Advice on Super Telephoto lens for Nikon

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Fullfast

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Simon
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Need some advice

I am in the market for a Super Telephoto zoom lens for my d80....i was going to use the Nikon Teleconverter 20 but looking at the compatibility chart shows that my 70 - 300mm is the only sodding lens that it will not work with....

Price range upto approx 850GBP and am looking for approx 600 - 800 mm.....dont mind a lens needing a teleconverter but must be fairly quick as it is for Air shows/Motorsport and the Shuttle launch in September

Any recommendations....ideas would be gratefully recieved
 
Fairly quick at 600-800mm is going to cost a lot more than £850 I'm afraid, there's the sigma 50-500 or 150-500 you could probably pick up s/h for that sort of cost, then another £100 + for a used teleconverter, they won't give you mega small fstops but they are very good quality optics
 
The 70-300 VR will work ok with the kenko 1.4 TC.
 
i heard a rumour that the 70-300 works with converters its just the locating pin stopping it - i know the 1.4 1.7 and 2 dont fit mine for that reason - not sure how true this is though so dont get the grinder out lol
 
600-800mm is serious territory - especially if you want to keep the IQ up.

Best bet, the Nikkor 600 f4 and a 1.4x TC. Should rock... and cost about 7 thousand quid.

Hmmm ok, not that then.

Other options:

Nikon AFS 300 f4 and a 2x TC - the IQ will suck and AF probably won't work on your D80. Will cost you about 1200 quid for this combo.

Nikon AFS 300 f2.8 and a 2x TC - the IQ will be better but once you have seen what the 300 2.8 looks like without the TC, you'll never want to fit it again. Will cost you about the 4000 quid mark.

Some sort of Sigma 11-800mm f27 lens. The IQ will suck, assuming the day has enough daylight to allow the subject to be seen in the gloom and will cost you about 1400 quid.

A quick question though, do you really need that kinda length for airshows? Most people on here generally are shooting about 300mm. An aircraft in the sky nearby or further away is pretty much the same isn't it?? I've shot a few airshows and I'd probably choose some kind of zoom that gives me about 300mm at the long end. Maybe the Nikon 80-400? Its not particularly well regarded for fast focus, but at the distances aircraft are at, I think it should be ok.

Hire one and find out for yourself?
 
A Sigma 170-500mm should be in your price range. I used to have one was very good at air shows

Dougie
 
rich315 said:
i heard a rumour that the 70-300 works with converters its just the locating pin stopping it - i know the 1.4 1.7 and 2 dont fit mine for that reason - not sure how true this is though so dont get the grinder out lol
Click to expand...

No it won't work with Nikon convertors You will physically damage the rear elemnt of the lens if you try to fit it.
 
Fullfast said:
More thinking about the Shuttle launch in September where I will more than likely be 1.5 - 2 miles away providing I get tickets.....or 3.5 - 4 miles away if I dont.......
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Some kind of nice wide shot is best for that... unless you have serious mega bucks. It will look nice anyway, the effect of the launch is dramatic even at 10mm and 5 miles away.

Don't expect that you can get NASA official type photos using anything less than absolute top end gear and being closure than any member of the public is allowed.
 
Here's some from when I had mine

deer1.jpg


deer2.jpg


deer3.jpg


seal1.jpg


birdfence.jpg


All hand held shots
 
Fullfast said:
More thinking about the Shuttle launch in September where I will more than likely be 1.5 - 2 miles away providing I get tickets.....or 3.5 - 4 miles away if I dont.......
Click to expand...

Sorry closest point with tickets nowadays is 6.5-7 miles away.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Shuttle_Launch_Viewing.html

You will get some great pictures though.

I was fortunate enough back in the early 90's to go and view from the roof of one of the NASA buildings. We had voice comms piped to us and an Astonaut with us to question throughout the countdown.
 
Those wide Shuttle-launch pix are shot on pre-positioned remote cameras. Lots of tales abound of Pro toggers kicking one another's tripods over in the swampy-land that they have allocated for them by NASA...
There's also horror-stories of overnight storms drenching kit, washing it away etc etc etc - the cameras have to be pre-postioned no later than 24 hours before the launch and Togs aren't allowed to return to them after that - imagine the fun with rain, hail, sleet, condensation after a freezing-cold night outdoors in a swamp etc.
The long-shots are taken on either 600mm primes plus TCs or custom-made optics specially made for NASA by Nikon, with the resulting images farmed-out in a pool system to the various wire services.
 
Love those pics hairy......

Update on situation.....well wife agreed to go halves with me as my 40th b'day pressie so went and bought the 50-500mm Sigma at lunch along with the corresponding filter.....another 96 GBP....GULP......

Hopefully going to get out with it this weekend if the weather is good enough.........
 
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