Zoom lens?

[simon1]

What's a decent zoom lens for a Nikon D3400? I have the 18-55 that came with the kit, but it's not doing what I want. I was looking at a 70 something to 300. Shots would be about 100-200 yards away. I don't want to spend more on the lens than the camera cost.

Any suggestions?

 

[ackvil]

My Nikon 5500 also came with a 70-300 mm 4.5 -6.3 lens which cost $350. It does a decent job.

 

[troy]

Hi Mike. Not a Nikon shooter, so I have no experience with the lenses, but here are a few things to consider. You should be able to stay fairly cheap to reasonable if you don't need a huge aperture or image stabilization. 70-300 is a pretty popular range for full frame, but you have a crop sensor body. You may be better served to get a 55-200, multiply by 1.5 and you have a 82.5 -300. The 70-300 would be 105-450 much more reach, but pretty tele on the short end you may really miss that gap you're skipping. Unless you really want the extra reach or plan to go full frame eventually I would go with the smaller lens.

 

[troy]

Another option would be to get a Tamron 18-200, then you can go from wide to tele without changing the lens. I have no experience with this lens, but I use a panasonic 14-140 on my micro 4/3 camera (28-280 full frame equivalent) and I love the range and rarely change lenses except when I add extension tubes for macro.

 

[simon1]

Hi Mike. Not a Nikon shooter, so I have no experience with the lenses, but here are a few things to consider. You should be able to stay fairly cheap to reasonable if you don't need a huge aperture or image stabilization. 70-300 is a pretty popular range for full frame, but you have a crop sensor body. You may be better served to get a 55-200, multiply by 1.5 and you have a 82.5 -300. The 70-300 would be 105-450 much more reach, but pretty tele on the short end you may really miss that gap you're skipping. Unless you really want the extra reach or plan to go full frame eventually I would go with the smaller lens.

Ummm...what's a crop sensor body, and why would you multiply by 1.5?

I'm about as green as they come...my highest quality camera was a Canon A95.

 

[MarkM10431]

What's a decent zoom lens for a Nikon D3400? I have the 18-55 that came with the kit, but it's not doing what I want. I was looking at a 70 something to 300. Shots would be about 100-200 yards away. I don't want to spend more on the lens than the camera cost.

Any suggestions?

HI Simon.. First, there are a few questions and observations.
1. what are you shooting? you say 100-200 yards, even a 200 is going to be an issue unless you are shooting a barn. so information on what you are shooting is essential.
2. you needs to study up on your camera. you seem to not understand you have a crop sensor. basically a full size sensor is larger than a crop. the nice thing about the crop is your 200 mm lense gets a 1.4 multiplier, so it's almost a 300mm equivalent.
3 you indicated that you don't want to spend more than the camera . the problem with that is twofold.
there is a saying.. bodies come and go every 3-4 years, but good glass is forever. that is an axiom to live by.
Good glass will be expensive.
I would reccommend you google digital camera basics, look for a primer on the Nikon 3000, 3100 3200 3300 3400. they are basically the same camera with some improvements.
I would also recommend you join Nikonians, Nikonians - Photography community for Nikon users an awesome resource and a LOT of pros post and give guidance.
also, as a novice, you should never buy new glass. KEH Adorama and BH Photo are all reputable sources and have good prices on used. my 2.8 70-200 Nikon was about 1200 iirc

lastly, prioritize what kind of photography you want to do, because the equipment will vary. a 5.6 200 zom is not going to be very effective for friday night lights, but might do for birding (not BIF)

 

[simon1]

HI Simon.. First, there are a few questions and observations.
1. what are you shooting? you say 100-200 yards, even a 200 is going to be an issue unless you are shooting a barn. so information on what you are shooting is essential.
2. you needs to study up on your camera. you seem to not understand you have a crop sensor. basically a full size sensor is larger than a crop. the nice thing about the crop is your 200 mm lense gets a 1.4 multiplier, so it's almost a 300mm equivalent.
3 you indicated that you don't want to spend more than the camera . the problem with that is twofold.
there is a saying.. bodies come and go every 3-4 years, but good glass is forever. that is an axiom to live by.
Good glass will be expensive.
I would reccommend you google digital camera basics, look for a primer on the Nikon 3000, 3100 3200 3300 3400. they are basically the same camera with some improvements.
I would also recommend you join Nikonians, Nikonians - Photography community for Nikon users an awesome resource and a LOT of pros post and give guidance.
also, as a novice, you should never buy new glass. KEH Adorama and BH Photo are all reputable sources and have good prices on used. my 2.8 70-200 Nikon was about 1200 iirc

lastly, prioritize what kind of photography you want to do, because the equipment will vary. a 5.6 200 zom is not going to be very effective for friday night lights, but might do for birding (not BIF)

That is some good advise. Thanks!

1. I'm looking at deer, Texas Longhorns, exotic sheep, coyotes, and whatever else is the target of opportunity at about 100-200 yards and hummingbirds at about 10 feet . The 55 zoom doesn't do what I want even on the hummingbirds.

2. I do need to learn how the camera operates, but that will take me some time to get the information and digest it. That's about like me asking you what difference the ballistic coefficient between a round nose and spitzer boat tail will have at 300 yards with a 180 grain bullet moving at about 2,500 fps. out of a .30-06 on trajectory and impact energy. Not to mention the difference between the granulation and burn rate of the powder charge you are using, along with the primers and case prep., OAL, etc. if you reload.

Like I said, I'm as green as they come on cameras. Thanks for your link to the Nikon users and the advice on not buying new glass.

 

[Mick]

Before you get long glass get something to hold it steady.

Tripods are nice but slow and awkward to set up.

If you expect to do a lot of "oooh pretty, click" shooting, a shoulder gunstock is a must.

 

[sarimento1]

nikon's 70-300 VR is very usable, under $150 used.

 

[Chapinahat]

Budget, look at the Tamron 70-300mm SP USD - stabilised and a more premium zoom than their $99 buck version - shouldn't cost more than $300 new.

Range, realistically, you may need to look at Sigma/Tamron's superzooms at up to 600mm.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Check out the Wirecutter.com article on "Best Nikon Lenses to Buy", they update it pretty regularly with new reviews.

I just rented their zoom lens pick (Nikon 70-300), and had a great experience with it. It's about $500 new, but there's an older version out there that I've seen for under $200 used in good condition. Turns out that for my use cases it's way too long - I almost never went above 120-150mm during the week I had it, but the test shots I took at 250-300mm we'r quite good.

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

That is some good advise. Thanks!

1. I'm looking at deer, Texas Longhorns, exotic sheep, coyotes, and whatever else is the target of opportunity at about 100-200 yards and hummingbirds at about 10 feet . The 55 zoom doesn't do what I want even on the hummingbirds.

2. I do need to learn how the camera operates, but that will take me some time to get the information and digest it. That's about like me asking you what difference the ballistic coefficient between a round nose and spitzer boat tail will have at 300 yards with a 180 grain bullet moving at about 2,500 fps. out of a .30-06 on trajectory and impact energy. Not to mention the difference between the granulation and burn rate of the powder charge you are using, along with the primers and case prep., OAL, etc. if you reload.

Like I said, I'm as green as they come on cameras. Thanks for your link to the Nikon users and the advice on not buying new glass.

If you're shooting small animals at that distance, I wouldn't expect tight head shots with a 70-300mm. To give yourself an idea of what that focal length is going to get you, grab a pair of 10x binos and use them on your subjects. Will like help identify them? Sure. It's just not going to get you the photos that you might hope to take. A Tamron 200-500mm on a tripod is probably the least expensive way to get you in the ballpark of what you would need for these incredibly challenging conditions. Good luck!

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

Not sure if you ever ended up buying or renting a lens, but I shot this photo to put to bed the notion of a 200 or 300mm lens working for your application. I shot this photo from my front door with a 400mm lens (and yeah, my camera has a "crop sensor", so the field of view is similar to a 600mm lens on a full-frame body). Pierre The Bear is about 30-35 feet from me when I shot this. He's about two foot tall. Now imagine what the photo would look like if I placed him back another 550 feet. That's around 200 yards total. Even the 400mm wouldn't cut it for a smaller

animal.

 

[simon1]

Not sure if you ever ended up buying or renting a lens, but I shot this photo to put to bed the notion of a 200 or 300mm lens working for your application. I shot this photo from my front door with a 400mm lens (and yeah, my camera has a "crop sensor", so the field of view is similar to a 600mm lens on a full-frame body). Pierre The Bear is about 30-35 feet from me when I shot this. He's about two foot tall. Now imagine what the photo would look like if I placed him back another 550 feet. That's around 200 yards total. Even the 400mm wouldn't cut it for a smaller View attachment 899130 animal.

Nope...haven't bought anything yet...still looking.

Thanks for the example!

The Tamron 70-300 is about $500, and there is something else I'm looking at getting first (not camera related) in that price range.

I'm not looking at close-up head shots at 100 yards, just full body shots of deer, coyotes, longhorns and such at 100 yards right now until I get a bit more experience. There is absolutely no place around here to rent lenses. I wish there was.

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

Nope...haven't bought anything yet...still looking.

Thanks for the example!

The Tamron 70-300 is about $500, and there is something else I'm looking at getting first (not camera related) in that price range.

I'm not looking at close-up head shots at 100 yards, just full body shots of deer, coyotes, longhorns and such at 100 yards right now until I get a bit more experience. There is absolutely no place around here to rent lenses. I wish there was.

If you can't rent, my recommendation would be to get a decent tripod and good manual focus tell lens. For reference, the lens that I used to take my picture is a super-cheap 400mm f5.6 lens. I probably paid $50 for it. Autofocus is pretty much worthless for what your talking about shooting, as at that distance, you can just rack focus to infinity and leave it there. I really can't stress enough that it's important to manage expectations. The shots that you want to take at the distances that you are stating are pretty much impossible for anything less than the cost of a nice new car. That being said, you can use the cameras high resolution to your advantage and crop to your subject. This is why the tripod is SO IMPORTANT. Good luck!

 

[simon1]

If you can't rent, my recommendation would be to get a decent tripod and good manual focus tell lens. For reference, the lens that I used to take my picture is a super-cheap 400mm f5.6 lens. I probably paid $50 for it. Autofocus is pretty much worthless for what your talking about shooting, as at that distance, you can just rack focus to infinity and leave it there. I really can't stress enough that it's important to manage expectations. The shots that you want to take at the distances that you are stating are pretty much impossible for anything less than the cost of a nice new car. That being said, you can use the cameras high resolution to your advantage and crop to your subject. This is why the tripod is SO IMPORTANT. Good luck!

Thanks. I do know that on that high a zoom a tripod is a necessity. I have one.

This is a rural, agricultural area and a camera shop would not do enough business to stay open. The closest major metropolitan area is 100 miles away.

I did a quick search on the Tamron 70-300 to see what Amazon would have...came across these.

https://www.amazon.com/Tamron-70-300mm-4-0-5-6-Digital-Cameras/dp/B003YH9DZE

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tamron...Vj7jACh0F6QZgEAQYASABEgKOhfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Don't know how well one of those would do. Some of the shots could be at 30-50 yards.

 

[Rrose Sélavy]

Here's a good link with examples of different focal lengths at different distances.


Focal Length Guide for Shooting in Large Spaces

 

[simon1]

Here's a good link with examples of different focal lengths at different distances.


Focal Length Guide for Shooting in Large Spaces

Thanks for the link! Like I've said...I'm as green as they come. I'm still trying to figure out the difference between a full frame and crop sensor.

It's hard to get wildlife to pose, so most of mine have to be quick shots. This little monster bowed his back up like a cat when he saw me, then turned around and waddled off pretty quick. I wasn't going to chase him...I've seen them up close when they are ticked off. And I don't have much editing software...just what came with the Windows Photos in the OS.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Borrowlenses.com or lensrentals.com both offer rentals by mail.

 

[simon1]

Borrowlenses.com or lensrentals.com both offer rentals by mail.

Thanks! I didn't know such places existed.