Looking for a lense

[andyg72]

Im looking for a lense, and i was pretty much there by choosing the Tamron SP 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di VC USD Lens - Nikon AF - Jessops - Lenses.

But then i saw this Tamron 70-300mm F4/5.6 DI LD Macro Lens - Jessops - Lenses

I thought Macro was for close up shooting, so could this lense be used for safaris etc.

 

[cgipson1]

Hello Andy,

both lenses will do "macro" as in close up focusing.... the top lens (VC) will do 1:4 and the other (LD) will 1:2 which is a lot better for macro than 1:4. A true macro lens will usually go to 1:1.

But depending on other qualities, you might want do do some research and find out if either is known for good sharpness and any other features, or has problems..

Either lens would allow shots within it's capabilities on a Safari... That focal length would be decent is a good compromise for a single lens for that type of activitie. I would also take a faster lens if you have one.. like a 35mm 1.8 or 1.4 or a 50mm 1.8 or better, in case you need to do any shots at night around a campfire, anything like that. A 35mm would also give you more wide angle capability than the 70-300 would.. which might be useful.

have fun!

 

[andyg72]

Thanks for the reply cgipson1.

With fixed lenses like a 35mm i take it you can only take photos of subjects within a certain distance away, so if i was taking a pic of campfire and a lion jumps out in the distance, i take it all i have to do is point and just focus, and i could just zoom in on my laptop and crop.

 

[Infinite_Day]

Unless you're wanting a better macro capability I'd go with the first one. It has the better AF motor and vibration control which is Tamron's version of VR. At 300mm it will help compensate for camera shake some. I have the Quantaray version of the second lens you put up - while I can get some decent images with it, it is difficult at max zoom without very good light. The macro function will work in a pinch but it focus hunts a lot and now that I have a true macro lens I will never use the Quantaray 70-300 for macro again. If you have the money, you may want to consider springing the extra 100 pounds on the Nikon 70-300. It's supposed to be a good lens but I haven't used it myself.

 

[djacobox372]

Thanks for the reply cgipson1.

With fixed lenses like a 35mm i take it you can only take photos of subjects within a certain distance away, so if i was taking a pic of campfire and a lion jumps out in the distance, i take it all i have to do is point and just focus, and i could just zoom in on my laptop and crop.

First, if I was sitting at a camp fire and a lion jumped out in the distance I'd be reaching for my gun not my camera.

2nd, cropping an image seriously degrades it's quality. For example: cropping a 35mm image to look like a 300mm image means you would be reducing your "megapixels" by 73x--so if your camera was 12 megapixels, a image from a 35mm lens cropped to match a 300mm lens would only be 0.16 megapixels!

12mp > 0.16 mp