Darn it.. .Need a 200-400 lens... Help?

Bayer-Z28

Can someone help me find an affordable 200-400 lens for my D80? I like AF too...

I got the 18-200 Nikon VR lens when I bought the camera, but it doesn't get as close as I need for birding.. I'm also noticing that the quality of the Nikon lens isn't what I expected... The clarity isn't there..

What kind of lens would you guys/gals recomend??

rockport5

Get the 200 2.0VR and the TC 1.7 .
The 200-400 is good i think only for the D3, i don't like the f/4 on dx cameras especial for low light situations or fast moving subjects .

Bayer-Z28

mine's the 200 3.5f VR.. Something's off with this camera... not as sharp as I expected... Suspect lens... Then again, everything here is so grey it's unreal.. This camera hasn't seen vivid color yet... I'm gonna go to the space museum here in a min and try some color shots..

2.0VR eh??

sib

??

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

mine's the 200 3.5f VR..

2.0VR eh??

I'm pretty sure Nikon does not make a 200 f/3.5 VR lens.

The 200 f/2.0 VR is beautiful, though.

The 200-400 f/4.0 is also great, but very very pricey...

jonh68

I got the 18-200 Nikon VR lens when I bought the camera, but it doesn't get as close as I need for birding.. I'm also noticing that the quality of the Nikon lens isn't what I expected... The clarity isn't there..

Got an example of the clarity issue? I have no complaints in regards to sharpness or clarity for my lens.

You may also want to look at the 300 f/4 and a 1.4 converter.

Art Scott

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

Can someone help me find an affordable 200-400 lens for my D80? I like AF too...

I got the 18-200 Nikon VR lens when I bought the camera, but it doesn't get as close as I need for birding.. I'm also noticing that the quality of the Nikon lens isn't what I expected... The clarity isn't there..

What kind of lens would you guys/gals recomend??

You might want to take a look over at Sigma........link to SIGMA USA lenses....not only are their lenses really really great but they are making some of them with Optical Stabilization (OS).....might I suggest also for birding or animals in the wild of any kind the Sigma BIG MA (50-500) or the smaller version the 180-500....one of these might be a viable lens for you and your hobby.



edit to add link to SIGMA USA LENS listings

Bayer-Z28

jonh68 wrote:

Got an example of the clarity issue? I have no complaints in regards to sharpness or clarity for my lens.

You may also want to look at the 300 f/4 and a 1.4 converter.

Here's two I grabbed today, No problems here... Some PS'ing.. Levels adjust, contrast, some curves, stroke and border... THis does pretty good as long as you're not too close, I don't like taking my lens off.. it's VERY dusty here!!!!!!!!!! -Desert of NM..





Problem pic sample.. May be an f issue.. No PS'ing here.. The color in this area is terrible, unless you go out of your way.. You really have to hunt for it.. Challenging terrain..
Full sized link.. Not as clear as the resized seems to be..
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/6438/birds3tt5.jpg

Bayer-Z28

sib wrote:

I'm pretty sure Nikon does not make a 200 f/3.5 VR lens.

The 200 f/2.0 VR is beautiful, though.

The 200-400 f/4.0 is also great, but very very pricey...

The VR on this lens is VERY nice, tho!!! INSTANT notice of it as soon as you go to focus!! I'm in love with that! It may just be my subjects/target, or the fact that I drink a lot of coffee and there for I'm jittery.. -Normal..

Nikon Zoom Super Wide Angle-Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR II Autofocus Lens

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/408518-USA/Nikon_2159_18_200mm_f_3_5_5_6G_ED_IF_AF_S.html

nightowlcat

Yes, you do have to watch for floating gysum from White Sands out there. When you're shooting, are you using the tripod? If so, do you turn VR off when on the tripod? I've seen some fantastic shots come from the 18-200.

If you go up in the mountains, past the tunnel, there's a spot to pull off and gawk at the scenery there. Long time ago, I went down that ravine to shoot some snaps with a Polaroid camera (all I had at the time) and discovered a little creek down there. Just be careful though, there were plenty of snake holes in the ground there, when I was down there was late November when they were hibernating..

You also have the Lincoln National Forest, Cloudcroft, and other unique places up in those mountains to shoot, and if you go towards Las Cruces, you also have the Organ Mountains to shoot on the other side.

Mitchell

You really can't expect much from your consumer grade 18-200mm lens. Most report that lens is soft at the long end. Not to mention the fact that it is very slow compared to better quality lenses. This is certainly not a birding lens!

The first thing you need is reach. A minimum of 300mm or longer.

The second thing you need is speed. Depending on your lighting, most would argue that f4 or faster is necessary.

I'm not even going to go into the whole tripod and head issue which you need to address at this focal length.

This leaves you with Nikkor 300mm, f4 ( a nice lens but not particularly fast), Nikkor 300mm, f2.8 (lengendary lens with great optics and speed but pricey!), or the 200mm-400mm zoom (which is a nice birding lens in good light at f4 at about the same price ($4,500) as the 300mm, f2.8).

Bayer-Z28

^ Holy good god that's expensive!!!!! That'll have to be on the back burner for a while at that price!! $1200 yeah, $4500 WOAH!~!!

nightowlcat

Here's a couple a little closer to your comfort zone

Nikon Auto Focus
80-400 F4.5-5.6 D ED VR (77) 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS

Nikon Auto Focus
300 F4 ED INTERNAL FOCUS (39/82) WITH CAPS 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS TELEPHOTO LENS

Telecorder

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

^ Holy good god that's expensive!!!!! That'll have to be on the back burner for a while at that price!! $1200 yeah, $4500 WOAH!~!!

Consensus best bets for 500-mm birding/wild life are:

300 f/4 + TC
Tamron 200-500 Di
Bigma 50-500

w/good technique, the 80-400 has its proponents

The newer Sigmas, 120-400 & 150-500 w/OS & HSM are just now getting delivered. The calculated MTFs on these two new lenses seem promising (as good/slight improvement on the Bigma's) and one Canon user in Japan has posted his initial 'snap shots' that seem promising of the 150-500.
http://picasaweb.google.co.jp/cermaktomas

I'd recommend waiting a few weeks to se the formal reviews of the new 150-500 and, if it pans out, would be my recommendation

I have a lot of long reach alternative review links posted at--
http://www.dslrgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2726#post2726

For me, my non-DG Bigma fulfills all I had hoped for/have asked of it...