Looking to buy a fast TELEPHOTO ZOOM.

<p>Im looking to buy a fast tele zoom for sports, wildlife, general shots whatever.<br>

It will go on my F4 and my D1h, I want speed but not VR. I want FX, repeat, FX coverage. I want quality but i really want speed. <br>

I have a fairly limited budget of around 450 USD, max 500. Ill be ordering from KEH and probably BGN condition if that gives you more an idea of how far my $$ will go.</p>

<p>Please advise me on which fast tele to get. I am not totally opposed to push pull and I have two AIS Push pull zooms, but wonder if i would prefer a zoom ring lens. Also, with my sturdy bodies, must I consider a tripod mount or could my cameras support a lens like the 80-200 2.8D original version? I like the idea of IF, no exterior moving parts elements is great. Extension doesnt matter to me, as long as there is no rotation.</p>

<p>I think i want AF, although, PG noted that the origional 80-200 was terrible at AF. Of course, i have two powerful cameras that will crank the heck out of a non AFS lens.</p>

<p>I like primes too, but im not sure that I could cover my range with that much money. I would need the 85 1.8 and the 180 2.8, probably not in my budget? No?</p>

<p>Galen, what FL do you prefer? For a fast tele zoom, the most common range goes from 70/80 to 200; and these lenses are usually f/2.8. For your limited budget, you might have to settel for a 80-200 f/2.8; perhaps a push-pull version. A brand new 80-200 f/2.8 seems to be a good choice for what you do. But it is currently priced at $1100, so it's way overpriced. The Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 HSM could be a good alternative. It has HSM (AF-S), FX coverage, and now sells for $729.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533556-REG/Sigma_579_306_70_200mm_f_2_8_II_EX.html">http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/533556-REG/Sigma_579_306_70_200mm_f_2_8_II_EX.html</a></p>

<p>There anrt many focal lengths for fast zooms. It seems like nikon makes them in 80-200 exclusively. How is the push pull version? The newest 80-200 is an AF-S lens and thats more than I need really, not worth the extra cost. One version back, the 2.8 D "new" would be great but i dont think I could afford that either.</p>

<p>The Sigma lens looks pretty much the same as the newer D version, except it has no aperture ring, and is pretty useless on my F4.</p>

<p>I guess what i would like to add to my question is, does anyone have experiance with the different versions of the 80-200 in terms of AF, Quality, ease of use, ease of zoom, etc. Any comparison would help me especially if you were to covince me to save up more rather than jumping into a POS lens that i will want to trade up anyway.</p>

<p>Anecdotally, all versions are optically reportedly very good. The push-pull version has a reputation for notoriously slow AF response and requires a large third party tripod collar. <br>

The non-AFS version is supposedly only about 20% slower than the AFS version, but you don't get the manual over-ride that AFS allows.<br>

If it were me I would buy a used 80-200/2.8 AF from a reputable source if I could get a decent deal. I purchased the 80-200/2.8 AFS from someone upgrading to the 70-200/2.8 AFS VR and it was one of my best photographic decisions. You need to decide what the warranty is worth to you if you want to go used.</p>

<p>I would consider an AF Nikkor 80-200/2.8D N, with the two ring -design and an integral tripod collar. The AF is pretty fast, though I am not sure of the usefulness of the F4's AF sensor.</p>

<p>Many underestimate the AF on the F4 because it only has one sensor and because it is in the body, not prism. Actually, its very good. Its spot on every time on my camera and works better than I had expected in low light. The camera helps in that it uses a lot of brute force to focus, it spins the focus tab very fast even on big heavy lenses.<br>

Is the AF faster on any perticular model? Obviously the AFS, but among the other three AF versions is there any difference?<br>

Why is two ring better? When autofocusing, do the rings on the push pull spin? How about on the two ring?</p>

<p>The D push-pull version was reported to have faster AF than the pre-D and the AF-D N which has two rings and collar, faster than the push-pull D. This is just information which I read online at the time these lenses were new; I have only used the AF-D N and the AF-S VR versions personally, and both of them were quite fast focusing. No, the manual focus ring doesn't spin when autofocusing.<br>

The two-ring design has the built-in collar so you don't have to get a large, clumsy third party add-on for tripod use. If you don't use a collar at all, you should have a really solid tripod head to be able to use it comfortably and with precise framing. I don't think it's a good idea; the push-pull was clearly designed for hand-held operation.</p>

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<p>The newest 80-200 is an AF-S lens</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I don't believe so. I think the only 80-200 that you can buy new is the screwdriver AF version. The AF-S version was discontinued in favor of the 70-200 AF-S VR.</p>