Fast-ish 200-400mm Prime

jacob12_1993 · Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 2:53 pm Post subject: Fast-ish 200-400mm Prime

to fit nikon, intend to use for cycle racing. I realise as a 16 year old I'm not going to be able to afford a nikon 70-200 f2.8 or canon 300mm f2.8L. But im looking for a good sharp, affordable lens, preferably with minimal CA because most of the clubs around here race white jerseys which really shows up CA against bright skys. Willing to sell my tamron 103a, vivitar 100-300 f5 and tokina 28-70 to fund the lens. Budget under £100

Jake

CarbonR · Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 3:25 pm Post subject:

For less than 100£, you won't find something really fast. Maybe a 200/2.8 with some luck and patience...

tikkathree · Expire: 2012-12-28

Hi. I'm with CarbonR: you'll have to be incredibly lucky and very quick to find anything over say 150mm in f/2 point anything.

I do think you should be able to source a 200mm prime around f/4 or a 400 or 400mm prime in f/5 something quite easily from t'eebay.

I've just spent about 8 weeks looking to source precisely what you're looking for, in my case as a "can it be done?" alternative to Canon L lenses. I've come to accept that if there are long MF lenses out there which are f/2-fast they don't come up very often and will attract a premium which will put them beyond £100 and probably closer to £200.

Given that we're talking about quite old kit here, I've concluded that, in effect, they simply don't exist.

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

I agree with the others. Short of stumbling across a good deal where the seller doesn't know what the lens is worth, you're not gonna find anything.

For a good, flexible (as far as focal range goes), decently sharp and affordable zoom, I'd recommend the Tamron 60-300 f/3.8-5.4. Yes, it's slower than you want, but it's a solid performer. I used this lens a lot back when I shot motorsports photography and it gave great results. Sold it back in the 90s, but since then I've acquired two -- bought one without mount at a local camera shop for $40 and bought another one off eBay for $20. I paid about $350 for the one I bought new back in the '80s.

This Porsche-powered March 83G was doing 200+ mph when I took the shot. Canon F-1, Tamron 60-300, Kodachrome 64. Exposure was probably 1/125 @ f/11

kawasakiguy37 · Joined: 13 Jul 2010 Posts: 132

I assume you mean cycling, not motorcycles yes?

I would go for a used nikkor 180 2.8 AI-S. I have one, VERY nice lense (72mm standard filters, amazing sharpness and resolving power) and it has plenty of reach. 2.8 isnt THAT fast, but for a fair length telephoto its not bad at all. You can get these for around 200 US at adorama, less if you wait around

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

Even better is the 180/2.8 ED. Obviously. Relatively cheap nowadays compared to what they used to sell for, but still a stretch for your budget. One of the sharpest lenses I ever owned. Shoulda never sold it.