I need help with choosing a lens...

cskotek · Feb 19, 2014

I have my eyes on the nikon D3100 ..
I want to get a lens that allows me to grab pictures of my ducks with out having to wait for my current Canon powershot SX130is to "get ready" for the next picture... I miss out on a lot! It does take great pics and it has allow me to get a better "eye" for things but I hate the blur I get sometimes on movement.. I want to be able to grab that "fast action" with out losing the picture to that dang blur...
Thanks!

runnah · Feb 19, 2014

I said in your other thread but I will say it here too.

The nikon 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 is the best value for money. It works great in good lighting and decently in low lighting. It's also fairly cheap at $160. This should suit your needs.

TCampbell · Feb 19, 2014

A point & shoot with contrast-detect auto-focus is typically notoriously slow to lock focus and take the shot... these are not action photography cameras and trying to nab a shot a the "decisive moment" can be frustrating.

A DSLR, on the other hand (pretty much any auto-focusing DSLR) will lock focus MUCH faster. Some lenses have faster responding focusing motors than others, but they'll all seem fast compared to your point & shoot. Also, the focusing system used by a DSLR uses "phase detection" to lock focus and not "contrast detection". Because of the way the light-splitting prism works to detect the phase-shift, it's able to determine if the focus is either too close or too far just by looking at the direction of the phase shift... and it's similarly able to determine how far out of focus the image is by looking at the distance of phase shift. With these two parameters, the camera knows exactly which way to adjust focus AND how far to adjust focus to perfectly nail the focus. In other words... a DSLRs "phase detect" AF system does not "hunt" for focus by guessing it's way to better focus... it computes the perfect focus and nails it in one motion of the focus motor.

All that aside... you can spend more money and get higher end glass with faster and snappier focus motors which also collect considerably more light and can focus more rapidly even in conditions with less available light... and all it takes is money. ;-)

But I suspect that just starting with the kit lens will be quite an upgrade. It's not that your Canon SX130is is a bad camera... it's that it isn't optimized of the type of shooting needs you want.

julesoille · Feb 19, 2014

Runnah is correct for the D3100- the 70-300 is a good lens. I am a little nervous though that the 70-300 will be too telescopic for close up shots

I will place my bet on the 17-55mm f2.8 DX Flickr has a dialogue about it here at: Flickr: Discussing 24-70mm fx lens = . . . Dx lens equivalent? in NIKON D90 CLUB

Enjoy!

robbins.photo · Feb 20, 2014

julesoille said:
Runnah is correct for the D3100- the 70-300 is a good lens. I am a little nervous though that the 70-300 will be too telescopic for close up shots

I will place my bet on the 17-55mm f2.8 DX Flickr has a dialogue about it here at: Flickr: Discussing 24-70mm fx lens = . . . Dx lens equivalent? in NIKON D90 CLUB

Enjoy!

I take quite a few animal pictures and believe me 55 mm is really going to be too limited for anything other than pets/domestic critters.

You would need an amazing skill set and a ton of luck to get that close to a wild animal in most cases.

The 70-300 mm vr is an amazing lens and well worth the price. As for closeups on domestic animals that's easy enough, just back up a step or two if needed.

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Braineack · Feb 20, 2014

julesoille said:
Runnah is correct for the D3100- the 70-300 is a good lens. I am a little nervous though that the 70-300 will be too telescopic for close up shots
Enjoy!

I'd be nervous too if the ducks were too close to shoot them at 70mm, ducks are evil when they get that close they are probably about to attack.

JoeW · Feb 20, 2014

cskotek said:
I have my eyes on the nikon D3100 ..
I want to get a lens that allows me to grab pictures of my ducks with out having to wait for my current Canon powershot SX130is to "get ready" for the next picture... I miss out on a lot! It does take great pics and it has allow me to get a better "eye" for things but I hate the blur I get sometimes on movement.. I want to be able to grab that "fast action" with out losing the picture to that dang blur...
Thanks!

Shooting without blur is mostly a function of shutter speed (which is going to be affected by your ISO setting, the light available, and how fast your glass is).

You talk about "my ducks" as if they're pets or domesticated. Given that the D3100 is not a full frame camera, a 50mm lens on it is going to be the equivalent of a 75mm lens. As a general rule, I prefer zoom lens for photographing wildlife and if it's truly wild, you're going to want 200mm or further out. But the catch is that a 200mm or 300mm lens with an f4.5 setting may not allow for a pretty fast shutter speed if your ducks are in flight or scattering.

One last thought--the D3100 does not have an autofocus motor in the body--so if you're going to use autofocus, you'll need lens that have an AF motor within the lens. Not a problem--most DSLR lens have that but be sure and check before you buy.

robbins.photo · Feb 20, 2014

Braineack said:
julesoille said:

Runnah is correct for the D3100- the 70-300 is a good lens. I am a little nervous though that the 70-300 will be too telescopic for close up shots
Enjoy!

Click to expand...

I'd be nervous too if the ducks were too close to shoot them at 70mm, ducks are evil when they get that close they are probably about to attack.

Lol. I'm sensing a really hilarious story in there somewhere.

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Braineack · Feb 20, 2014

robbins.photo said:
Lol. I'm sensing a really hilarious story in there somewhere.

It's actually gooses you really need to worry about.

JerryLove · Feb 20, 2014

As pointed out: any SLR (phase detect) is faster to focus than a point-and-shoot (contrast detection).

Two factors make one SLR faster than another (well three): 1) The speed of the autofocus motor, 1a) the accuracy of the AF motor, and 2) the F value of the lens (lower F values allow more light to the sensor for phase detection)

goodguy · Feb 20, 2014

70-300mm VR will do the work as long as you dont shoot in low light conditions.

I persoanlly would try to look at the Nikon D3200 instead of the D3100.
D3100 is a bit cheaper but not as good in low light.
The D3200 more modern, more MP and just overall more advanced.

Josh_Houchin · Feb 20, 2014

Another vote for 70-300mm VR. The below images were taken with my 70-300 VR.

robbins.photo · Feb 20, 2014

Yup.. in good lighting conditions the 70-300 mm really can't be beat for the price. For low light, well anything in the 2.8 aperture range with a decent amount of zoom gets expensive quick.