Question about a lens for Nikon D5000

Natural_Disaster · Sep 3, 2011

Is the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 AF Zoom lens compatible with the Nikon D5000? I understand it doesnt have the VR....but thought it would serve its purpose if i use the tripod. Any other suggestions and comments are welcome. Trying to stay under the $250 range if possible but really need a longer reach!

Netskimmer · Sep 3, 2011

Yes it is compatible, assuming you get the Nikon version of coarse. It has a built in focus motor and as long as you don't mind not having VR you should be fine. Is your 55-200mm the DX version? if not than you are getting close to a 300mm focal length from it(200mmx1.5=300mm). Not sure if the Sigma is a DX lens or not.

EDIT:
Thought I should add that I don't have any experience with this lens so I can't speak to image or build quality.

Natural_Disaster · Sep 3, 2011

Yes my 55-300mm is the DX.....So is it even worth it to by the other one? Any guess on about how much further reach i can get? Done some research and found it should give about 10 extra yards...but if the 200 is almost as far already..then should i even bother?

Netskimmer · Sep 3, 2011

Natural_Disaster said:
Yes my 55-300mm is the DX.....So is it even worth it to by the other one? Any guess on about how much further reach i can get? Done some research and found it should give about 10 extra yards...but if the 200 is almost as far already..then should i even bother?

Is that a typo? Your sig says 55-200mm. If you have the 55-200 and it is a DX then that is what you are getting from it. If it was not DX than you would need to factor in your camera's crop factor when thinking about focal lengths.
A 55-200mm FX (full frame) lens on a camera with a cropped sensor like your D5000 and my D7000 would give you a focal range of roughly 85-300mm. I think the Sigma is a full frame FX lens so on your camera it would be roughly a 105-450mm focal range. So the difference would be really noticeable. This is assuming the sigma is full frame.

KmH · Sep 3, 2011

Netskimmer said:
If it was not DX than you would need to factor in your camera's crop factor when thinking about focal lengths.
A 55-200mm FX (full frame) lens on a camera with a cropped sensor like your D5000 and my D7000 would give you a focal range of roughly 85-300mm.

That is not correct.

A 55-200 mm FX lens on a DX crop sensor body will give the exact same field-of-view a 55-200 mm DX lens will give on the same crop sensor body.

Netskimmer · Sep 3, 2011

KmH said:
Netskimmer said:

If it was not DX than you would need to factor in your camera's crop factor when thinking about focal lengths.
A 55-200mm FX (full frame) lens on a camera with a cropped sensor like your D5000 and my D7000 would give you a focal range of roughly 85-300mm.

Click to expand...

That is not correct.

A 55-200 mm FX lens on a DX crop sensor body will give the exact same field-of-view a 55-200 mm DX lens will give on the same crop sensor body.

My mistake. I have had several people tell me that when using a full frame lens on a camera with a crop sensor that you multiply the focal length by the crop factor. I must have misunderstood what they meant. Didn't mean to spread false info.

Destin · Sep 3, 2011

You do multiply by the crop factor. But you do so for BOTH FX and DX lenses. So the 55-200 is, in reality a 55-300. The 55-300 would be equivalent to 450.

Netskimmer · Sep 3, 2011

Ah, I thought that since the DX lenses were meant specifically to be used on a cropped body that they factored that in from the beginning.

adversus · Sep 3, 2011

I'd save your money and get a non-DX lens. Unless you plan on never, ever upgrading to a full frame body. Your lenses should last you forever, you'll replace bodies way more often.

You'll get better build quality, generally better optics/performance, and future-proofing yourself all in one go. That's just my opinion though

Nikon makes good DX lenses, not knocking them. I just think that saving an extra $200 will make a world of difference.

Natural_Disaster · Sep 3, 2011

Well the purpose of getting the lens is to shoot photos of my kids football games. Worth it for that purpose?
(so many mixed answers lol)

Natural_Disaster · Sep 3, 2011

Or should i go with the same lens only with built in Macro? (sighs...so many to choose from)

adversus · Sep 3, 2011

I'm a huge fan of the Nikon 70-300 4.5 VR. It's about $529 new. I replaced the 55-200 DX with it. I plug this lens a lot, it works great and has excellent reach on a crop body (I used it on a D5000 before I got a D7000). It's usually overlooked as people save up for 70-200 2.8's.

Destin · Sep 4, 2011

Just a warning.. If the games are at night, then the 70-300 will not get good results. For the same price as the 70-300 you should be able to find a used 80-200 2.8 push/pull, or a used sigma 70-200 2.8.

I have the sigma, and I've got no complaints.

Natural_Disaster · Sep 4, 2011

All their games are either in the morning or mid day and will be the same next year as well because of their age group.
I have an offer to do "action shots" and sell discs to the parents this year and next year...which is why im leaning towards another lens. I done the same last year with the 55-200 and everyone loved them but id really like to be able to zoom in tighter on individual players.
Thanks everyone for your feedback!

KmH · Sep 4, 2011

Destin said:
You do multiply by the crop factor. But you do so for BOTH FX and DX lenses. So the 55-200 is, in reality a 55-300. The 55-300 would be equivalent to 450.

In reality, the 55-200 mm is a 55-200 mm regardless what camera it is mounted on.

However, a 55-200 mm lens mounted on a camera that has a 1.5x crop image sensor, the field-of-view (FOV) the 55-200 delivers is equivelent to the FOV a 82.5-300 mm lens would give if an 82.5-300 mm lens was mounted on a camera with a full frame image sensor.

Nikon DX lenses and Canon EF-S lenses project an image circle that is only large enough to illuminate the smaller than full frame APS-C size image sensor. Nikon FX. or Canon EF, lenses project an image circle large enough to illuminate a full frame image sensor.

Consequently, when an FX lens is mounted on a DX camera body, the FX lens projects an image circle that is much larger than the APS-C size image sensor, such that only the central APS-C sized portion of the FX lens projected image circle illuminates the APS-C image sensor.

In other words, the extra part of the FX image circle does not enter the shutter opening.