Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 vs. 300mm f4?? (1 Viewer)

[Nikonbirder513]

The headline speaks for itself does anyone own both of these lenses and can you please help me decide which to purchase i am going to yellowstone this summer and need a new beauty for my new D300 I am looking for autofocus speed, and sharp optics thank you! please help me!

 

[RJM]

All the currrent AF-S Nikon lenses are plenty sharp and fast focusing for a DX body. If you don't have any lenses at all and a US$2k budget, I suggest the Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR and Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED. Both are very sweet on the D300 and may be all you need for superb panoramas and nature portraits. All for the same price as the 300mm F4 too!

Throw in the new AF-S 35mm F1.8 for low/natural light shots inside/around your lodge. Still leaves you with a few Benjamins left over compared to the cost of the 70-200 F2.8!

For the long shots of wolves and bears you might want to consider using a Nikon ED fieldscope with dSLR adapter. This will get you to 1500mm+, far more each than you will ever have with a $10k 600mm F4!

happy holidays,
Rick

 

[Duke Leto]

HI I have both lenses and both are excellent, in optical and build quality, the 70-200vr may be one of the best lenses on the market let alone from Nikon. The 300/4 is a nice walkabout lens and takes a 1.4tc with little loss. Its a hard call as both are so nice in there own right.
What lenses have you already? if its just a general use lens your looking for that will cover a few opportunities such the 80-400vr may be a better choice.
If I were going to stack one against the other I would say that the 70-200 is a faster and marginally sharper lens than the 300 and you could increase the focal length of the 70-200 with one of the range of TC's from Nikon

It really depends on what your subject is going to be

 

[Nikonbirder513]

Thank you, i have the nikon 70-300mm f5.6 i rarely use it since it is such a dissapointment, and the other is not much better the 18-55mm. I just recently upgraded to the D300 from my D50 a big jump but i realize i now need new glass to compliment the new body. So, if i am going to invest i want quality and my budget is around $2,000. so the 70-200mm and the 300mm f4 are looking to be my best choices im leaning tword the 70-200mm f2.8 as i enjoy photographing other things besides birds. I love bird photography but this lens will be used for wildlife and landscape and basically outdoor photography. Plus te f2.8 combined with the autofocus speed of my D300 sounds like a match made in heaven.

 

[RJM]

Thank you, i have the nikon 70-300mm f5.6 i rarely use it since it is such a dissapointment, and the other is not much better the 18-55mm. ...

I love bird photography but this lens will be used for wildlife and landscape and basically outdoor photography. Plus te f2.8 combined with the autofocus speed of my D300 sounds like a match made in heaven.

That's strange as most bench tests of the 18-55mm VR show it to be one of Nikon's sharpest lenses and a great value. Same for the 70-300mm VR. Also, the D300 will automatically compensate for lens distortions and chromatic aberation, unlike your old D50, so sometimes lesser lenses get new lives. I know that was certainly the case with my 18-200 VR on the D90.

Nikon is rumored to release several new lenses in Spring including a 100-500mm zoom so it may be prudent to wait and see since you have until Summer.

Can't fault anyone for buying pro-level glass and the 70-200mm is known to be a pro workhorse lens for portraits and indoor sports. Certainly tempting too since with the release of the new VRII version the old lens is being dumped for a song, ~$1300 here in Japan.

But for me, its size/weight is alot more than I want to lug around in outdoor nature while still having to shoot at F8 anyway to minimize its corner softness for stunning Yellowstone landscapes. Plus Nikon has fast/sharper primes within the 70-200mm focal range that are cheaper and are less of handful.

cheers,
Rick

 

[Nikonbirder513]

The 18-55mm and 70-300mm that i own are not the vr versions but really a 100-500mm hopefully this will be affordable and not several thousand dollars.

 

[Duke Leto]

If you want an good all in one lens the 18-200vr from Nikon is a great walkabout lens, okay not as fast as some but for a one stop shop it does a good job. Traveled in China with just the one lens and found it a cracking unit.
If you want to see what it can do check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/dukeleto/sets/72157600272980059/ there all taken with the lens

 

[gergrd]

I have the 70-200 2.8 VR (last years version) and a Nikon 1.7 Teleconverter. This is a nice combo and is versatile, but it will exceed your $2K budget (especially if you get the new 70-200). I don't use the 70-200 often for birds as it doesn't provide enough reach (even with the TC). I have a semi-retired Nikon 80-400 which is better than the 70 - 200 for birds and quite a bit cheaper than the 70-200. But it does not focus very fast and it often gets confused between birds and branches when trying to focus on small birds. I now use a Sigma 150 - 500 VR most often as it has more reach, focuses faster and focuses more accurately than the Nikon 80-400. Image quality is as good as the 80-400 and it is "only" $1K, leaving you $1K for other glass. I had not heard about a future Nikon 100-500. I assume that it will be an AF-S VR lens, resolving the focus speed issue with the 80-400. I'd guess it would also be a $2K+ lens, (several hundred dollars more expensive than the 80 - 400. Good luck with your choice.

 

[Nikonbirder513]

Thank you i have considered the sigma 150-500mm but i was very worried about the quality and speed of the lens it seems too good to be true and from sample images i have looked at, the pictures seem somewhat soft but that could fall back on the photographer or if they were using a tripod or not. i am leaning more and more toward the 300mm f4 it seems like an all around quality lens. But i can always use fresh input.

 

[RJM]

I use the Sigma 150-500mm. It is a nice lens and quite sharp through most of the range, especially at F8 on a DX camera. The MTF curves for the lens show this to be true so any "softness" you see in posted pics is more likely due to operator error or using a FX body.

Mechanically it is kinda "noisy" to the shooter but silent to those standing next to you. Handheld shots can be very nice depending on distance of course. It will sometime hunt for focus at telephoto (a limiter would have been nice) but you can grab the focus ring at any time to manually correct.

You can also use it with a cellotape modified Sigma 1.4TC and still get Auto Focus but focus can be erratic and the lens will tend to overexpose by a full stop. Using the TC unmodified requires Manual focus (watch the focus indicator light in the viewfinder) but can produce more consistent results in sketchy light.

I have a thread somewhere here in the last year on using it with the D90 if you search.

cheers,
Rick