glenncadman

<p>Whilst being as far from as a working professional sports photographer as you can get, the 300mm really doesn't cut it as far as moving subjects AF with the D610. My old F5 could drive a screwdriver AF to very well particularly focus subject tracking. But the ameteur D610 does it . s . l . o . w . and couldn't even track a car coming down my street, maybe I haven't yet understood the new cameras "newfangled" expeed 3 auto focus tracking options correct, so I will give it another go.<br> Anyway for static shots, focus and recompose on a tripod, optically however the 300mm is still as good at it gets particularly nice bokeh (at least on in my budget anyway). Practical considerations however are another matter, the 300mm stays at home because it is simply too big and heavy unless I was going somewhere local where I would specifically planning just to use it. It certainly wouldn't be coming with me with on an OS trip as carry-on. So from that point of view the 150-600 would get more regular and practical use.<br /><br />That being said for AUD$100 a used 3rd party teleconverter will not be a huge burden and about right for the probable frequency of use.</p>

<p>Just to bring a 10 year old thread to life. I also have the same ED AF Nikkor 300 F2.8 and would like a teleconverter ideally a 2X but 1.X would also be OK. My new camera body is a D610 and think the old glass of the 300mm ED is still as good as it gets. Has anything changed in the last decade, would I still need to get a used/ebay tamron or kenko TC? It would appear the new AF-S teleconverters such as the TC-17EII are not compatible at all. <br /><br />Naturally I could just sell the beautiful beast and trade down to a lighter consumer grade Tamron plastic fantastic VR 150-600mm zoom, but this is a waste IMHO, just for the infrequent desire to get a bit longer shots.</p>

<p>I think the point is that it depends on the purpose of the gear. If you will be going somewhere the express purpose of photography, to capture that 1 special image for your wall, then you can take a bag of gear or even a trolley bag along makes sense. "<strong>If</strong> it is more than 500 feet from the <strong>car, it is not photogenic</strong>". <br> If you are on a OS trip and photography is just part of the experience, then you have to be selective in what kit you bring, lightness and flexibility really comes into account. I had a F5 and the big 80-200 f2.8 zooms and even the 300mm F2.8 and they are just too big to travel with, particularly if you are with your family. From what I have seen of pro wedding photographers, yes prime 1.4 lenses are very much in use but they are attached to a number camera bodies as are the F2.8 zooms and a 70-200 F2.8 is great for indoor use. As a guest of a wedding I just not going to attend with 3 cameras around my neck, but if I had the talent, and my job was photography that would be different. I am sure the pro would feel he/she has done a physically hard days work photographing an event.<br> I guess the Andy's cherry blossoms are done at F5.6, but I would like to know the length of the lens to make sense of it</p> <p> </p>

<p>I was looking at the same problem a few weeks ago, I had an F5 and a number of "pro" Nikon lens from the AF-D days.<br /><br />I ended up with a new D610 on special for approx US$1100 in Oz Nikon was given a cash back discount. I didn't think the step up to a D750 was worth the extra $500 for the only feature that mattered to me, that being the better autofocus system. The other option was a used D4 or D3X, but in OZ most are professionally used with high shutter counts albeit with plenty of life in them yet.<br> Personally the D610 so far has been great, the old Nikon glass as clear as ever, though the autofocus takes about twice as long as the 18 year old F5 with much more hunting. Now I just need to wish for some photographic talent, all pictures so far have not done the camera justice. Maybe I will over time get some AFS VR glass. <br /><br />The D610 is light weight so if you lets say buy a 28-300 then when you travel light you can just take that lens and a monopod without turning your family holiday into a photographic equipment expedition. With the rest of the budget just get stuck in with the prime lenses, they will retain value long term so even if you find after a year you are not using one you can resell on the used market without suffering a big loss, dont forget a on/off camera flash pair a carbon tripod and an arca swiss monoball.<br /><br /> </p> <p> </p><div></div>

<p>I saw used ex pro D3 with an almost 350,000 shutter count for AUD$1950 (US$1520), looked good condition , but decided not to go down that path. I ended up buying a new D610 for AUD$1465 (US$1140). I must admit there seemed quite a difference in the quality feel of the semi pro D810 or real deal D4 (or even my F5) and the D610. However I just had to calm down and consider that I make my living talking IT, not image creation. <br /><br />BTW Can anyone recommend a good (doesnt have to be Nikon branded) macro lens ? </p> <p> </p>

<p>Hi lets just say I am not all that keen to "refresh" my stock of pro level F2.8 glass, maybe they are not that expensive now, but the sell price on the used market vs the buy price of VR equivalents would cost most of a small car. They are from a golden time of IT when I got paid for weekends and overtime, so I saved my overtime money and purchased a lens every so often as a little treat, the Nikon F5 was a long cutover and the 300mm F2.8 was from an particularly nasty few months. I am also in Australia so there is not really abundant stock on the used market.<br /><br /><br /> Those days are long dead, the work is just as hard, but no more overtime money and a I have now a pair of expensive teenage daughters, so believe me a D610 is a luxury.</p>

<p>The D3 idea does have merit, something I didn't consider.</p>

<p>I do ( or more correctly; did) a lot of nature photography; slow Velvia with tripods, monoballs , not much interest in the high speed sports side of the art. Cropping of images is important though today with computerization/digitization the ease of cropping is light years away from the limits of 35mm images. <br /><br /><br /></p>

<p>I have a old Nikon F5 and a collection of quality older non VR, Nikon 2.8 ED zooms and an 300mm ED F2.8 prime. To make the best of this old but good glass would the FX format be the best path forward eg (D610) or is DX good enough eg (D7100)? </p> <p><em>Yep I am sure this questions has been asked before, but missed the answer.</em></p><div></div>