a quick question about lenses

thanks,

at the moment after a lot of thought I’ve settled on getting the Nikon 70-300 A-FS VR,

I did consider the Tamron 28-300 but the one with image stablisation is more money

My advice would be to go for the best glass possible within your reach. For the D60 the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR could be recommended. Stear clear of the so-called superzooms (e.g. 18-250mm), since they are very much a compromise and don’t usually deliver optimum quality in the tele-end of the range. Only consider the use of teleconverters with top quality lenses like the Nikkors AFS f/2.8/70-200VR or AFS f4/300mm and even then limit yourself to a 1.4 or 1.7 extender to retain good quality in your pictures.

Has anyone tried out this new 15X Zoom Tamron 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 Di II VC Lens for either Nikon or Cannon and/or would anyone recommend a 2X Tele Converter lens

Thanks in advance

I use a 70-300mm and find it more than adequate for use at most airbases across the UK. It’s all your really need I think, a GR4 will fill the viewfinder of you choose to go low-flying (at most places anyway).

You may find 200mm a bit short for fighters, but will be more than adequate for most places with bigger aircraft.

As mentioned, 200mm will limit your options slightly, in that you will have to get yourself a bit closer to the action to get a frame-filler – also bear in mind the D60 is not massivly high-spec, so a heavy crop at 200mm (to bring the subject closer) may limit the quality somewhat.

I think you can pick a cheapo 300mm up for about £80, but bear in mind with the D60, you need to AF motor to be in the lens – which limits your choice of lenses, unless you want to pay slightly more.

Have a look here – http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd258/wcfcfan/Valley%20Oct%2008/ These are from one of my latest ventures with the 300mm at Valley. If you check the EXIF data for the shots you can see at what focal length they were taken. Camera was a D40, slightly lower spec than the D60.

Hope that helps

Steve

sorry, yes they would be zoom lenses, I spose I would be talking about diverse venues like Heathrow and Duxford

I assume you are talking about a zoom lens. Even a 200mm will give you a pretty good “reach” as this is equivalent to about 300mm on a film camera. It all depends on what you’re going to shoot, and how close you expect to be to the aircraft. Airliners are large, warbirds and GA are small…….. A 300mm does increase your options, though.