Will you recommend both a 200mm and 300mm lens?

Arturo · Joined: 10 Jan 2013 Posts: 26 Location: United States

I'm looking for both a 200mm and 300mm lens that is absolutely sharp with good contrast and color rendition. It is for EOS mount and will be used on a 5D and Scarlet. I can spend a few hundred on each but they need to be UN-arguably terrific lenses. Thank you!

kopi234 · Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 103 Location: Indonesia

i have Nikkor 300mm F2.8 ais, very good lens i think.
pictures below at wide open straight from my d90.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

+1 on Nikkon 300mm , terrific lens!

In my opinion 200mm lenses with F4 many go on low price , with excellent performance worth to have it even if you have terrific 300mm lens like this Nikon. Key is weight...

kopi234 · Joined: 25 Jul 2012 Posts: 103 Location: Indonesia

@atilla
you're right, it's also a problem for me. held for five minutes, is enough to make hand-shaking. I usually use a monopod to hold it for me.

mustangfa · Joined: 08 Oct 2010 Posts: 13

Fujinon EBC 200 4.5 m42 is enough for sharpness and contrast

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

What Attila said. 200/4's tend to be very well corrected and often sell for very cheap. Look for an old Nikkor 200/4. Nikon must have made a bazillion of them. The pre-AI's sell for next to nothing and even the AI versions can often be found for very reasonable.

Last year, I decided that I wanted to add a 180mm to 200mm f/2.8 to my collection. So I started doing some research. Years ago, I owned a Nikkor AIs 180mm f/2.8 ED, and it was a very sharp lens, so I was leaning in that direction. The manual focus 180/2.8 ED Nikkors can usually be bought on eBay in the $300-350 range, sometimes for substantially less. But then I was at the Adaptall-2 site, drooling over the Tamron 180mm f/2.5 and I noticed something. There is a set of Modern Photography resolution tests, showing the numbers for both the Tamron and the Nikkor AIs 180/2.8 ED. Something about the numbers looked familiar. I had also been studying the Tamron 80-200mm f/2.8 LD zoom and what I noticed was that the resolution numbers for the Nikkor 180/2.8 ED were almost identical to the resolution numbers for the Tamron 80-200/2.8 LD. Wow. So, I added the big Tamron zoom to my search. And I found one at KEH for about $250. So I bought it and am very glad I did. I tell you what, that Tamron 80-200 is an incredible lens. It's big and heavy, though, and if you decide to go that route, make sure the lens you get comes with the tripod collar.

Tamron 80-200mm f/2.8 LD @ f/2.8:

100% crop of above image:

For 300mm, I own a Tamron 300mm f/2.8 LD IF, which rivals Kopi's Nikkor in sharpness and performance. I lucked out on mine, winning an auction on eBay for $500. If one is patient and goes with an auction instead of the overpriced BINs, this price is possible, sometimes even less. Check the completed listings on eBay. It's a great lens.

Tamron 300mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8:

100% crop of above image:

You'll note in the above 100% crop the slightest amount of purple and green fringing. To me, this is very well controlled and can be easily eliminated in post -- if I even wanted to bother.

If you want something a bit less costly or smaller, then of all the less-expensive 300mm lenses I've tried over the years, I'd recommend the Nikkor 300mm f/4.5. They are a real bargain these days, especially the pre-AI ones. You can even pick up a 300/4.5 EDIF for reasonable prices if you're patient. And that is one helluva lens.

A final comment regarding weight: both the Tamron 80-200/2.8 and 300/2.8 are heavy lenses and are not so easy to use handheld. An easy solution to this is to use a monopod. I have a compact Gitzo that I bring along with me whenever I go on an outing with either of these lenses where I know I'll be mobile. If I know that I won't be moving around, then I'll bring a tripod. But a good monopod is a very workable solution for having to shoot with lenses that weigh a lot. As far as that goes, I think it's a good idea to get used to using a monopod with lenses of 300mm or longer, regardless of their weight, unless one is shooting at very high shutter speeds.

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

200mm - Pentacon Preset

300mm Tair 3 if you can stand the weight. If not, join a gym Laughing

cheekygeek · Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Posts: 183

The guy asks for EOS mount and you guys are recommending Nikkors? Laughing

The Fotodiox Pro adapter seems to get good reviews on Amazon (42 reviews and 4-1/2 stars)
$67.95

Bille · Joined: 03 Jan 2013 Posts: 381

Canon EF 200/2.8 L coupled with a 1.4 TC.

If I remember correctly, the 200/2.8 is the cheapest L prime lens available but optical performance is flawless. Better than the popular 70-200/2.8 zooms.

Olivier · Expire: 2015-08-06

Nikkor on Eos is no problem.
Looking Kopi's photos, the Nikkor 2.8/300 impresses me a lot.

If I were to choose 200 and 300, I would better go for a 180mm f:2.8 + a good 300mm.

For instance :
Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 2.8/180 or jupiter-6 2.8/180
Nikkor 2.8/300 or Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/300 or Taïr-3 4.5/300

If you absolutely want a 200mm, the Jupiter-21M 4/200 is a very good performer.

Pontus · Expire: 2016-08-25

CONTAX ZEISS VARIO-SONNAR T 100-300 F4.5-5.6

Can be adapted for Canon (not sure if bot MM and AE versions can be). Not that fast but VERY sharp wide open. Absolutely super performance, better than most primes (even Zeiss). This was one of the last Contax Zeiss creations and it was horribly expensive when new. Still is expensive but worth it.

cheekygeek · Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Posts: 183

Hard to go wrong with Zeiss. If you find 'em in a C/Y mount you can get a C/Y to EOS adapter.

Samples from the web:
Tele-Tessar 300mm f4.0

Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8

Tele-Tessar 200mm f4.0

hifisapi · Joined: 25 Sep 2012 Posts: 941 Location: USA

At 180mm, you cant beat the Tamron SP LD IF 180mm F2.5 adaptall2 lens. I have a nice VERY compact
SMC Pentax -A* 300mm F4 but Im not sure if it can be adapted to EOS.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I had both Tamron sp 180 and nikon 180 ED and not ED, all gone I kept Carl Zess Sonnar 180mm f2.8 T common lens available all time around 500 USD.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

So Attila, since you've owned both the Tamron 180 and the Nikkor 180 ED, how would you compare the two? I know the MP resolution charts at Adaptall-2 dot org give the Tamron a slight edge, but I wonder if it's enough to actually be able to notice when looking at their images? How about other factors, such as bokeh, color, contrast?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I did like Tamron better ,it is impressed me more.