Soccer and 300mm lens - D300

Zone99

Hi,

Columbus Day weekend is coming up and, with it, Soccer tournaments. I have a Nikon D300 and, as my limited brain understands it, the sensor being cropped means focal lengths are multiplied by 1.5 (turning a 50mm into a 75mm).

Usually I rent a Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom lens for these tournaments.

This year, I thought of going with a fixed focal length of 300mm f/4. My understanding is that this will be the equivalent of a 450mm lens, correct?

I will likely miss the zoom aspect but I think I can correct for that with where I sit but, before I pass on the zoom, I'm just curious if I have this thinking right?

I liked the 80-400mm because it let me get ALL the way across the field. Does that mean it was giving me the equivalent of 600mm at the long end?

I'd trade some distance for the extra stop though.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

asp87

Reading this will help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_DX_format

The 80-400mm is a FX lens and so is the 300 f/4. If you used the 80-400 @ 400mm on your D300 you'd come up with the same amount of zoom as a 600mm FX lens on a FX body. You'd be losing 150mm of equivalent zoom if you got the 300mm f/4.

For a sporting event where your subject could be 10' from you or 200' away, I don't think I'd want to give up the zoom feature. Fast primes are nice, but they have their niches. Unless you want to be running around as much as the players, my vote would be to stick with the 80-400.

Mark1616

If you want sharp, zoom and constant f4 then go with the Sigma 100-300mm f4, assuming it is offered by the company you hire from. It also takes a 1.4x tc very well if you did need the extra reach, taking you to a constant f5.6.

Zone99

Mark1616 wrote: »

If you want sharp, zoom and constant f4 then go with the Sigma 100-300mm f4, assuming it is offered by the company you hire from. It also takes a 1.4x tc very well if you did need the extra reach, taking you to a constant f5.6.

I can check to see if they have that range of zoom but I shy away from the Sigmas. I've rented the Sigma 120-400mm and it hasn't been a great.

Mark1616

Zone99 wrote: »

I can check to see if they have that range of zoom but I shy away from the Sigmas. I've rented the Sigma 120-400mm and it hasn't been a great.

I can understand that but there is really no comparison between the two. The 100-300 has almost prime like sharpness and great AF. Check out what people are saying over at FM reviews, it's the 2nd highest rated zoom in the Sigma line.

T. Bombadil

Zone99 wrote: »

This year, I thought of going with a fixed focal length of 300mm f/4. My understanding is that this will be the equivalent of a 450mm lens, correct?

I will likely miss the zoom aspect but I think I can correct for that with where I sit but, before I pass on the zoom, I'm just curious if I have this thinking right?

I liked the 80-400mm because it let me get ALL the way across the field. Does that mean it was giving me the equivalent of 600mm at the long end?

I'd trade some distance for the extra stop though.

your understanding of the crop factor is correct.

i agree that the extra stop is worth giving up some reach.

where do you sit when you photograph these events? the soccer games that i have photographed have been in small towns, where we have no seat risers - so i stand on the same level ground as the players. that means any action i might want to photograph on the other end of the field is likely obscured by other players between that action and my position.

that makes me tend to be happy with my 70-300 (would love it to have more light-gathering ability, but it is enough reach).

i wouldn't want to try to get photos of a soccer game with a fixed length lens.