Nikon Lens Dilemma

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Neil.
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I was always happy with my Nikon 70 - 300 G lens on my D7200 but since moving to a D750 I've become disappointed with its capabilities. I was original considering replacing it with the 70 - 200 f4 but then thought I would miss the range through to 300mm (especially coming from a crop body (yes I know all about that being an illusion and its just the field of view that changes)). My thoughts then moved on to the newer Nikon 70-300 P lens.

Is there anyone out there who has had real world experience of upgrading from the G to P on a D750 and was it worth it?

My other lens is the 24-120 f4 and if I did decide on the 70 - 200 f4 to augment it , would the overlap be too great to offer much benefit?

Regards
Neil.
 
It all depends on what subjects you used the 70-300 for and what focal lengths you used the most. What are you disappointed by with the 70-300? AF speed? Sharpness? What subjects/genre are you thinking of using it for?

I have both the 24-120 f4 and 70-200 f4 that I’m currently using on a D810 (previously on a D750). As a combo they work really well. The long end of the 24-120 lens isn’t at its best at 70mm onwards so that pushes me to use the 70-200 once past 70mm. What I like about the long end of the 24-120 is you can test out the 70-120 range to see if those focal lengths work better for the composition before changing lenses.

I saw the recent thread about the 70-300 price drop and cash back offer but I find the 70-200 f4 takes a 1.4 teleconverter quite well. that gives you up to 280mm f5.6 but still having the benefit of f4 over the 70-200 range without the teleconverter, so for me it didn’t make any sense getting the 70-300 P as a lightweight zoom option. TBH Ive got a 300 f2.8 too so that’s my go to long lens for wildlife. If I’m doing landscapes or wildlife parks the 70-200 f4 is a great lens and lightweight too.
 
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Thanks for your reply.

The problem I have with my current 70-300 is a lack of sharpness although it was fine on the D7200. I have heard of others having similar issues.


I like your idea of the 70 - 200 coming into play before the 24-120 maxes out. I also hadn't considered the teleconverter.

Something to think about, thanks.
 
Thanks for your reply.

The problem I have with my current 70-300 is a lack of sharpness although it was fine on the D7200. I have heard of others having similar issues.

Lack of sharpness will be because full frame uses the whole lens circle whereas crop bodies only use the centre of a full frame lens which is usually the sharpest area of a lens. The 70-200 f4 is pretty sharp. It’s supposed to be sharper than the 70-200 f2.8 VR2 but not as sharp as the latest 70-200 f2.8 E lens.
 
I only got to thinking about the P version of the 70-300 when the price drop and cash back was mentioned on here.
I cant justify the latest f2.8 E for the little use I will give it but I think I'm back on track for the f4 ( + teleconvertor).

Cheers.
 
I tend to do just single shots.
Any gaps in shooting I turn the camera off.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
 
The problem I have with my current 70-300 is a lack of sharpness although it was fine on the D7200. I have heard of others having similar issues.
That's odd.

The D7200 is *much* more demanding on lens sharpness than the D750 - same number of pixels but on a DX sensor. If you had an FX sensor with the same pixel density as the D7200, it would have 54 megapixels.

I think there's something else going on which is affecting your judgement of the lens, and I think it's related to the switch from DX to FX. Are you using the lens at 300mm (where it's weakest) more than you used to? Are you cropping heavily, leaving yourself with a low pixel count, more than you used to?

If that's the case then perhaps the answer is not a better 70-300, but a longer lens.
 
Lack of sharpness will be because full frame uses the whole lens circle whereas crop bodies only use the centre of a full frame lens which is usually the sharpest area of a lens. The 70-200 f4 is pretty sharp. It’s supposed to be sharper than the 70-200 f2.8 VR2 but not as sharp as the latest 70-200 f2.8 E lens.

The 70-200f4 I had was a peice of crap with soft unuseable corners even stopped down. The 2.8e version is incredible with pretty much uniform sharpness accorss the entire frame. It is a wonderful wonderful lens and I will not be parted with it.

For extra length I'd be looking at a 200-400, 300 2.8,

200-500 on a budget.
 
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why not get the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 G ED lens , quick to focus good VR and sharp. I love mine.

Neil if you are ever in East Sussex Bexhill area you are welcome to try out mine
 
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why not get the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 G ED lens , quick to focus good VR and sharp. I love mine.

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Thanks guys for all your responses - I have much to think about.

Neil if you are ever in East Sussex Bexhill area you are welcome to try out mine[/QUOTE - Very kind of you sir, I'll let you know how things progress.
 
That's odd.

The D7200 is *much* more demanding on lens sharpness than the D750 - same number of pixels but on a DX sensor. If you had an FX sensor with the same pixel density as the D7200, it would have 54 megapixels.

I think there's something else going on which is affecting your judgement of the lens, and I think it's related to the switch from DX to FX. Are you using the lens at 300mm (where it's weakest) more than you used to? Are you cropping heavily, leaving yourself with a low pixel count, more than you used to?

If that's the case then perhaps the answer is not a better 70-300, but a longer lens.

Stewart. I think you might be on to something here. I have cropped heavily without even realising and have pushed the 300mm end more than usual.
 
By way of an update.

The 80-400 was very tempting but I could not justify the cost for what I do.

The 70 - 200 F4 is still a contender but I went for the 70-300 P version on the basis that ; it retails at £519, with £90 cash back and £175 part ex for my old G version, all up cost to me £254.00. At that price I thought it worth a punt and not too much to try and recoup if things don't work out. Not done a great deal with it so far but early indications are this lens offers (for me) a significant improvement over the G version.

Will probably give the F4 a try alongside when one comes up at the right price.
 
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