D300 AF at f/8?

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Can anyone tell me if Nikon's mid-range cameras such as the D300 can autofocus with a lens whose maximum aperture is f/8? Eg, 500mm f/4 VR and 2x = 1,000mm f/8

A mate of mine with a D80 reckons his camera can autofocus at an aperture of f/8 while using a standard 70-300mm f/5.6 lens and a 1.4x? (at f/8????)

I have no clue about what Nikon can do, only that Canon are nice enough to make people buy Pro series bodies for this seemingly simple function.


Thanks. :)

[Markus Jais]

I don't have the equipment myself but I know that AF works with a D300 + 4/200-400 + 2x. Not very fast but it should work in good light.
Nikon does not switch off AF at f5.6 with the D300 (and D700) like Canon does with it's non 1D bodies like my EOS 40D.

Markus

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Vielen Dank Markus. :) I wish Canon weren't so difficult or that some guru would write a firmware to fix the non-AF issue. Might need to think of a Nikon set-up later on down the track.

[Amy DeStefanis]

Well, I have a D80, and a 70-300VR lens, and 2X converter. I can do an experiment, but I'm pretty sure I have used AF with this before - however sometimes I manual focus because I'm playing with DOF, and I can't remember for sure.... I don't use that often because it is very slow, and the mirror flopping up causes some movement. I got to that point, and posted a question about the D80 and mirror lock-up. It's about time for me to return to that post and try the advice that was given, so I'll let you know how it turns out.

Amy D.

[Frank Clark]

I regularly use a D80 with 80-400 VR which is f5.6 at max zoom + Kenko SP300 1.4TC and AF works very well and I sometimes use this in poor light with AF.
HTH
Frank

[Jim Fenton]

It works FINE

The AF slows down, but it absolutely does AF with no problems at all.