300mm f4 (non-afs) for sports

[brian_hooks]

<p>I currently own a D300s and shoot a lot of HS sports mainly for fun (ie. non paid). I usually by my equipment used because well, I'm not getting paid so that's what I can afford. I currently shoot my football pics with my trusty push pull 80-200 and although it has served me well I have been longing for a little more reach. I was wondering if anyone has any insight into using the old style (again, what I can afford) 300mm f4 for sports. Will this combo be able to focus fast enough for sports? I see it has an intricate focus limiting switch which seems like it may aid in keeping focus speed high and my D300s focuses fast (to me) in other circumstances.</p>

[SCL]

<p>An old standby for press photographers was the manual focus 300 f/2.8 ED (I owned one formerly used by Newsday) - still soft at f/2.8 but sharpened up reasonably well by f/4; it worked great for indoor as well as outdoor sports. I'm not sure the f/4 AF version would cut it, especially in night games, but if you find you are getting acceptable results (exposure wise) around f/5.6 now, than the f/4 lens should work ok for you, recognizing that you will probably have to close it down a stop or two for good sharpness.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Brian, I have no direct experience with the AF version, but instead I have the AF-S version. This lens already isn't exactly the fastest to autofocus. According to all I've read about it, it is a lot faster than the older AF version though. So, odds are you may find the AF too slow alltogether.<br>

A possible alternative to contemplate maybe is the Sigma 100-300 f/4 HSM; when new, it had roughly the same price as the AF-S 300 f/4, favourable reviews by testers and owners. Not sure how its 2nd hand value developed, though, but it can be worth it checking around for it.</p>

[robert_bouknight1]

<p>I have the AF (pre-D) version. Used to have the 300/f4 AF-S version, which is a little better in every respect, but I sold it (AF-S) when I got a 300/2.8.</p>

<p>The first AF version does have relatively slow AF, but it should be able to keep up with <em>daylight</em> sports (soccer, baseball, and so on) on a D300. The modern bodies liven up the AF speed of the older lenses. I prefer the old 300/4 AF to the current 70-300 AF-S. </p>

<p>Steven's observations about night sports are similar to mine, the F/4 on a D300 would struggle.</p>

<p>The great bargain out there is the first version screw drive AF 300/2.8. Plenty fast enough AF speed, sharp, ind very inexpensive for what you get. I about swapped even for the 300/4 AFS, and I think the first version 2.8 is at least as sharp, and AF is just about as fast on modern bodies. Fast enough to track my 15 yr old son running straight at me, on a D3s.</p>

<p>I convinced myself that I needed the AF-S 300/2.8 when I had a little extra $'s. To be sure it has faster AF and is very slightly sharper, but not worth the extra $'s for occasional fun use.</p>

<p>I have not tried the Sigma that Wouter mentions, it may be good. Another great bargain is the old 70-210/f4 (constant). It has fast enough focusing, good image quality, and can be had cheap!</p>

[User_4754088]

<p>I used to use the 300 f4 AF for motorcycle racing. The AF is pretty slow so I would manual focus to a point on the track where I knew the action would be happening, then wait for the bikes to show up each lap.</p>

<p>Currently using the never version of the 300 f4, the AF-S and it focus tracks the high school sports action pretty well with a D4.</p>

<p>Best,<br>

-Tim</p>

[Aoresteen]

<p>The D300s ISO tops out at 6400. With a 300mm f/4 that's not going to make it for night HS football. *Most* HS football stadiums have terrible lights.<br>

If you can get a good exposure at 1/500 @ f/4 with ISO 3200 or 6400 it will be OK from an exposure perspective. As to how it will focus I do not know.<br>

You need a shutter speed of 1/500 sec or faster. I was having trouble with blur using a 200mm f/2.8 @ ISO 3200 so I bought a 150mm f/2 (my DSLR has a crop factor of 2x). Now all is good.</p>

<p>For daylight shots it will be fine.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I have a 300/4.5 Nikkor manual focus lens that I got from a news photographer colleague who used it for years to shoot Phillies basebal and Eagles football (along with many other assignments). As another friend said, back before AF "if you could follow focus on a 300, you could shoot sports, if you couldn't you didn't shoot sports."<br /><br />Obviously a 2.8 and the latest AF would make it easier, but yes you could shoot sports that with a 300 f/4. If you're shooting baseball during the day, even manual focus can work -- you can always prefocus on the bases and wait for the action to come to you. Night football can be more challenging.</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Anthony..</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p> I was having trouble with blur using a 200mm f/2.8 @ ISO 3200 so I bought a 150mm f/2 (my DSLR has a crop factor of 2x).</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>What camera and lenses are these?</p>

[robert_bouknight1]

<p>Total edit of this and my earlier post, you have the push-pull 80-200/2.8, I now see.</p>

<p>The 300/4 AF has similar focusing characteristics to your push-pull, probably a little faster than the first version 80-200/2.8 with the focus limiters, but probably a little slower than the 2nd version 80-200/2.8 AF-D push-pull.</p>

[mlg28]

<p>No problems at all. I use a push-pull 80-200 f/2.8 and a 300 mm f/4 AF (non AF-S) and it focuses plenty fast enough. I don't use the focus limiter. My bodies are a D200 and a D600. Both lenses work great on both bodies for field hockey.</p>

[jeff_martindale1]

<p>PM sent regarding 300/f4 AF-D for sale</p>

[Aoresteen]

<p>Mike:</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>What camera and lenses are these?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I use Four Thirds DSLRs - Olympus E-1, E-3, and an E-5 is on the way. The lenses are Olympus 150mm f/2.0 and a Soligor 200mm C/D f/2.8 for OLympus OM adapted to 4/3 with the Olympus adapter.</p>

 

[brian_hooks]

Thanks for all the responses. It looks

like this may be a viable option for

(daylight) sports shooting.

[jeff_martindale1]

<p>Second PM sent regarding Nikon 300/f4 AF-D for sale. </p>

[sebastianmoran]

<p>I think this lens is labeled 300mm f/4 D IF-ED. I have one and like it a lot. The image quality is excellent right from f/4. As for sports, I did shoot quite a bit of high school cross country and a bit of field hockey with this lens on an N-90s. </p>

<p>For cross country, it was fab. For field hockey, sometimes the action would get too close. On a DX body, I think it would be too long much of the time from the sidelines.</p>

<p>Recently, I've switched back and forth between this lens and a rented 300 f/4 AFS. I'll let the real testers deal with image quality; I found both lenses were excellent for my uses. As for AF speed, I've taken both the D and AFS lenses for bird shooting in Florida. Both were excellent on a DX body for birds perched and moving around and even some birds in flight. <a href="http://www.bythom.com/300AFSlens.htm">Thom Hogan has a good comparison writeup on these two lenses</a>.</p>

<p>One tip: With the 300 f/4 D IF-ED there is a terrific adjustable focus-range limiter. Use it to avoid the lens searching through the whole focal range. </p>