If anyone if feeling super nice to give me a free nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 I'd love you forever.. On the serious note, I have £600 to spend on a second hand one (I know it's not a great budget and asking for the impossible)...
That's only 800 or so american, which is cheaper than what I got my older 80-200 2.8D for... Goodluck! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It looks like the OP has a D5100 - so no AF motor/screw-drive system in the camera. So she can't use the less expensive Nikon AF 80-200 mm f/2.8D lenses that use Nikon's in the camera screw-drive system, unless she's willing to do manual focus. And the D5100 has a manual focusing aid - Rangerfinder mode. I recently bought a very well cared for, used, push/pull to zoom AF 80-200 mm f/2.8D lenses for $300 USD (£181). The newer 2-ring version of a used AF 80-200 mm f/2.8D sell for about £480 - £500. Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8D ED Zoom Nikkor Lens
Keith .. typo ?? She "could" use the lens with her 5100 but will not have AF capabilities. her 5100 does not have the screw drive motor (which you stated), which is what the 80-200/2.8 needs to AutoFocus otherwise she needs the more expensive AF-S models with a built in focus motor.
There is the AF-s 80-200 on BH used for about 1,000. Go over to their website and check it out. I would link to it but I'm on my ipad at the moment. Lol.
Personally I'll recommend the AF-S 70-300mm VR. Better to save for a better cam before getting better lens. Reason being the FX lenses will not fully perform on a DX camera(a D5100 here I assume). For £600 I'll consider the camera upgrade first.
Dear everyone reading this thread: Please ignore the false information Vince.1551 just spread. Thanks, Brain.
You might want to look at either a used Sigma or Tamron 70-200 mm F/2.8. I paid roughly $700 USD for my Sigma used, (I bought the OS Version), you can generally find the non-os or non-vc versions a little cheaper than that. I've been very happy with the results I get from my Sigma, and I think you'll find it will be more than enough for your D5100. I use a D5200 and the image quality has always been more than sufficient even with the 24 mp sensor.
I'll provide the correct info to those that don't already know it, since you were to focused on slamming Vince.1551 to do so yourself. Vince.1551 has it exactly backwards. What happens when Nikon DX lenses are used on Nikon FX camera bodies is what users need to be aware of. DX lenses are designed to project an image circle that works with the reduced size of the DX (APS-C) image sensor. FX is a full size image sensor and while DX lenses can be mounted and used on an FX camera body, a DX lens only illuminates the center DX size portion of the full size FX image sensor. FX cameras can detect that a DX lens is mounted and they then, as a default setting, FX cameras only use the central part of their bigger image sensor that is the same size as a DX image sensor. It costs about 4 times more to make the bigger FX image sensor than to make the smaller DX image sensor. It costs less to make a DX lens than it does to make the same lens an FX lens. Because the DX lens projects a smaller image circle the glass lens elements can be smaller in a DX lens. The lens body can be smaller too. Upgrading a lens is usually a quicker way to image quality improvement than upgrading your camera. However, good lenses often cost more than entry-level DSLRs do. Also, lenses do not need to get upgraded as often as camera bodies, from both a performance and a marketing perspective. In other words camera body upgrades are more about features and functions than they are about upgrading image quality.
