Nikon d3100- suitable animal photo lens??

farmgirl

farmgirl

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Hello I'm just branching to to dslr photography having moved from a bridge camera- I recently bought the Nikon d3100, with the 18-55mm VR lens- I was aware this wouldn't be suitable for wildlife/ animal photography. Can any one suggest a suitable lens for this? I have been reading about the 28-300mm, would this work well? Does it have to be Nikon as I have seen some cheaper ones by sigma? Thanks in advance for any help- I'm a newbie.
 
I would take a look at the Nikon 70-300vr and the new Tamron 70-300 vc. Both substantially cheaper than the 28-300 and potentially sharper.
 
Great advice thank you- I'm looking on a new one on eBay for £100 is this reasonable- but not clear if it is Nikon or nikkor. Guessing nikkor for that price. What is nikkor? Is it a replicate of Nikon, as they are much cheaper! Thanks for your help- this photography world is huge.
 
farmgirl said:
Great advice thank you- I'm looking on a new one on eBay for £100 is this reasonable- but not clear if it is Nikon or nikkor. Guessing nikkor for that price. What is nikkor? Is it a replicate of Nikon, as they are much cheaper! Thanks for your help- this photography world is huge.
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Nikkor and Nikon are one and the same. What you will need to check is that it is the AF-S version of the 70-300. Nikon did make a non AF-S version which by all accounts is pants. The 70-300 AF-S VR is a very good elns for the price and I understand that the new Tamron 70-300 is a similar quality. For the D3100 you will need to make sure that you get a lens with the built in motor which are designated as AF-S, HSM or built in motor by the most popular manufacturers.

If you don't mind second hand then have a look at MPB as they have a few in stock at the moment and you get a 6 month warranty from them.

Oh and welcome to TP :wave:

Nick
 
Nikkor and Nikon are one and the same. Somebody else might fill in the details but it seems to me that Nikon brand all of their lenses as Nikkor. No idea why!

You need to be a little careful as your camera doesn't have a built in auto focus motor so whatever lens you buy will need a built in auto focus motor. In terms of Nikon's own lenses, that means that you need to look at AF-S lenses only.

If £100 is more the sort of budget you're working with, my two suggestions would be these, but both will need to be bought used to fit in budget.

Option 1) Nikon (or Nikkor!) 55-200mm AF-S VR

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/50317/show.html

Option 2) Tamron 70-300mm DI LD

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/66332/show.html

The first is probably the better lens in terms of image quality but the Tamron is 33% longer so potentially more useful particularly with smaller animals.

If you can stretch the budget, the two that I mentioned earlier come with no such drawbacks.

They're these two. I guess both are around £250 used these days though the Tamron is quite new and maybe hard to find.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/35945/show.html

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/77949/show.html




Edited to add: Ha ha, beaten to it!
 
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Nikkor is the same as nikon, the 70-300vr is a great lens and could stay with you if you upgraded bodies in the future, I used it with a D700 and D300 and got great results, glass lasts a lifetime whilst bodies are often replaced.

The cheaper sigmas aren't as good and will need more effort to get the shot you want ( if i can manage it at all) the VR will help handholding in lower light, it won't though help if the wildlife is moving around much in that lower light...
 
Tractor Boy said:
Nikkor and Nikon are one and the same. What you will need to check is that it is the AF-S version of the 70-300. Nikon did make a non AF-S version which by all accounts is pants. The 70-300 AF-S VR is a very good elns for the price and I understand that the new Tamron 70-300 is a similar quality. For the D3100 you will need to make sure that you get a lens with the built in motor which are designated as AF-S, HSM or built in motor by the most popular manufacturers.

If you don't mind second hand then have a look at MPB as they have a few in stock at the moment and you get a 6 month warranty from them.

Oh and welcome to TP :wave:

Nick
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I'm so new that 2nd is great for me, I had a look at their website and seen this Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR for £324 would this be suitable?
 
Don't buy the standard Nikon 70-300 lens. There is a reason why it's only £100.
As said the 70-300VR is a cracking lens and will last you many years over any future Nikon body you decide to buy. Yes it seems like a lot of money, but it will hold that value should you wish to sell it. And more importantly is of great quality and sharp, so you will know if the images don't come as sharp as you like, it's down to you, and not down to a bad lens.

Can't comment on the tamron or sigma, but I personally wouldn't consider them.

*edit* yes the lens you posted above is the one to get.
 
You are all being really helpful thank you:-) I have lots of research planned now.
 
farmgirl said:
I'm so new that 2nd is great for me, I had a look at their website and seen this Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR for £324 would this be suitable?
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Yes this would be great,their was a cheaper one for good money,but with no motor build in,which you need.
I have used this lens,it is very good :)
 
farmgirl said:
I'm so new that 2nd is great for me, I had a look at their website and seen this Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR for £324 would this be suitable?
Click to expand...

Yep that's the one. I did a lot of research before I bought mine and it seemed the best lens for the money without spending a large chunk of dosh. Have a look at my flickr page - most of the bird shots and all of the football stuff has been with this lens.

Nick
 
Tractor Boy said:
Yep that's the one. I did a lot of research before I bought mine and it seemed the best lens for the money without spending a large chunk of dosh. Have a look at my flickr page - most of the bird shots and all of the football stuff has been with this lens.

Nick
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How do I look at ur Flickr page? Thanks nick lots of help. I originally had a bridge camera so all this lens stuff is foreign.
 
I would not get Sigma's 70-300mm DG Macro F4-5.6 as it is soft at 300mm some people have it it starts being soft at 280mm I think I know my one I had was soft a lot at 300mm. The lenses the others have mentioned are all meant to be good you must remeber to make sure the lens has AF-S or HSM or what ever the lens manufacturer refers to built in auto focus motor as plus on Nikons crop sensors you get 50% more focal lenght due to the size of the sensor so 70-300 becomes 105-450mm.
 
gad-westy said:
Nikkor and Nikon are one and the same. Somebody else might fill in the details but it seems to me that Nikon brand all of their lenses as Nikkor. No idea why!

You need to be a little careful as your camera doesn't have a built in auto focus motor so whatever lens you buy will need a built in auto focus motor. In terms of Nikon's own lenses, that means that you need to look at AF-S lenses only.

If £100 is more the sort of budget you're working with, my two suggestions would be these, but both will need to be bought used to fit in budget.

Option 1) Nikon (or Nikkor!) 55-200mm AF-S VR

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/50317/show.html

Option 2) Tamron 70-300mm DI LD

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/66332/show.html

The first is probably the better lens in terms of image quality but the Tamron is 33% longer so potentially more useful particularly with smaller animals.

If you can stretch the budget, the two that I mentioned earlier come with no such drawbacks.

They're these two. I guess both are around £250 used these days though the Tamron is quite new and maybe hard to find.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/35945/show.html

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/77949/show.html

Edited to add: Ha ha, beaten to it!
Click to expand...

I have looked at Tamron SP 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di VC USD Lens - Nikon AF from jessops as I can get it on finance!! Whoopie :-) and the will have that motor in for autofocus? Thanks
 
Yes it will have the motor in thats what the USD is all about Ultrasonic Silent Drive
 
farmgirl said:
Great photos, really beautiful
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Thanks:thumbs:

Good luck with whatever you get. All of mine were shot on a tripod so might be worth looking for a reasonable one if you havn't already got one - really does make a difference to the quality of the shot.

Nick
 
Tractor Boy said:
Thanks:thumbs:

Good luck with whatever you get. All of mine were shot on a tripod so might be worth looking for a reasonable one if you havn't already got one - really does make a difference to the quality of the shot.

Nick
Click to expand...

Yep that's on the cough cough Santa list, hope I have been good enough lol
 
You can alway find something,to lean your lens on for the moment,till you can save up for a good tripod. :)
 
Hi :)
I'm new to the forum to and I have the same camera as you! I have the Tamron 70-300 that's been suggested and I find it is a good lens and good value for money. It depends exactly what you want it for but it has a decent zoom on it for wildlife and I do like it however i'm now finding I've 'outgrown' it slightly but that'd just because i'm wanting a bigger zoom and faster shutter speed and a few other bits!
I would recomend it though if that's the type of lens you want.
Here's a few photos i've taken with mine, might give you some idea (i'm quite new too though!)
DSC_0236.jpg

DSC_0180.jpg

DSC_0277.jpg
 
Great pictures, yer I think I'm going to take plunge and buy it.
 
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