robert_taylor5

I decided to skip this round of camera body upgrades and put my money in some pro quality glass. I just took delivery of Nikons new 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S. It works very well with my D200. I am thinking the next camera body upgrade (hopefully within 12-18 months) will be to a "full frame" FX format body. I haven't completly closed the door on DX format bodies, but any lens I purchase will be "full frame".

I had a similar question a couple of years ago just before I was heading off to South Africa, except it was between the 70-200mm with a 1.4 teleconverter versus the 80-400.

 

I finally opted for the 80-400 because I liked having a single lens with a range from 80-400. On safari, there are as many opportunities to shoot at the shorter range as at the long end. So, I was very pleased with this lens. I understood before buying this lens, that it was slow focusing... With a D200 this did not turn out to be as much of a problem as I thought it might. However, the lens can be a challenge to focus at dusk or in other low light situations.

 

Also, it works with a kenko 1.4 TC although the resulting images at the long end can be a little soft. Bottom line, I like the lens and plan to take it back to South Africa this winter.

 

Robert

Although I applaud photographers who share how they create an image (so that others may improve their skills), I don't believe the effort made or skills used should have any bearing on how we judge a picture. That the subject of an animal photo was in a zoo or in the wild seems irrelevant, unless the photographer chooses to make that obvious. For the purposes of judging or critiquing a potential work of art, the photo should stand on its own...