Ridiculously Tight Budget...

conkeroo

Im looking for a zoom, maybe up to 300mm but ive about 200euros (wtf!) to spend on one. Anyone have any recommendations for a cheap and cheerful lense but with reasonable image quality? I was looking at the Sigma 70-3004.-5.6 DG MS APO but cant tell if its any use at all. Anyone any ideas? Oh, and its a Nikon mount!

quilmore

Nikon 70-300G will cost you £65 (some 80 euro) here http://cgi.ebay.ie/Nikon-70-300mm-f-4-5-6-G-AF-Zoom-Lens-NEW-1N_W0QQitemZ380038095050QQihZ025QQcategoryZ3343QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or here

http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-Nikon-AF-70-300-mm-70-300mm-f-4-5-6-G-lens-NO-TAX_W0QQitemZ320264047193QQihZ011QQcategoryZ3343QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

with the left over you can get yourself a 50mm 1.8

note, they won't autofocus if you have a d40/x or d60
you'll need a HSM sigma or AF-S nikon, but they are more expensive

JMcL

conkeroo wrote: »

Im looking for a zoom, maybe up to 300mm but ive about 200euros (wtf!) to spend on one. Anyone have any recommendations for a cheap and cheerful lense but with reasonable image quality? I was looking at the Sigma 70-3004.-5.6 DG MS APO but cant tell if its any use at all. Anyone any ideas? Oh, and its a Nikon mount!

The Sigma is a great lens for the price, which is exactly what your budget is

leohoju

Granted that it doesn't go to the 300mm you want, but have you considered the Nikon 55-200mm VR lens? You can get that from between €150 and €200 on eBay and that's including delivery.

conkeroo

quilmore wrote: »

Nikon 70-300G will cost you £65 (some 80 euro) here http://cgi.ebay.ie/Nikon-70-300mm-f-4-5-6-G-AF-Zoom-Lens-NEW-1N_W0QQitemZ380038095050QQihZ025QQcategoryZ3343QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or here

http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-Nikon-AF-70-300-mm-70-300mm-f-4-5-6-G-lens-NO-TAX_W0QQitemZ320264047193QQihZ011QQcategoryZ3343QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

with the...

Thanks for that info. That just seems way too good to be true, do you have any experience of it?

conkeroo

leohoju wrote: »

Granted that it doesn't go to the 300mm you want, but have you considered the Nikon 55-200mm VR lens? You can get that from between €150 and €200 on eBay and that's including delivery.

Im looking to get into sports photography so im not too sure if the 200mm will do. Granted there'll be the 1.5 crop factor but I dont want to take the chance that i might fall short, so to speak.

snellers

Just bear in mind that buying a budget lens for sports photography will create it's own set of probs (primarily the need for excellent lighting / daylight to get any decent pics out of it.) The VR might have less range but it will give you a little more flexibility - all depends I guess on the type of sports you are planning to photograph

quilmore

conkeroo wrote: »

Thanks for that info. That just seems way too good to be true, do you have any experience of it?

yes, kea and urgalaxy are great, many in here can certify that
their prices are usually cracking
I've got stuff from both and I don't have enough words to praise them

magicbastarder

conkeroo wrote: »

I was looking at the Sigma 70-3004.-5.6 DG MS APO

they have the non-apo, non-motorised version in the camera exchange (nikon mount) for €140 - which would be fine (motor-wise) if you had any nikons other than the D40, 40x and D60.

conkeroo

magicbastarder wrote: »

they have the non-apo, non-motorised version in the camera exchange (nikon mount) for €140 - which would be fine (motor-wise) if you had any nikons other than the D40, 40x and D60.

Ive the D80 so no worries there. It looks like I may go for that one because I checked some reviews of the Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 G AF and the lense seems to suffer terrible softness around the edges at 200-300mm. At f8 - f11 it's not so bad but that'd pretty useless in low light conditions. For 140euros I reckon i'll give it a go.

Cheers.

magicbastarder

that's the non-APO, remember. i saw three lenses - €140, €200 and €220 - and there's one for €160 too, i think.
the €140 is non motorised, non-APO. €220 was motorised APO - i don't know which was which of the middle two.

conkeroo

magicbastarder wrote: »

that's the non-APO, remember. i saw three lenses - €140, €200 and €220 - and there's one for €160 too, i think.
the €140 is non motorised, non-APO. €220 was motorised APO - i don't know which was which of the middle two.

Ive just looked at some shots taken with the APO version and they actually look fairly decent, could well be worth the extra money. The lense looks bloody ridiculous though, when fully extended and the lense hood on!

Thirdfox

I've seen plenty of pros use a 70-200 f2.8 to shoot sports so in terms of focal length a 55-200 will give you just as much reach as that pro lens... everything else is almost completely incomparable though of course (though image quality when at optimum settings are quite similar).