Nikon 70-300 VR

[Ziggy]

Hi,

Looking for some advice on the above lens.

I like to shoot Speedway, so fast moving bikes, but only every go to the daytime meetings when light is good.

Do I need a f2.8 lens for this or will the above lens be good enough for my needs.

Pretty new to all this but I believe that the f2.8 will give me a better chance of good shots when light is low; is this the only reason or is their more to it than that?

Appreicate all help.

 

[Naboo32]

Hi,

Looking for some advice on the above lens.

I like to shoot Speedway, so fast moving bikes, but only every go to the daytime meetings when light is good.

Do I need a f2.8 lens for this or will the above lens be good enough for my needs.

Pretty new to all this but I believe that the f2.8 will give me a better chance of good shots when light is low; is this the only reason or is their more to it than that?

Appreicate all help.

This post answers the second part of your query. The first part (which I only saw upon re-reading) makes me think that you would be OK using the 70-300mm in daylight.

My own personal experience, from trying to shoot wildlife with that particular lens in less than great light, leads me to say that I wouldn't bother with it unless you can push the ISO to very high levels on your camera to get the shutter speeds up (or unless you want lots of motion blur ).

A bigger aperture will increase your shutter speed, yes. At the long end, the 70-300mm VR lens has a max aperture of f/5.6. If, for instance, metering in low light (at f/5.6) the camera tells you that you need a shutter speed of 1/100th sec (probably too slow for speedway), an f/2.8 aperture lens in the same lighting conditions would allow you to shoot at 1/400th sec (which is probably nearer to where you want to be to freeze action and avoid any camera shake blur).

In good light (especially when stopped down to f/8 and not zoomed all the way out), the 70-300mm VR can produce stunning results, but without decent daylight, the AF will struggle to lock, the shutter speeds will be too slow (compared to an f/2.8 lens) and the VR can do nothing much to help you out with either of those problems :shrug:.

Of course, the 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 costs about 400GBP, whereas an f/2.8 300mm lens .....

Just my $0.02

 

[lawrenceots]

I love the 70-300 VR - I think it'd do you just fine, and its a price thats hard to beat...