zoom lens comparison/replacement

[Bletch]

Hi guys
I need to replace my Tamron 18-270 zoom lens which I was quite happy with until I managed to break it on day one of my holiday a few months back.

I'm probably going on a safari holiday then I return to India later this year and was thinking about a lens replacement
The same Tamron 18-270 or a Nikon 18-300. The Nikon lens is nearly £300 dearer than the Tamron model. Do you think it might be worth the extra cash?

Would a Nikon 2x TC work okay with either of these zoom lens, lose auto focus?

Cheers

 

[Gr8Shot]

The teleconverters really are for lenses at f2.8 or wider as it will add 2 stops to it. So you'll have no auto focus on anything at f4 and above apart from when the lens is not zoomed at all, but as you'll be using at its longest zoom it'll all be manual focus.
Also ensure compatiblity with tele and chosen lens as some don't work with all lenses.

The Nikon is a much better bet, but as you say way dearer too.

If you can afford it id look on flea bay for a sigma 120-400 or 150-500.

Personally I think 300 still isn't that great and you need to be reasonably close to get great shots without tonnes of cropping afterwards.

 

[Bletch]

Cheers Steve, I've been checking out the Sigma 120-400, It's cheaper than the Nikon model too that I shortlisted...so temping, but I'll miss shooting at a shorter focal length, the only other lens I have is a Sigma 10-20. I'll skip the TC for now. Thanks for your time

 

[pete.rush]

Another thing is, not all lenses are compatible with TCs.]

As for a lens for Safari, it depends on how close you can get to the wildlife, but in my experience you need 70-600/800mm so something like the sigma's will fit your requirements, the 120-400mm being just slightly faster f5.6 v 6.3 than the 150-500mm.

Your only problem might be weight of your lenses for the airlines as hand luggage