Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 tips and questions

[darrenbeattyphotography]

Hello everyone, Newb question #3. I bought a "new" lens today. An ancient

manual focus AI 300mm f/4.5! I hope to learn how to use manual focus (since I

havent the foggiest clue how) and I was curious if anyone has any tips for me.

This will be mounted to a D50. Front and rear glass are clean and without any

sort of deterioration, so thats good. Should arrive by Friday :D

 

SO besides any tips, since I have never used a non-zoom lens, I have heard that

this lens will not be 300mm, but that on a DSLR it will be 450+?? Is this

true!? If so that is ok with me, I will be shooting sportbike racing. Shed

any suggestions you may have for me! I'm all ears!

[steve_levine]

On a small sensor, your 300mm will be 1.5X's longer or 450mm equal. On your D50 you won't be able to meter with this lens. You can only use manual exposure controls. This will require some trial and error to get things right. However, in say bright sun. Once you have an f-stop calculated, it should work all day. You will have to learn to check histograms and the LCD though to be sure.

 

 

The biggest problem with a non zoom of this length is the "hunting" of your subjects. If they are moving fast, focusing will be the least of your troubles.

[alan_olander1664878205]

The focal length will be no different than your current lens zoomed out to 300mm. You say you "haven't the foggiest clue how" to manually focus a lens. You've never set the lens/camera you have to manual and turned the focusing ring by hand? To be honest, I don't think you'll be too happy with your purchase as you will have no metering, no auto-focus, and no zoom capabilities.

 

The best way to use it will be to pre-focus on a spot and shoot when your subject enters the zone of focus. To meter, you'll need to set the camera to manual exposure mode, "guesstimate" your exposure, and use the histogram to adjust it from there (or use a hand-held meter).

 

One thing this lens will do is force you to learn the basics of photography.

[ptkeam]

Hi, I have and use a lens exactly like the one you describe. It's a great lens -- built like a tank and sharp as a tack. I use it on a D70. Make sure it's been modified to AI. If not you WILL damage your camera body by mounting the lens. The lens I bought was not modified so I filed down the "lip" on the apeture ring so it didn't touch the tab which protrudes from the camera body.

Happy shooting

[Peter_in_PA]

"I will be shooting sportbike racing."

 

I don't think I'd shoot a sporting event with a non-AF lens that doesn't meter with my camera.

Good luck. You'd be better off with a 70-300 VR.

[douglas_greenberg]

I actually think you could shoot a sportbike race with a non-metering, non-AF lens without a whole lot of difficulty. You could carry a small hand-held lighter meter (or one that mounts on the camera's hot shoe). You can easily learn to do an exposure estimate (hey, in the olden days those of us with nonmetering cameras used to do this all the time) AND you have the added bonus of being able to look at your test photo(s) and histograms and adjust accordingly. Not that hard!

 

As for focus, my understanding of how many racing events are photographed is that you find a fixed spot/location on which to focus and then you wait for your opportunities. Consequently, with a MF lens you would survive and even thrive.

 

For this kind of photography a very crucial issue is being able to use the shutter speed(s) you desire, depending on whether you wish to freeze the action or produce a slightly blurred, motion-type effect. One advantage of the older 300mm. Nikon lens is that it will perform very well wide open (the 70-300mm. VR will be dicey here). This makes it possible to get excellent photos at the fastest available shutter speed.

 

And one more thing: I was amused by Darren's admission that he has no idea how to focus manually. Hey, it's not rocket science; you'll learn very quickly. And even if you end up using AF lenses 95% of the time, it's actually a skill that upcoming photographers really ought to learn, as there are instances in the real world where AF doesn't provide the result you might want.

[tommyinca]

"you'll learn very quickly"

 

I think it is more like riding a bike, it could take a while to get good at it.

[tom_murray2]

""I will be shooting sportbike racing."

 

I don't think I'd shoot a sporting event with a non-AF lens that doesn't meter with my camera. "

 

Right, like it was never done before TTL and AF.

[radfordneal]

One thing to remember is that even with a manual focus lens, the D50

still provides focus confirmation. Look for the little green dot in

the lower left of the viewfinder (it will only be there when you

press the shutter part-way, however, and for a few seconds after that).

When the green dot is there, the focus point is at least approximately

in focus. As for autofocus, there are five focus points to choose

from, using the selector on the back of the camera.

 

I've had good success with a Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 ED-IF on things like

squirrels in trees. The depth-of-field is small at f/4.5, however,

so focus needs to be precise. You may have a different 300mm f/4.5,

without internal focus, in which case it's a bit harder to focus

quickly.

 

Any f/4.5 lens will have an advantage over the typical f/5.6 zoom

when trying to stop action using a high shutter speed. This might

well be relevant to racing events.

[Dieter Schaefer]

Hope you got the ED version of that lens, was never terribly impressed with the non-ED. I have been using AF lenses on manual focus bodies for quite some time, but once I got AF bodies, I was hooked and there was going back. Sure, you can "guesstimate" exposure and check the histogram; questions is simply, why would you want to, in particular when shooting action?

[darrenbeattyphotography]

Tom, exactly what I was thinking. Obviously if i had the opportunity to go with a 400mm 2.8 VR or whatever lens was mentioned at 40 times the price...... I would. But simply put. I dont. If you check my profile, I have some good race photography from my 70-300mm Tamron lens that I have been using.

 

I admit that I've never manually focused to frankly, there was never a need with this camera and the 2 lenses I use. As for trial and error, haha... I KNOW there will be trial and error. I was told after you get the hang of it, and combined with using a monopod, and prefocusing on one section of the track, it becomes "easier." Something that is nice about a road coarse, is that they always come back, and they always come back to the SAME LINE.

 

Steve, you stated "On a small sensor," what does that mean? Are you referring to digital? Im sorry, newb questions.

 

Alan i have seen the histogram by pushing the down arrow on my camera on the back, but I have yet to learn what that tells me.

 

Unfortunate I seem to be getting slammed for simply asking questions. I do understand the "basics" of photography. Yet this is my first DSLR/SLR. So yes. I'm new to this aspect of equipment.

 

If this lens ends up being a waste, well at least I learned some things along the way.

[douglas_greenberg]

I think that Darren seems like he basically knows what he is doing with a camera in his hand and I have faith that with a bit of practice and trial-and-error he can learn to 1)manually focus; 2) estimate exposures for a given situation; and 3)read a histogram(there are a lot of good pieces on this online, e.g., http://www.sphoto.com/techinfo/histograms/histograms.htm).

 

Heck, it he shoots in RAW he can even be quite a bit off in his exposure and his photos will still be ok. And if all else fails he can invest a small amount in a good, old-fashioned hand-held meter. Sure, it would be more convenient to have an AF lens with a chip. And I confess I have been very happy with the feature of the D200 that allows me to use AI-type lenses with essentially full metering functions. But I really think that there's no reason for Darren to consider his purchase to be a "waste."

[darrenbeattyphotography]

Douglas, thank you for your kind words. I will read up on that link front to back. I am ALL for learning. Anyone who isnt, is not looking to become better. I am a sportbike instructor out on the track when I'm not shooting, and when one of the REALLY fast guys comes up to me, with a possible suggestion, I am all ears. No need to be big headed :-)

 

I have thought about upgrading my camera, but at this time, I think upgrading and trying different lenses are more important at this time. I am hoping to have this lens by Friday, so that I can bring it out on Saturday. I am a bit conerned about the one post that states "make sure your lens is AI, if its not, it will ruin your body when its mounted" :-O It was originally listed as AI-S and then he updated it (probably because someone called him out)and said "Correction: This is an AI" So am I good to go? Can I try to mount the lens?

[douglas_greenberg]

You can mount the lens. In your situation (actually most people's) the difference between AI and AI-S is fairly irrelevant.

[darrenbeattyphotography]

Well the lens came today, and I'm really suprised how smooth it is. Though it seems to be focusing quite farther than 300mm. I hooked up my Tamron at 5.6 300mm and tested it and nope... its definitely right between 300 and maybe say 315. Someone had said it would be 450mm? NO one has explained this to me yet? Small sensor camera talk? Anyone?

[darrenbeattyphotography]

Well, a few of you were right. WHen i can get it focused in time, the pictures are wonderful! But for taking action shots, its nearly impossible. I'd rather take 5 pictures as a rider passes and have them all come out crystal clear with my Tamron 70-300 4-5.6 than with this Nikkor manual focus. I will probably keep it anyway, I got such a steal on it. Any suggestions where this type of lens would shine? Remembering i have to be 13 feet away from the subject. Thanks anyone for your suggestions.

[douglas_greenberg]

This post got kind of buried in the queue, but in response to the "small sensor camera talk" question, let me offer an attempted explanation.

 

Your lens has a focal length of 300mm., and 300mm. is always 300mm. When people mention "450mm." they are talking "35 mm. equivalent." This means that the relative angle of view captured by the lens/camera combination is narrower with your DSLR than with a 35mm. film camera. Essentially, because of the sensor size the image captured by the camera is somewhat smaller than that of a 35mm. camera. Consequently, something in the middle of your image will appear to be more magnified.

 

Think of it this way: with a 35mm. film camera you would have, essentially, a 6x magnification of your bird or bicycle or whatever (50mm. being "standard", x 6 times magnification). Now imagine that a portion of the edges of the image were trimmed away, leaving a smaller overall image. An object in the center of this image might appear to be 9x magnified instead of 6x, because the overall image is now smaller. Consequently, you have in that sense the equivalent of a 450mm. lens

 

Some photographers get carried away with this notion, really believing that their 300mm. lens has "turned into" a 450mm. It really has not, but it does give you some semblance of the effect of having a longer telephoto lens.