Suggestions on Super Telephoto

Coleman Photography

Well I shoot alot of surfing and want to get a better lens for it. right now I have the Tokina 80-400 f4.5,AT-X. Its super sharp at 200mm and even 300mm is not to bad but once over 300 its just super soft. does anyone have any ideas for me. Buying used is fine. would like to spend 2000 or less. and yes in know that is not much money for what im looking for. but I know they are out there.

DsrtVW

If you could find a used prime 300mm f2,8 and maybe add a 2x teleconverter which would give you a 600mm f5.6. You wont be getting a VR lens but I have seen some 300mm going in the 1500.00 range teleconverter will be 400 to 500.00. Or a Sigma 50-500 1000.00
500mm primes are pricey even used. I have seen manual focus go for around your price point, But that adds a challenge with moving targets.
It is a tough budget for the range you need for the subjects.

jgoetz4

DsrtVW wrote:

If you could find a used prime 300mm f2,8 and maybe add a 2x teleconverter which would give you a 600mm f5.6. You wont be getting a VR lens but I have seen some 300mm going in the 1500.00 range teleconverter will be 400 to 500.00. Or a Sigma 50-500 1000.00
500mm primes are pricey even used. I have seen manual focus go for around your price point, But that adds a challenge with moving targets.
It is a tough budget for the range you need for the subjects.

Good Afternoon,
You should be able to pick up a good used Bigma (50-500mm) for around $750, give or take. I sold my Bigma to a photographer in Alaska, then I regretted selling it. She put it on the selling block a few months later, and I bought it back with a Sigma APO EX 1.4x tc all for $700, shipped. Check my flickr site for the moon and Jupiter shots. It is a very good lens
Have a good afternoon
Jim...

jonboy61

In a roundabout solution... pick up an Olympus 4/3s body with stabilization built in, an adapter from Pentax to 4/3s and a Pentax 300mm F4. You get 600mm, stabilization but you do need to focus yourself.
The Olympus body s/b around $450 and the used lens about $400.. adapter $180.

angevin1

Coleman Photography wrote:

Well I shoot alot of surfing and want to get a better lens for it. right now I have the Tokina 80-400 f4.5,AT-X. Its super sharp at 200mm and even 300mm is not to bad but once over 300 its just super soft. does anyone have any ideas for me. Buying used is fine. would like to spend 2000 or less. and yes in know that is not much money for what im looking for. but I know they are out there.

I just bought an Older Nikon 300 f/4 prime. I also bought the kenko-pro 1.4 teleconverter. I am off to take pics next week, and can give a better report then. But so far, it looks to be a fine long tele. I may go ahead and order the Newer Sigma 150-500 with OS just to compare. All of these options are well under $2k and actually under $1k. Both are listed over at KEH.

On the teleconv. I tried to get a Nikon to fit, but had little luck in finding one. The Kenko was reviewed favorably at several sites, and once mounted I found it metered well and AF worked too....and then no notice yet of image degradation.

rookieshooter

The Bigma is the best bang for the buck super-tele, but not sure if it's fast enough for surfing. How about a 300 F4?

carmel6942

If you have not looked at the Tamron 200-500 take one. It does not have the range of the sigma Big Ma but it doesn't look like you need to go that wide.

Here is a thread with some pictures I took in August
www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=141346

I bought the Lens from a fellow dgrinner Raphy here is his flickr page with the tamron shots.
www.flickr.com/photos/photog-raphy/tags/tamron/

ian408

There are folks using the bigma and happy to be so.

Another avenue to try is the rental market. That would give you an idea what works best for you.

You might notice some lenses for sale as well as available to rent.

Photoskipper

Used to have the 70-200 F2.8 for tele shoot. bring along the 1.4X to convert it to 280 at F4 or 2X to 400 at F5.6 in the FF body.
It will be come 450 or 640 mm in 1.6 mm crop body.

I am still using such set up for travelling even though I got the 500mm F4 which was used solely for bird in country.

ian408

Photoskipper wrote:

Used to have the 70-200 F2.8 for tele shoot. bring along the 1.4X to convert it to 280 at F4 or 2X to 400 at F5.6 in the FF body.
It will be come 450 or 640 mm in 1.6 mm crop body.

I am still using such set up for travelling even though I got the 500mm F4 which was used solely for bird in country.

The 70-200 and a 1.4 TC isn't a bad combo. If you're looking for a fast prime, you should consider the 300/f2.8 and a 1.4TC. What's nice about this combo is that unlike the 500/f4, a 300 and TC is still light enough you can handhold for some shots and you're still only at f4 with the TC on board.

RayLarson

I just recently acquired a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 and use it with a Nikon 1.7 Teleconverter giving me 520mm on a crop sensor (D300) at f4.8 and the images will make your eyes bleed. I also use a Sigma 150-500 OS giving me a 750mm on a crop sensor and it is capable of very sharp images but is slow and needs good light. The Sigma is available new at about $950 and can be bught used sometimes in the $750 range. Either option will work for you.

Harryb

With your budget I would go for the 300mm f/4 with either a 1.4 or a 1.7 TC. The IQ is excellent and it focuses well even with TCs.

This was Phtozone's verdict on the 300mm f/4:

"The Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4D IF-ED is one of the few near-flawless lenses tested so far. The resolution figures are generally excellent and distortions and vignetting are basically negligible. CAs are very well under control. Adding a Nikkor AF-S 1.4x only results in a moderate decrease in resolution (about one school mark). The mechanical quality of the Nikkor is exceptionally high and it was a joy to use this lens in the field. Highly recommended! "

jgoetz4

Coleman Photography wrote:

Well I shoot alot of surfing and want to get a better lens for it. right now I have the Tokina 80-400 f4.5,AT-X. Its super sharp at 200mm and even 300mm is not to bad but once over 300 its just super soft. does anyone have any ideas for me. Buying used is fine. would like to spend 2000 or less. and yes in know that is not much money for what im looking for. but I know they are out there.

Good Afternoon,
If you're still looking, there is a Sigma 50-500mm for sale over at fredmiranda.com. Here is the link: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/859713 Good luck
Have a good afternoon
Jim...

sunflowerstudio

Is the 1.4 TX better than the 2.0 TX (Canon models)? I have the 70-200 w/ the 2.0 TX and I usually think my TX'd photos don't quite work. But, I haven't used it a lot, and I tend to push shutter speed (live in dark country).

ziggy53

sunflowerstudio wrote:

Is the 1.4 TX better than the 2.0 TX (Canon models)? I have the 70-200 w/ the 2.0 TX and I usually think my TX'd photos don't quite work. But, I haven't used it a lot, and I tend to push shutter speed (live in dark country).

Yes, the Canon 2x teleconverter has more derogatory impact to the image, especially on the 70-200mm zooms. The center can still be pretty good but the edges and especially the corners are strongly affected. If you stop down at least 2 stops from open the situation improves, but since the 2x converter already steals 2 stops of efficiency from the lens, you're left with a pretty slow lens. Focus speed and focus accuracy are also affected by the 2x more than the 1.4x converter.

The Canon prime telephoto lenses, 300mm and longer, are less affected by the 2x problems, but you can still see the difference and overall sharpness is still affected, probably more than many applications can tolerate. Then again, in strong, contrasty light, you can sometimes make it work.

The 2x converter will almost always beat cropping and a 2x upres, so if you have to use it to make a shot work, then you should try it.

DeeCajun

ziggy53 wrote:

Yes, the Canon 2x teleconverter has more derogatory impact to the image, especially on the 70-200mm zooms. The center can still be pretty good but the edges and especially the corners are strongly affected. If you stop down at least 2 stops from open the situation improves, but since the 2x converter already steals 2 stops of efficiency from the lens, you're left with a pretty slow lens. Focus speed and focus accuracy are also affected by the 2x more than the 1.4x converter.

The Canon prime telephoto lenses, 300mm and longer, are less affected by the 2x problems, but you can still see the difference and overall sharpness is still affected, probably more than many applications can tolerate. Then again, in strong, contrasty light, you can sometimes make it work.

The 2x converter will almost always beat cropping and a 2x upres, so if you have to use it to make a shot work, then you should try it.

This is absolutely correct... Focus accuracy is lost on my 2x (Penko) converter with the Canon telephoto

sunflowerstudio

Thanks for the info on the 2TX. I've been wondering if it's just me, but your descriptions accurately describe what I'm not liking about the 2X+70-200L pictures.