nikon 80-400 vr
A lot of what I have read in reviews about this lens is that it is incredibly slow. Has anyone used this lens for BIF - is it fast enough to track? What are y'alls opinions on the sharpness and quality of glass. Would this lens be a viable alternative to the 300 2.8 if money was an issue - or would you recomend holding off untill I could afford a non VR 300?
thanks
Jared:
I have been using a 80-400 for several months for BIF pictures. Yes, the autofocus can be slow. I have gotten some good images with practice and learning to work with its limitations. I think the optics are good, if you can live with the f/5.6 aperture.
I always use the focus limiting switch.
I study my locations and spend some time watching the birds flight patterns, so I am prepared to be prefocused at the right area.
I find the zoom function very helpful for framing adjustments. I can go from single birds to flocks with relative ease.
I am generally shooting BIF handheld, so the lenses light weight is a real plus.
I am shooting a D300, which is pretty good in the focusing dept. I suspect things would be worse on an older/lesser body.
Hope this helps. I would be happy to discuss it further if you would like
Randy
well the reason that I am looking into this lens is to replace my sigma 70-200 2.8 HSM that I have been using with a Sigma TC2 attatched. I am also shooting with the d300 and have found that there are a number of problems with the sigma communicating with my camera - autofocus and exposure. I spent 7 hours last Saturday photographing wolves at a local wolf sanctuary for a magazine, only to come home with out of focus photographs despite the use of a tripod. So to be honest, I'm in a bit of a pinch with a due date one month away for this story.
With my old setup i was shooting at 210-600 5.6 and figured that the 80-400 would offer the same versatility with the same (all be it small) appature. This may be acceptable as long as the lens would at least be as fast as that set up WAS before my camera body upgrade. On the other hand, theres always the 300 2.8 (for an added 800 bucks used). The only thing is, I'm afraid to dump the versatility of that range for a prime 300 - even though I would absolutely love to have the 300.
Jared:
I would think the 80-400 would focus fast enough for wolves. Dim lighting might be an issue however. With BIF pictures, I am often shooting against the sky, with good lighting, so can really crank the shutter speed up, even with the small maximum aperture.
Could you rent the lens? Depending on where you live, perhaps renting it for a few days to a week would get your job done, and let you know for sure if it was for you. I do think the zooming capabilities would be very helpful.
Randy
I have shot with the 80-400 for close to five years. Its AF speed is vastly improved on the D300. Its IQ is good especially if you step down the aperture to 7.1 or 8.0. Its an incredibly handy piece of glass.
I don't use it that much anymore because I found that the vast majority of the shots I took were at 400mm. I've found that the cheaper 300m f/4 has better IQ and faster AF. The 300mm also works very well with the 1.4 and 1.7 TCs giving you greater reach than the 80-400.
Interesting. So you have found the cheaper plasticy 300 f4 to be a higher quality lens?
I'm hardly the only one, check out this review at photozone. Thom Hogan liked it also.Originally Posted by Jared Lloyd
Jared it is a slow performing lens You can obtain good results by using it smart Make sure you are in the right focusing range Also pre focus for a faster response
When teaching I have traded with students and used the lens Have gotten good flight images It is a versatile lens
For BIF on a budget, you might want to consider the 70-300 VR. I used it on the Silver Salmon Creek IPT last summer photographing puffins when my wife wanted to try the extra reach of the 80-400 VR. It worked great on the D200 and I suspect would be even better with the D300. Haven't tried it yet on my D300 as I tend to use the 80-400 VR with the Canon 500D close-up diopter as my walking around kit and there isn't a diopter the right size for the 70-300 VR. It does work well with a step-down ring and the Nikon 5T and 6T for macros.
For almost two years I was using the 80-400VR. I think that the optical quality of the glass is good to very good but the AF performance is not very nice for fast moving subjects. I am a BIF fan so I used the lens for that matter obtainning very poor results. If you decide to get one you should stop down the lens at least two stop to reach the best performance and I always avoided to use it at 400mm to improvethe quality of the images. Under good light conditions I obtained acceptable results but if the light is not good...
On the other hand, the built quality is very good IMO and for static subject and/or slow movings subjects the performance of the lens is very nice. Flexibility is another advantage of this lens. Now I am shooting BIF with a 300 VR and, what a difference!!!
If you can save for a non VR 300 2,8 I strongly encourage you to do that. Another interesting option is the Nikkor 300 f4 (good performance with a 1,4XTC)
BTW I have used the lens with a D2X
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote