Nikon D60 Advice

The Hammer

Ive a Nikon D60 and take photo of my local GAA team. i use the below camera lens. i was wondering is there a better lens for the job or is it a bigger zoom lens that i need. was just wondering could some of the experts on this forum could recommend.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/380911/art/nikon/af-s-vr-70-300-mm-f-4-5-5.html

trican

Firstly can you explain why or what you want better?

May consider posting a few of your GAA shots here or give us a link to a flickr or pix.ie account.

If you're considering buying a new lens whats your budget?

The Hammer

trican wrote: »

Firstly can you explain why or what you want better?

May consider posting a few of your GAA shots here or give us a link to a flickr or pix.ie account.

If you're considering buying a new lens whats your budget?

When at a match and as most of the new local GAA grounds have fences so you can get to stand on the line. So when the action is over the far side of the pitch i would like to be able to zoom to it. dont know if im explaining that properly.

As regards budget i suppose it would have to be 1000, but im only picking that figure as i dont really know that prices of lens. so dont see 100 as my cap.

dakar

There are a few things that combine to make sports photography an inherently expensive pursuit. You are trying to take pictures of events that are happening quickly, often far away from you and often in this delightful country in dull lighting conditions.

The upshot is that, to get the best shots, you need a lens that will allow you fast shutter speeds and decent 'reach'. Fast shutter speeds mean lots of light getting into the camera. Lots of light means the lens being capable of opening up to a wide aperture. Wide aperture means lots of money!

The big lenses that you see the pros using on the sidelines at big matches are usually big f2.8 telephoto lenses (either fixed focal length like 300mm or 400mm, or zooms like 70-200mm for when the action is a bit closer). If you want to give yourself a heart attack, Google the Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens and see what it would cost you

The other advantage the pros have is that the pro camera bodies are capable of bumping up the ISO (sensitivity) and still turn out good results, whereas a consumer camera will start getting very noisy results very quickly as you go up the ISO range.

The lens you link will give you good reach, but the maximum aperture when it's at 300mm, is pretty poor and will make it difficult to get fast enough shutter speeds to capture the action crisply on anything but a very bright day. I had an older version of this lens (without the VR) and it was pretty 'soft' at the long end, but not a disaster. A thing to note is that the VR is of little benefit to you shooting sports, as all it does is allow you to get away with a longer shutter speed that you would otherwise, but since your subject is moving, you don't need that, you need a lens that allows you a shorter shutter speed, not longer.

In terms of advice, the cheap option is to look for an old 70-300 without the VR, which you should pick up for a couple of hundred quid max, or look at a 70-200 f2.8, which loses you some length, costs a lot more, but will give you a much better chance of capturing the shots you want.

The Hammer

Thanks Trican and Dakar. thank you very much for that. I just looked at that price of that 400mm lens on the web :eek:

I think for the moment ill stick with what i have any maybe see can i get that lens without the VR over the next few months.

i think i better get picking out some number for the Euro millions and then i can buy all my lens

again thank you both for your help/advice.

Nforce

You're limited with the D60 body in that it doesn't have a built in auto focus motor...therefore you're stuck with needing expensive AF-S lens (If sticking with the nikon branded lenses).
A less expensive option for more reach would be the Sigma 150-500mm OS(not sure if this'll autofocus on your camera body,however)

The Hammer

Oh Nforce, i might be slated for saying this but i wouldn't be big on brand loyalty, i buy what i can get for the best value. will have a look at the sigma lens.

Does the D5000 suffer the same AF limitations as the d60. as i can get access (my flat mate has one) to a Nikon d5000 .

Nforce

D5000 doesn't have the auto focus motor either,afaik.

Edit: Just checked out the Sigma 150-500mm OS HSM and it looks like it'll AF on the D60/D5000.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08013102sigma150500.asp

The Hammer

i like the look of that lens. this is giving me plenty to look at now. thanks

dakar

Oops completely forgot about the AF issue with the D60/3000/5000 etc. my bad:o

The Hammer

just a quick now. which is the models of Nikon that dont have this AF issue.

dakar

Currently the D90/D300s/D3, also the D50/70/80/100/200/2 off the top of my head from the older models