)
 
I'd be inclined to say that the glass is more of an investment than the body, and having spent so much on the D3 you'd be better off investing in some faster, sharper glass than the 70-300.
 
Well, it'll give full frame coverage but don't expect razor sharpness at 300mm. I think that was the 2nd lens of the 2 lens kit that I got when I got back into SLR photography about 10 years ago although that could have been the G version (no aperture ring). Personally, I would go for the current VR version despite the extra wait while I saved for it.
 
Hmmmm.....I'd go for better quality glass to be honest - I've heard that full frame cameras are very unforgiving with cheaper, less good lenses.
 
Not sure £140 is a good price either....

Have a look in the classifieds here - they do come up.

Agree on the nifty fifty. Took me 18 months to get one again and it has not been off the camera since :)

Edit: My 1000'th post!! WOOT!!! WOOT!!!:banana::woot::banana:
 
What lens(es) do you have already? What kind of stuff are you wanting to shoot? Do you really need the 300mm at the long end?

That fifty is the one I have - got it here 2nd hand, it's a cracking lens. There's a faster version available (f1.4) but it's a considerable amount more.

If you want something in the 70-300 range, Nikon's current release of 70-300VR is probably the cheapest, but it's not that fast (f4-5.6 IIRC).

Have a look at www.camerapricebuster.co.uk - will give you an idea of prices and suppliers, but be aware that they do not list all stores so there may be cheaper deals out there!!
 
I can never understand buying a top-end camera and putting cheap glass on it. The Pro and semi-pro Nikon bodies really punish low quality glass and the old non-VR 70-300 is about as low quality as they come....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
I can never understand buying a top-end camera and putting cheap glass on it. The Pro and semi-pro Nikon bodies really punish low quality glass and the old non-VR 70-300 is about as low quality as they come....
Click to expand...

I bought it because of the price, thats all. I couldn't not buy it.

I will buy good glass for it, but just wanted to play sooner than later.

I thought of a longer range lens just for when I am down at the beach, its not important just yet.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
...and the old non-VR 70-300 is about as low quality as they come.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the experience of many but I suspect the biggest problem is keeping these (older) non-VR models stable rather than the IQ of the lenses themselves. A slow, lightweight lens with a long focal length is always going to be a difficult combination to get good results from.

...but the combination of improved optics and the addition of VR to improve handling really does make the new VR lens stand out.
 
Mifsuds have a Sigma 70-300 APO in their 2nd hand list for £129 - probably a better bet for some reach on a low budget.
 
Thanks for all the advice and decided to wait a month, instead of getting in a rush and buy Nikon glass and end of next month I will have a budget of around £1100.
So will post again for advice. (With a proper budget!)
 
£1100 will get you a 70-200 2.8 VR (used) with possibly enough for a AF-D 50 left over.
 
I am going to get the 50mm next week. I can afford that now at least!

The 70-200VR looks very nice.
 
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