Does anyone own a 70-300 mm lens?

[MorningDusk]

Basically what the title asks, as I am considering purchasing this lens as my next lens to use at horse shows.

How do you like yours?
Also if you have anypictures that you have took with that lens, I would love to see them!

[badpickev]

i have the sigma 70-300 DL. its a nice lens. i plan on getting the VR from nikon to replace it. for me its a no brainer to get the VR version. if i had to rank them it would be like this

70-300 VR
70-300 D version
70-300 sigma apo
70-300 tamron
70-300 sigma dl
70-300 G version

if price is the issue the sigma apo is the winner at $219

[cyclohexane]

What version are you curious about? I used to shoot with the 70-300mm f/4-5.6G, which is identical to the 70-300mm Tamron optically.

[Chrisl]

Nikon made/makes three different 70-300 lenses (technically one is a 75-300). The first is the 75-300D, this one is an older design, solidly constructed with a tripod collar for better balance. The next one is the 70-300ED, mostly plastic but optically a very nice lens. The third one is the 70-300G, optically an ok lens but very cheaply made and will not hold up well in hard use. Of the three the 75-300 is the best of the bunch both optically and build wise, it is however no longer made but can be had a good price at KEH.

All three of these are considered slow so if your going to be shooting horse shows indoors or in the evening you will need to consider some faster glass, something in the F/2.8 range of course the $$$ value goes up as well.

[Loa]

Hello,

I've been using the basic 70-300 from Sgima since last year and I love the lens. 2 obvious limitations: 5.6 at 300mm is quite dark unless you're shooting birds in midday sun, and no VR at 300 can be tricky unless, once again, you shoot in midday sun. :-) One more thing that's less obvious: slight sharpness (blurring) problems at 300mm. But considering the price of the lens, this blurring is to be expected.

Loa

[badpickev]

my 70-300 DL

[MorningDusk]

Thank you all for your opinions, and sharing those lovely pictures. The 70-300mm lens that I was planning to get was the Nikkor lens. Would that be too slow to capture horses?

[badpickev]

if you are shooting outside in daylight, it should be fine.

if indoors, i think with a high iso and if you got the vr, you might make it work with practice. otherwise your fast lens choices get limited and expensive fast.

[MorningDusk]

Originally Posted by badpickev

if you are shooting outside in daylight, it should be fine.

if indoors, i think with a high iso and if you got the vr, you might make it work with practice. otherwise your fast lens choices get limited and expensive fast.

Alright, thank you for your imput I might possibly go and rent this lens to see how I like it before I consider buying the lens itself.

[cyclohexane]

Which Nikkor one? There are three 70-300mm Nikkors and one 75-300mm Nikkor. The best/most expensive is the 70-300mm VR Nikkor, the middle is the 70-300mm ED Nikkor, the worst is the 70-300mm G. I haven't used the 75-300mm much but it seemed like a well-built lens.

Reviews of the 70-300mm ED and 70-300mm VR. The G version, which I posted samples from, is optically similar to the ED version but displays much more purple fringing at all focal lengths.

[D.Rodgers]

I broke my sigma 70-300mm and replaced it with a Nikkor 70-300mm f4 g and was greatly dissapointed my guy at the store said everone likes it .Meh! lose of contrast and sharpness at any length made me put it away never used it more then twice.
I just picked another Sigma 70-300d f4 apo dg with the 200-300mm macro setting a much better lense in that price range and I get lots of use from the macro setting (not true macro).
However my wish does have a Nikkor vr on it for the future.

[Tom Swaman]

MorningDusk,

Let me answer your question. Yes, my wife and I own a current model Nikkor 70-300mm VR lens. This lens is excellent in optical quality and sufficiently well built if you take care of this, i.e. do not walk on it, through it in the back of your trunk under the golf clubs, etc. We have owned the lend for 3 or 4 months and have made several 13 inch X 19 inch cropped outdoor images from the lens with excellent results. The lens is a good value for its focal length and it should, as you have been advised by others be excellent for shooting horses outdoors using a camera body that will allow you to get sufficiently noise free images using ISO values of 100 to 400.

One suggestion, do not forget to expose properly when you shoot the horses. Whatever you do, you will want to tend to overexpose rather than underexpose if you are shooting digital images.

Best of success,
Tom

[Fusion]

Have had a Sigma 70-300 DL for a while now and have been pleasantly surprised by the results obtainable, not the best lens of the bunch but can produce good but not excellent results for those like me on a budget. Ian

[Aquanaut]

I own the Sigma 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 D APO macro lens and think it is terrific. Here are a couple of photos with the lens. Both photos were taken at 300mm, the second under macro mode.

http://www.photocamel.com/forum/221680-post1.html

http://www.photocamel.com/forum/221069-post10.html

I wouldn't worry about sharpness at 300mm. Good software such as Neat Image (what I use) will work quite well with this lens.

[MrB]

I love the hummingbird shot!

[Ken-L]

I have the Nikon 70-300VR.

It is an incredible lens!

[reddeathdrinker]

I used to have the Tamron 70-300mm, and was pleasantly surprised at what could be done with it. I now roam around with a Sigma 70-300mm APO, and am even more surprised! As long as you are aware of the limits of the lens, you can't go wrong....

Taken with the Tamron: