Need New Lens Advice

[George]

Evening all,
Using a Nikon at the minute, want to take the planespotting abit further, cant really get alot of the 18-55.

Was wondering if anyone could give me some advice/steer me in the right direction of lenses, what mm ect.

Much Appriciated

George

[Angry Turnip]

I would recommend you go for something in the 70-300mm range at least to get anything half decent photo`s wise.

Nikon`s Nikkor range are pricey but you could look for something by another manufacture such as Sigma,Tamron etc.

Recommend www.warehouseexpress.com or you could try Amazon who have some good deals at the minute.

For example,these two lenses has very good spec and a good price.
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-tamron-70-300mm-f4-5-6-di-with-af-motor-nikon-fit/p1030157


http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-sigma-70-300mm-f4-5-6-apo-macro-super-dg-lens-nikon-fit/p1008565

They have a good range of stuff and sensible prices or you could try ebay,but I would avoid the HongKong/China sellers as they have many hidden extra costs etc.

Read up on things as much as possible before you spend your cash.
Shop around as there are some good deals to be had.

[kingsavo]

The best lens for you to start with (what I use) would be the 55-200mm VR. It will only be useful if you have a smaller DX camera like D40 upto D300 but this lens is very versatile! Can be picked up on Amazon for under 200 quid at the minute.

[Dave]

Some good advice above. What is your price limit for this lens? The lens is more important than the camera body as the lens is what gives you the quality.

Here's several options;

1) Nikon 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 AF-S DX Lens - £189

2) Nikon 55-200mm f4.0-5.6 AF-S VR DX Lens - £239

3) Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 AF-S VR Lens - £429

VR lens are more expensive but they produce better quality photographs and well worth the extra investment.

As mentioned above, alternately you could get a Sigma or Tamron lens such as;

4) 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG OS - £399

5) 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro - £229 although this lens is a macro which meaning  it's more suitable for macro shots than distance aircraft shots.

Above are just several examples of lens you could buy, personally, I would go with the 3 option, the 70-300mm VR lens for £429. Well worth the price and you could probably buy it for cheaper if you look around. Kingsavo's 55-200mm VR lens is also a good choice but might be a little bit limiting but should be good for Belfast City and Belfast international airports.

Hope this helps a little...

Dave

[George]

Great guys cheers

[CanonJohns40d]

I have also been considering a "larger" telephoto lens for aviation photography. I have a Canon 40D and the 70-300 is usm lens is the biggest I currently own.

Anyhow the Autumn 2009 issue of Digital Camera Magazine did a group test on "super telephoto lenses". They tested the Canon 100-400, Nikon 80-400, Olympus Zuiko 70-300, Sigma 50-500, Sigma 120-400, Sigma 150-500, Tamron 200-500 and Tokina 80-400. Prices ranged from ££1,290 to £559 with the 120-400 Sigma in the mid range.

The test consisted of the lenses mounted on various D-SLR bodies tripod mounted. Handheld was also tested as well as static and moving targets.

These tests resulted in the Sigma 120-400 topping the bill with 92% while the 150-500 Sigma got 90% The Canon 88% the Nikon 80%. The Two Sigmas were awarded the Editor's choice. The magazine stated re the 150-500 "Bigger, heavier and more expensive than the Sigma 120 400mm, this nevertheless gives some extra telephoto reach". Regarding the 120-400mm they said "Packed with useful features and great image quality, the Sigma 120-400mm is impossible to beat at this price. Sharpness and contrast were extremely good throughout the zoom range, matching or exceeding the overall image quality of some lenses on test that cost twice the price".

Anyhow I hope this helps. Having a budget to keep to I have decided what Santa is bringing me.

John

[Angry Turnip]

I also have a Canon 40D and use a Sigma 150-500mm: I think it is a fantastic lens.

[Dave]

I have the Canon 100-400mm however I havn't been too happy with it and had actually considered selling it to buy either a Sigma 120-400mm or a Sigma 150-500mm. Nothing beats a good long range shot at 400 or 500mm 

The Canon 40D and 150-500mm is a great combination, well infact the Canon 40D and any lens is a great combination!

[Blackbird]

Would a x1.7 tele-converter along with a 70-300mm lens be a good combo,or does a tele-converter affect (slow down) the auto focus?

[casper]

Depends on the converter - some allow full autofocus others just manual focus. Also remember that when you add a tele-converter you decrease the fastest aperture that can be used e.g. f5.8 might become f8.

[Dave]

I think the maximum sized teleconverter that can be used with the normal 70-300mm lens is a 1.4x converter, anything larger and you will have to focus the camera manually. However even the 1.4x converter and 70-300mm lens is not guarteed to work, unless the light is good.
 
As Casper mentioned, a 1.4x converter will drop the lenss fastest aperature from F5.8 to F8. It should be noted that most camera's will not automatically focus if the fastest aperature is only F8.
 
Despite the extra range teleconverter's can give you, there is a significant drop in image quality so many people do not recommend them.
 
I have a 1.5x teleconverter which I can lend to someone if they want to try it out at any point. It fits a Canon camera.
 
Dave