New Lens for Nikon D40

[Whiternoise]

Hehe, you won't find many fans of Ken on many other sites.

Haha, oh dear..

Time to Think - Ken Rockwell Facts

It just came as one of the google searches when i was looking at reviews for the D40 and it seemed fairly succint (i'll state now that i didn't solely base my purchase on that review!)

[icanhazburger]

Thanks for the comprehensive list there Flibb.

I'm tempted by this

Tamron 70-300mm f4.0-5.6 Di LD Macro Lens - Best Price at Bristol Cameras

Going to find some reviews 1st though, I maybe on a budget but I'm not going to buy something no good purely because its cheap.

[icanhazburger]

My local shop said they'd do the

Sigma 70-300mm f/4,0-5,6 DG APO Macro New

for 170.

[this_is_gav]

Even Jessops do it for nearly half that. Am I missing something?

[Flibb]

Even Jessops do it for nearly half that. Am I missing something?

Your missing the APO bit


If that £170 is deffinately the HSM lens I would seriously look at it. If your not desperate for the 300mm end I would also look at the Nikon 55-200 VR.

Cant get on Bristol cameras at the moment, but the HSM models are new so worth waiting for user reviews. I have the old non HSM and non APO version of the sigma and was happy with it until using better lenses in the field. I think most lenses in this price bracket will be similar.

[this_is_gav]

Your missing the APO bit

First Google result for the HSM version - £130, which seems the going rate. Sorry, I wasn't aware there was a 70-300 without HSM/APO (rather short-sighted of me, as most of them appear to be derivatives of previous ones).

APO version cheaper still at £115

[Flibb]

That £130 is a very good price, think microglobe are grey import, but on a £130 lens who cares.

For my interest I would get the sigma over the Nikon, but I want the 300 end for birds.

Will probably be getting the Nikon to compliment my bigma.

[icanhazburger]

I'm going for the Sigma 70-300mm f/4,0-5,6 DG APO Macro New, hopefully have it tomorrow or Friday. I shall post my thoughts on it.

[Whiternoise]

Could anyone recommend a lens for the D40 that would be good for airshows?

Preferably reasonably cheap too

[colmo]

Could anyone recommend a lens for the D40 that would be good for airshows?

Preferably reasonably cheap too

The famous 'Bigma' (Sigma 50-500mm. of which there have been a few versions now) has a dedicated following amongst airshow enthusiasts.

The main reason for this is that it provides long telephoto when you need it, yet also has a 50mm short end for taking snaps of planes on the ground, closer up. It also has a HSM in-lens AF motor, which is very quiet and reasonably swift (as long lenses go, depending on your camera's AF).

The current version is the APO 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX DG HSM.

Have a browse around the net - there's a fair bit of technique involved too (focusing, metering, composition, minimum useful shutter speeds etc.)

Edit: There are two kinds of long telephoto lenses - good ones, and cheap ones...

[Whiternoise]

Yeah, 600 isn't really what i'd describe as.. cheap

I've had a look at the Nikkor 18-200mm, which looks pretty good, albeit quite expensive. So long as i can get decent runway shots (in the air doesn't really bother me because i'd have to spend rather a lot to get a decent picture), i'm not that concerned.

[Bobster]

get a Prime for airshows i know a guy who has a 400mm f5.6 and its a cracking bit of kit, i've even used it with a 2x tele converter (tho' i had to shoot with manual focus)

and for what you get with the bigma, its good value for money!

400


400 with 2x tele


alternative to a prime would be a 70-200 2.8 with 2x tele you'll be @ 5.6 and loose 2 stops of light, but its not that bad once you get used to it

[Whiternoise]

Nice shots

But once again, price is of the essence here - i'm but a poor student

And the Nikon version of that lens, that'll work with the D40, is over a grand!

With the prime lenses generally, are you stuck with one fixed focal length? Just wondering how it works in terms of zoom, or do you just point it and it'll focus on the distance you want?

[Bobster]

Primes are fixed focal length, so 400mm is the only focal distance, great for birding/aircraft/sports (and usually cheaper than the equiv zoom)

being a student is what spending money is all about isn't it? put something large on the student loan and pay it off in 10 years time

you could also try ebay..

[Whiternoise]

Heh, spending money yes, but for an event that happens maybe once a year for me i'd rather get a lens that i can use in other situations and is a bit more flexible - hence looking at the 18-200.

[Bobster]

rent a lens if its only once a year then