farmer on the hill

I have a 80-200 2.8 Silent Wave and have focusing problems as well. I find that it will always focus from far to near but seldom near to far. I also had the focus jam on me which cost me over $400.00 to repair by Nikon, after all the repairs I still have the problem of it not always focusing from near to far.

OK, To be more specific, I want a telephoto lens in the range of 500mm to 800mm. I have checked B&H and found the following...

 

Nikon 500 f4 $5799.00

 

Nikon 600 f4 $7549.00

 

Sigma 500 f4.5 $6479.00

 

Sigma 800 f5.6 $6479.00

 

Sigma 300-800 f5.6 $6199

 

I am sure I will get great images with the Nikon lenses and am told that the Sigmas are also V good. I have also heard that if Nikon produce camera bodies with changes that they will have a remap for their lenses but Sigma may not.

 

My main question is targeted at the Sigma lenses and the question is "a 500mm lens fitted with a 1.4x converter will loose about 1.5 stops and be approximately 740mm. How will this configuration compare with the Sigma 300-800 zoom" bearing in mind that the 500mm is a prime lens supposed to be better than a zoom, will the prime lens with the converter be as good as the zoom without the converter". I am sure the 500mm will be better than the zoom set at 500mm. but how will it compare with the 1.4x converter as compared to the zoom set at 740mm.

 

Thanks for your time and explanations

 

Jonathan Farmer

We all know that prime lenses give better results than zooms. My

question is "which is better, a prime lens with a 2x converter, or a

zoom without a 2x converter.

I am looking at buying a super telephoto lens; I looked up B&H and

found the following.

 

Nikon 500 f4 $5799.00

 

Nikon 600 f4 $7549.00

 

Sigma 500 f4.5 $4199.00

 

Sigma 800 f 5.6 $6479.00

 

Sigma 300-800 f 5.6 $6199.00

 

I know I will be get excelent results with the Nikon lenses and I am

told that I can expect the same with Sigma? The Sigma 300-800

obviously is the most versatile, will the image quality be realy

much less than the Sigma 800 prime? Will a 2x converter fitted to a

400 prime lens be the same as the zoom at 800? I am looking closley

at the Sigma 500 with a 2x will this give me the same results as the

zoom 300-800 as far as resalution and contrast is concerned.

 

In short which is better, a zoom or a prime with a 2x converter.

If I am buying a lens, I think of quality and knowing It will be versitile. The DX format I use for telephoto work and that is what I use it for primarly for my pro images and I use m format for my pro normal to wide images. Should I ever buy a Nikon FF, It would be nice if what ever lens I buy will work. this is why all the 35mm Nikon lenses are so valuable to me.

I am in the same situation, I just got my D200 with the 17-55 2.8. I also have a 80-200 2.8 s.wave which I will not part with. I am thinking of getting a prime lens to fill the gap. I think Nikon make a macro in this range, this will also give me excelent macro capability. Forget about getting the 18-70, I have used one of these lenses and found it to be a piece of c--p. very soft on the right side of the format.

You will find that the focusing of the 2.8 is more accurate than the f 4 lens. All auto focus lenses focus at the widest apperture and then stop down to the selected apperture as the shutter goes, the reason being that with more light the more information there is to work with focusing. If you were to use a light meter and it were to give you values of lets say iso 100 125 sec. f 8. this will hold true for whatever lens you use for that particular shot.

Call him back! don't loos the business, tell him you got a cancilation and the date is open. Ask for a credit card no. to confirm and tell him if he no shows there is a 40% cancilation fee; this will give you an idea if it's a scam or not

Should Nikon decide to go full frame, the 17-35 is a clear choice. I was shocked to here that the 17-55 is sharper than the 17-35, this makes the choice even harder to make if you are buying one or the other.

Keith,

 

Don't forget there are other lens manufacturas like Tamron and Sigma that always have a smaller price tag. I have used a Tamron 200_400 5.6 with some fairly good results. Have a look at my portfolio and see the humming birds; I bought this lens new for $600.00 in Miami about 3 years ago and it cost a lot less if bought in New York. I am sure you can pick one up used for a whole lot less. Sheldon has given you sound advice; remember with film the camera body is just a dark box with a film plane, once used with experience, it will render just as good photographs as any top if the line 35mm camera. Image quality realy depends on 2 things, a good lens and a good photographer.

 

Happy shooting

At present Nikon is laging behind. Alot of discusion on Canon full frame being better than Nikon using non full frame however if you are doing wildlife, non full fram has the advantage as a 400mm works like a 600mm. Some photographers think that by simply cropping the full frame as used by Canon will answer the situation but it does not, as the non full fram has smaller pixles making the pixle count more hence creating a sharper picture.

Remember that your depth of field is redused when using a fast lens wide open, so be sure your focusing is spot on where you need it most.

I have a D70 which came with the 18-70 kit lens. I find this lens has soft focus on the right side of all my images, 90% of my work is landscape. I have just within the hour looked at the D 200 camera at one of our local stores; the D200 at present is only available in the kit form which consists of the 18-70 lens; I asked if I could get the body only and was told not at this present time. I advise that you go for a pro.zoom as you do weddings and you don't have the time to change prime lenses on a shoot.

 

Regards

 

Jonathan Farmer

Anyone with more information on the Mamiya ZD? All I can get is

coming soon. Any news on proto use and when will it be available?

How will it compare with the Hasi? (Apart from not having Zies

optics and having more plastic). What will it cost?

 

Regards

 

Jonathan