What lense?

Wardy1987 · Jun 18, 2011

Hi all looking at getting a bit of a zoom for my nikon d5100 that i have just got with the 18-55 kit. I will be taking pics of wildlife and occasional motorsport. What would you guys recommend as i dont have £100's to spend. I was thinking maby an 55-200 please help?????

chaosrealm93 · Jun 18, 2011

you wont be happy with the 55-200 because of its rather small aperture. i dont know for wildlife for sure, but im pretty sure a 4.5-5.6 would force you to use low shutter speeds and low shutter speeds for motorsports only result in blurry photos.

chaosrealm93 · Jun 18, 2011

Wardy1987 said:
What would you guys recommend as i dont have £100's to spend.

you sure you didnt mean $1000? $100 really isnt that much for a lens..

Dao · Jun 18, 2011

chaosrealm93 said:
you wont be happy with the 55-200 because of its rather small aperture. i dont know for wildlife for sure, but im pretty sure a 4.5-5.6 would force you to use low shutter speeds and low shutter speeds for motorsports only result in blurry photos.

If using that lens under bright sunny day, it will be alright.

OP, if you search Flickr with "Nikon 55-200mm motorsports", you should find some samples.

Edit: Based on Sunny 16 rules. F/16, iso100, shutter speed 1/100 for sunny day. So if you use f/8 (2 stops different), then you can have shutter speed 1/400 or 1/800 if you choose ISO200.
But course, you need to lower your shutter speed if you use panning techniques.

And for your budget, you do not have much choices.

chaosrealm93 · Jun 18, 2011

+1 ^ thx

BJF · Jun 18, 2011

What do you think about 70-300mm VR? Here you are two links for reference.

Nikkor 70-300mm VR

Nikkor 55-200mm VR

Wardy1987 · Jun 19, 2011

Hi all thanks for your feedback. My budget would be a max of £300.

There is no reason that i have not looked at the 300 rather than the 200 other than i assumed with it being larger it would cost more. If this is wrong i am sorry i have only had my camera for around a week. So as a result i am lacking in the experance.

KmH · Jun 19, 2011

It isn't that it costs more because it is 300mm, but because it has much better optics and is an FX, not a DX lens.

Plus, it's price matches your budget and the 70-300 mm VR is one of Nikon's best lens values:

Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

orb9220 · Jun 19, 2011

Yep if can't afford the 70-300vr then the 55-200vr and only the vr version as there is a non-vr version that's a little cheaper. And VR version is under $200 at amazon.

But has been my main walkabout lens for last year and has given me some great results. And it's cheap,light and compact. And Best Bang for the Buck zoom there is. Followed by the 70-300vr for the need for sports,wildlife reach a top notch performer for the price.

It's a good start then later down the road if 200mm isn't cutting it for reach or needing a faster zoom. Then you will have more of a understanding of what you need and why.
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