Which one? Nikon 300mm f/2.8 or 200-400mm f/4

300mm f/2.8 or 200-400mm f/4

  • 300mm f/2.8

    Votes: 11 61.1%

  • 200-400mm f/4

    Votes: 7 38.9%
  • Total voters
    18
It's ok with it. But to be honest, I don't tend to use the converter much. It is nice to have 400-800mm at times though. I'm lucky I suppose, in the fact that the D4 and D4s will focus fast at F8 quite nicely. Get a day out and pop over. You can have a play with the lens, before buying one, if you want. :)

Kev.
 
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kevshore said:
It's ok with it. But to be honest, I don't tend to use the converter much. It is nice to have 400-800mm at times though. I'm lucky I suppose, in the fact that the D4 and D4s will focus fast at F8 quite nicely. Get a day out and pop over. You can have a play with the lens, before buying one, if you want. :)

Kev.
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Do you have any sample images with the 2x converter you could post up or send to me? :) and thanks for the offer will keep it in mind :)

Joe
 
I'll have a look later Joe. Out right now. I did post one yonks ago on here, of a canopy shot of a Red Arrow, when I first bought it.
I'll see what I can dig up.

Kev.
 
I just got back from a birding trip using my new Nikon D4s, 300mm f2.8 and for the first time a new 2 x TC. I shot 900 plus shots and not one of them are usable, even the ones at ISO 2 to 500 are all crap......(gutted)
So you can imagine what crap was going through my head as I was going through the files, especially as it was the first time ever shooting with my brand new D4s and get this kind of result. I quickly took my camera out of the dry box and put the 300mm back on without the TC on and shot it in the house at ~ISO6400 and all images are sharp............thank %$%$ for that. I also tried it with my 14/24 and they were all fine as well.
So in short I will NEVER use a 2 x TC ever again. On my D3s with a 1.7 TC the files were all usable but really not sharp.
So going by what I have seen today, I will be reconsidering if I ever use TC's again
 
Sorry but as per my reply to your other post the new 2.0TC is very good, IMO either you have a bad unit or your technique with it needs some adjustment :)
 
I've been reading this with interest.i think the best thing you could do is rent both for a weekend each. That way you can test which is best for you. Unfortunately you are trying to use it for sports and wildlife and each lend themselves very well to one genre but not exactly both. Of course you can get away with either lens most of the time but there will be time with wildlife where a zoom is useful and with sports where f2.8 is more helpful. As this is a buy for professional use take some advice from some working pros. To be honest you cant go far wrong with either and there will be times when you are sitting thinking you should have bought the other, just make sure those times are not when you are trying to get images you are being paid for rather than pleasure.

As for the 300 f2.8 and 2tceIII not being very good and useless that's not my personal experience of that combo, even only with a d7100 I've found it's very useable.
 
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I bought the 300mm as I 'feel' that it is a more 'usable' lens. This may not apply to you. I'm quite happy to carry it up mountains & down dales - & IF I find that the length isn't enough (you may have heard that before - lol) then this will lend itself well to tele's - I have all 3.

Obviously, I will need to practice with this which is why my needs 'may' change but until I've tried it I won't know.
My plan is to leave the 300 with 1.4 wide open for the next month or so & then ck my results - shooting the same subject's - BIF Heron's at a Lake near me.
 
Joe, I've tried to explain to you why your intended kit is unsuitable for top level work, but if you must insist on making an expensive mistake then there is not a lot any of us can say to you. How you can even consider spending thousands on gear when you aren't even sure of what you want to shoot for a living is far beyond me.

Look at what the top pro's are using. There is a reason the sports lads have f2.8 lenses. There are reasons the top wildlife shooters use 500/600mm lenses as well as the 200-400.

As a pro, these are not nice shiny toys, they are tools, and if you're serious about your work you need to buy correctly, otherwise you'll end up buying twice
 
Price-wise there isn't a vast gap between the 300 2.8 and the 200-400 f4 - but the difference for a 500 or 600 is quite considerable for anyone, let alone a young man.
 
5/600 F4 for wildlife.

3/400 F2.8 for sports.

In an ideal world.

I have never used the 2-400, but regularly go out shooting with a guy who does. He is generally at the long end and uses a 1.4 with it often. I think Mike is right Joe, think long and hard before spunking a lot of brass on, what may be ,the wrong lens. I would heed the advice of hiring them first,see which suits you best mate.
 
gramps said:
Price-wise there isn't a vast gap between the 300 2.8 and the 200-400 f4 - but the difference for a 500 or 600 is quite considerable for anyone, let alone a young man.
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If buying new then yes bud. Joe seems to have dismissed the second hand market, which is a mistake,in my opinion. However, if he wants to buy new only,then you are indeed correct.
 
fracster said:
5/600 F4 for wildlife.

3/400 F2.8 for sports.

In an ideal world.

I have never used the 2-400, but regularly go out shooting with a guy who does. He is generally at the long end and uses a 1.4 with it often. I think Mike is right Joe, think long and hard before spunking a lot of brass on, what may be ,the wrong lens. I would heed the advice of hiring them first,see which suits you best mate.
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Will think long about the lens and most likely get my hands on the two lenses and have a play with them for a weekend each ,Also I'am personally only looking at getting new as I prefer it as a personal thing with piece of mind + Warranty etc. but may consider opening my opinions up...
 
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Joeturner11 said:
Will think long about the lens and most likely get my hands on the two lenses and have a play with them for a weekend each ,Also I'am personally only looking at getting new as I prefer it as a personal thing with piece of mind + Warranty etc. but may consider opening my opinions up...
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Fair comment on the new lens Joe, I understand your reasons, but, there is loads of good second hand stuff out there or on here even. Give Stewart a call at lensforhire,i`m sure he has those lenses available mate.
 
Joeturner11 said:
Will think long about the lens and most likely get my hands on the two lenses and have a play with them for a weekend each ,Also I'am personally only looking at getting new as I prefer it as a personal thing with piece of mind + Warranty etc. but may consider opening my opinions up...
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Buying second-hand is not an issue if you choose a good retailer. Mifsuds, MPB and many others have 6-12 month warranties on used kit. I know you get 2 years on new but for a good saving (and I'm not going to suggest whether £500 / 10% off the price is a good saving or not).

I have bought a lot of pro-level camera gear over the last 11 years, and I'd say that 50% of it has been used. I can't recall ever having had an issue within normal "new kit" warranty periods (1-2 years) of anything I have bought and it all gets used a heck of a lot - but I have had more than one "new" item have faults or be DOA. What I do know is that when I add it all up the decision I made to selective buy good quality used gear has saved me an awful lot of money....
 
Joe, if you are still considering which lens, I was at a Lake last weekend & was shooting at 420mm & f4 (300 + 1.4) - damm this is sharp..
 
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