I want some new lenses - Nikon 70-300 and Tokina 11-16

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Pezza4u

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I've had my D5000 for a few years now and would like a couple of new lenses, which after some reading I've decided on these two.

I already have the Nikon 55-200, which I use for wildlife and trips to the zoo, plus occasionally when I go to the stock car racing. I love the lens but I would like more reach and I find it's not the quickest to auto focus, especially when panning cars. I don't want to pay new prices for one so have been looking at used and have seen some on the WEX website. They don't have any used ones at the moment but they were priced at around £250, which is cheaper than what they sell for on ebay!

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-nikon-70-300mm-f4-5-5-6-g-af-s-vr-if-ed-lens/p1014102

I'm not a big landscape photographer but would love to get into this more, especially with using a ND filter so I've been after a wide angle lens for a while. I would probably use this when I go to Norfolk several times a year so on the beach and countryside. I also enjoy photographing cars and have had great results with my 35mm and CP filter. But with this lens I obviously have to be some distance from them to get the whole car in the frame, which can be difficult at a busy show! After some reading I've decided the Tokina should be up to the job. It's pretty pricey new but I can't find many used, which are that much cheaper. There are of course the cheap new ones, which I think are grey imports? I also believe I need the DXII version for it to auto focus, is that right?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tokina-AT-X-PRO-11-16mm-DXII/dp/B007ORX8ME

If anyone has any thoughts on these or can maybe suggest a good place to buy or alternatives to consider I would be grateful :)
 
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I was looking for a 70-300 lens to replace the Sigma 70-300 macro that I had. After reading reviews and asking questions on here I settled for the Tamron 70-300 VC which I must say is a brilliant lens.
A lot of people say that the VC is better than Nikons VR!
Picked up mine in the classifieds on here for a great price.

Not used the Tokina 11-16 but a lot of people love it.
I have the Sigma 10-20 f4-f5.6 which is a great lens.
 
Tokina 11-16 is great. can get the whole car in whilst standing 1 metre from it...
See link in siggy for some shots.

As to the landscape - I remember seeing a thread all about landscape, you don't need a wide angle, but it can give some good shots.
Depends on what you want out of your landscape shots. Details, over all... You may want to try some stitching too (I think I have an album in the links with some).

Zoom; to get good quality you'll need to put down a lot of money. If you aren't sure, it may be better to rent one for a long weekend and see whether it is what you like...

I have a 300mm tair (old lens) which was 50ukp.
Had to use an adapter so the pics are soft, again have an album on the siggy for the old lens so you can see some of those.
For me, I'd be looking at a 50-500 sigma, meant to be a good all rounder and has the reach the 300 just doesn't quite satisfy... Again, depends on your subject(s)...
 
silverman said:
I was looking for a 70-300 lens to replace the Sigma 70-300 macro that I had. After reading reviews and asking questions on here I settled for the Tamron 70-300 VC which I must say is a brilliant lens.
A lot of people say that the VC is better than Nikons VR!
Picked up mine in the classifieds on here for a great price.

Not used the Tokina 11-16 but a lot of people love it.
I have the Sigma 10-20 f4-f5.6 which is a great lens.
Click to expand...

I have read about the Nikon, Tamron and Sigma lenses, with the latter being the worse performer out of the 3. The Tamron does sound very good but the Nikon seems to focus a little quicker base on what I've read. Whether that is a difference I would notice I'm not sure, I guess someone who has had both can answer that.

The biggest selling point of the Tamron over a used Nikon is the price for a new one is the same and they have a 5 year warranty. I'll have to do some more reading on the 2 lenses I think and look at some photos that have been taken with them. I suspect to my amateur eye I wouldn't notice any difference in image quality but my main concern was getting a lens that can focus a bit quicker than the Nikon 55-200 for my budget.

How much difference in reality is there between 10mm on the Sigma and 11mm on the Tokina? The Tokina lens is also a F2.8, which should be an advantage.

ecniv said:
Tokina 11-16 is great. can get the whole car in whilst standing 1 metre from it...
See link in siggy for some shots.

As to the landscape - I remember seeing a thread all about landscape, you don't need a wide angle, but it can give some good shots.
Depends on what you want out of your landscape shots. Details, over all... You may want to try some stitching too (I think I have an album in the links with some).

Zoom; to get good quality you'll need to put down a lot of money. If you aren't sure, it may be better to rent one for a long weekend and see whether it is what you like...

I have a 300mm tair (old lens) which was 50ukp.
Had to use an adapter so the pics are soft, again have an album on the siggy for the old lens so you can see some of those.
For me, I'd be looking at a 50-500 sigma, meant to be a good all rounder and has the reach the 300 just doesn't quite satisfy... Again, depends on your subject(s)...
Click to expand...

That sounds great, I didn't realise you could stand that close with a wide angle lens and still get the whole car in. I had a look at your photos, some great shots there.

I've tried taking landscape shots with my 18-55 and 35 lenses but have never been happy with them, which is mainly down to not getting everything in the frame.

The Sigma 50-500 is nearly 4 times what I want to spend though! :( Overall I've been happy with the 55-200 I have but would like that little bit more reach, it's not very often I need to zoom further than that.
 
carlosftw said:
Not really any point in getting the 11-16 2.8 when there's now the 11-20 2.8. Around the same price too.
Click to expand...

The 11-20 is around £100 more, apart from abit more reach is there any major differences between them? TBH the cost of the 11-16 was already pushing it. I have been considering getting it from this seller on ebay, they have sold a few and get good feedback - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Tokin...Lens-for-NIKON-in-UK-RM-NextDay-/331486407431

Probably a grey import though, what are Tokina like for warranties on these? Considering it's cheaper than what used ones sell for it could still be worth buying, it's not like a used one has a warranty.
 
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So I've been doing alot reading over the last few days and think I'm nearly ready to buy!

A grey import Nikon 70-300 is £330, which comes with 1 years warranty from Hdew, saving £100 from the high street price. If I go for this one then I might as well get an import over used and £430 is too much for me. Both this and the Tamron seem to be the same when it comes to quality and focus speed, with the main difference being the price. The VC on the Tamron can be a little slow to engage apparently and some Nikon's have had the VR fail. The other benefit of the Nikon lens is it will work with newer bodies should I upgrade, whereas the Tamron might not. I am swaying towards the Tamron at the moment though, purely for the 5 year warranty it comes with.

The Tokina 11-20 doesn't seem to get many reviews compared to the 11-16, even though it's been out for a while now, however it does sound like it's as good as the 11-16. There is £45 difference between the 11-16 DXII and the 11-20, so with the latter being newer it might be better getting this one.

Any more thoughts?
 
Consider the Tokina 12-24 too. I use it for landscapes. It's a great lens.
 
dentonkarl said:
Consider the Tokina 12-24 too. I use it for landscapes. It's a great lens.
Click to expand...

I didn't look at this one but did consider it's replacement, which is the 12-28. I do like my bokeh's though and have seen some great shots with the 11-20, which is f2.8 compared to f4. Plus there does seem to be quite a difference between 11 and 12mm.
 
I now have 2 new lenses! :D

I ordered the Tokina 11-20 for next day delivery so I could take it away with me and unfortunately the courier never bothered to deliver it! A neighbour took it in while I was a way so have only had a quick play indoors. I'm impressed with how much difference in zoom there is between 11mm and 20mm, I definitely can't wait to try it out properly.

As this lens didn't turn up before I went away I went to SRS as they're local and bought the Tamron 70-300 VC. My first impression was this is heavy compared to my Nikon 55-200, I think the lens on its own weighs more than my D5000 and 55-200 together. I use a sling strap so it wasn't too bad and I could hold it in my hand to take the weight off my shoulder.

I've not used it that much as the weather was rubbish but I'm really impressed with the quality and photos seem sharper on this than the 55-200.

Probably not the best subject but here is one that I took :)

27557698435_9e9d29cfc0_b.jpg
 
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