70-200 F2.8 OR 80-400 F5.6 ?

[Hertsman]

For general use really. I shhot at Silverstone on occasion and struggle a bit for length and or speed.
Would be on a D300 and current long glass is Nikkor 70-300 AFS.

 

[EdwardL]

How about a prime, e.g. 300mm and a 1.4x extender to take it to 420mm? Should be better quality. Alternatively perhaps a 150-600 Tamron?

I'm not sure of the prices of all these so I could be well off the mark here.

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•
…or the 70~200 ƒ 2,8 + TC 17 / TC 20?

 

[Hertsman]

Should have said in my original post that a tc would be used for lenght as required....

 

[Kodiak Qc]

…or the 70~200 ƒ 2,8 + TC 17 / TC 20?

•
With this combination, when not using the TC,
you still have a ƒ 2,8!

 

[Diving Pete]

I have both lenses...

70-200 this is an awesome lens and my goto lens for lots of situations. Takes a 1.4 tell very well, the 1.7 & 2.0 less so

80-400 I only find this an an OK lens - but I'm comparing it to far more expensive lenses...

 

[Hertsman]

Thanks Pete.

If you needed say 400 for once a year and would appreciate the better quality and speed of the 2.8 would you even consider the 80-400 ?

 

[Diving Pete]

No

 

[Diving Pete]

I'd Now get the 200-500

 

[Diving Pete]

I normally use the 300 & 400 2.8's.

 

[Hertsman]

All three of those are to focussed for my needs.

 

[gramps]

200-500 is reported to have slow AF ... how about the 300 f4 PF VR with optional TC's?

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•
The two coolest features of the 70~200 ƒ 2,8 are
• the large aperture
• the IF

 

[Diving Pete]

The 70-200 & a 1.4 tele on a crop will be damm good...

I have used it that way in the past before I got my 300.

 

[GHP]

Thanks Pete.

If you needed say 400 for once a year and would appreciate the better quality and speed of the 2.8 would you even consider the 80-400 ?

NO.
If I needed 400 only once a year, I would hire the best 400 for that occasion.
Also I would buy the 70-200 f2.8.

 

[rob-nikon]

If your current 70-300 is too short the 70-200 (even though it's a far better lens) will also be too short. I recommend the 70-200 with the 1.4tc (TC-14EII in my case) as it still gives good performance. I've never got on with the 1.7x or 2x Teleconverters on the 70-200. Another option is the 300mm f4 (VR or non VR) witha 1.4tc to get to 420mm.

This video may help you see how Teleconverters affect focus speed.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eJEc4bwE9nk


If you only need it once a year it's likely to be cheaper to hire. I'm guessing you are going to know when you are visiting silverstone in advance so that makes hiring easy.