Looking for telephoto lens for Nikon D3200

[gabriel_herlihy]

I have recently been looking for a telephoto lens for my Nikon D3200, As I will be going on a trip to Africa and would love to capture some great images!
Going around the internet for lenses on the cheaper side is always a fun time, as it highlights the shocks off eBay.
Some of these eBay listings look fishy, and that is why I am here. Are they? I know lenses like this will not support autofocus, but as manual focus lenses would they be alright for a well set up photo?
The links to the pictures of the listings are as follows: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NXoAAOSwLa9UYFz-/s-l500.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FQ4AAOSwnklarEvO/s-l500.jpg https://harrison-cameras.s3.amazonaws.com/p/m/222502/222502.jpg

OR do I just avoid these cheaper offers all together and go with something like an official Nikon option like a 55-300mm option.
Like: https://www.mpb.com/media/cached_files/api/images/products/382226/None/pad/image.jpg https://www.mpb.com/media/cached_files/api/images/products/374001/None/pad/image.jpg https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0012UU...d-uk000-pcomp-feature-scomp-wm-5&ref=aa_scomp

As a side note, I use completely manual mode so there is no worry about incorrect aperture or any other issues that come along with a completely manual mode.
Any help would be appreciated

 

[StewartR]

Those first three lenses are cheap rubbish. Avoid. You won't capture "great" images with them.

 

[Elvis75]

Get a nikon 200-500 you wont regret it

 

[realspeed]

or the Nikon 80-400mm lens

 

[-Oy-]

The Nikon 70-300mm VR is a fine lens on a budget.

 

[Dangermouse]

As @StewartR says, the first 3 are utter rubbish and you would really be chucking your money away, have a look for the Nikon 70-300 VR or Tamron 70-300 VC they are on par quality wise and are very good for the money

 

[AgentOrange76]

Just bought a Like New Nikon 70-300mm VR from MPB for my D3400. Ordered Friday night, arrived Wednesday (chose take your time delivery option). Came in its original box wrapped really well inside a much larger box with lots of padding. It was in that good a condition it would be impossible to tell its not new and saved over £100 from new.

So far im happy with it. What I would say is that to fill a frame of something like a lion you would need to be less than 50 meters away. At that sort of range you would not get say just a head shot, if you are going to be shooting from distance (can you say that in relation to safari?) then might want something larger. Im not into wildlife so am happy with the reach of this but glad I chose the 70-300 than the 55-200.

 

[StewartR]

What I would say is that to fill a frame of something like a lion you would need to be less than 50 meters away..

With a 300mm lens on a DX camera, considerably less than 50m away. A subject measuring 2m across (the size of a lion) would fill the width of the frame at a range of 25m. Of course you probably don't want to completely fill the frame, but even so, it's easy to underestimate the focal length you'll need for wildlife photography.

 

[snerkler]

With a 300mm lens on a DX camera, considerably less than 50m away. A subject measuring 2m across (the size of a lion) would fill the width of the frame at a range of 25m. Of course you probably don't want to completely fill the frame, but even so, it's easy to underestimate the focal length you'll need for wildlife photography.

This, even 600mm isn't enough a lot of the time. Shooting a blue tit from 8ft away still doesn't fill the frame

OP what budget do you have and how much weight are you willing to carry?

 

[rob-nikon]

Like others I second none of those eBay lenses, I also would say the Nikon 70-300 vr is a great option to. It was the first telephoto lens on a D7000 a few years back. It’s a great lens for the price it can be got second hand (around £200-230).

You have forgotten the most important thing, Whats your budget? If we knew that we could give you some advise on good lenses in your price range.

Another option as it’s a special trip (safari) you could hire a lens. I’ve used lenses for hire and found them to be excellent. I’m sure they may be able to help you out with probably a better lens than you are looking at present (no need for a huge fast prime or anything like that but potentially hire a £1000-£1500 lens). I’m sure @StewartR could help you with advise if you went this route.

 

[AgentOrange76]

Just bought a Like New Nikon 70-300mm VR from MPB for my D3400. Ordered Friday night, arrived Wednesday (chose take your time delivery option). Came in its original box wrapped really well inside a much larger box with lots of padding. It was in that good a condition it would be impossible to tell its not new and saved over £100 from new.

So far im happy with it. What I would say is that to fill a frame of something like a lion you would need to be less than 50 meters away. At that sort of range you would not get say just a head shot, if you are going to be shooting from distance (can you say that in relation to safari?) then might want something larger. Im not into wildlife so am happy with the reach of this but glad I chose the 70-300 than the 55-200.

Most likley
I was basing my comments on shooting a 6 ft bird feeding pole from my Kitchen. Its about 25m away and get about 4ft of the pole in the shot at 300mm, having not been in close proximity to a lion in the last 30 years my guesstimate was conservative!

 

[GTG]

Research the lenses and stay away from cheap ebay stuff. If its very cheap then it tends to be very rubbish.

Get a lens that has good reviews and is fairly recent design.

And if buying used, get the serial number and check the date it was made if possible. It could be a 20 year old lens when you can get 3 year old examples for the same price.

You have to be careful buying used lenses because there are a lot of people about who try to catch people out and make a buck from them.

 

[gabriel_herlihy]

I thank every single person who replied to this topic, I never expected to get such a helpful community behind my back! My budget is around the £130 mark and I am just looking for something with a decent reach, and image quality. I am not concerned about auto features such as focus motors or aperture control from the camera. But again, The amount of traction this gained blew me away! Thank you so very much guys, If you see this it's great . But yea, Budget of around £130 and anything with decent distance

 

[StewartR]

I will be going on a trip to Africa and would love to capture some great images!

But yea, Budget of around £130 and anything with decent distance

Whatever your total budget for the trip to Africa is, I suggest you reallocate some of it to the photographic department.

If you insist on such a low budget, your options are basically:
(1) buy a piece of junk;
(2) buy something decent, sell it after your trip, and hope you don't lose too much in the process;
(3) hire something decent.

Obviously with option (2) or (3) you don't have any hardware to use after your trip, but that's not much of a loss considering what option (1) looks like, and at least you'd get some decent images on your trip.

Obviously I have an interest in (3) but hiring isn't right for everybody. You haven't said how long your trip is. £130 would get you something like a 2-week hire of a Nikon 200-500. For a longer trip, buying and selling can make more economic sense if you can manage the cash flow; for shorter trips hiring might be more advantageous. But either way you're at least giving yourself a chance of not being disappointed.