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ooocharmsooo

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Hello,

My name is Erica, I am new to this whole thing, and was wondering if you veterans could help me out a little bit! I just bought my first SLR it is a Nikon D40. I bought this model because it felt really comfortable in my hands, and everywhere I read, said this was the perfect beginners camera! ANYWAYS.. I was wondering if you guys(and gals) could help me out by giving me some advise on lenses. I want to be able to stand on the shore(I live by the beach) and take pictures of one of my friends surfing. I need something powerful enough to get close ups on his face or at least his upper body. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks much!
Erica.
 
goofball said:
That's going to be tough. Catching just the face on a moving
subject from that distance. How far would you estimate he would be
at the farthest?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't really need to capture his face, but I would need to get atleast from his waist to top of the head. I don't realyl know exactly how far he would be.. depending on how far the waves would be breaking from shore...

I would say about 50 feet> ?
 
50ft, in good light, the 70-300 VR "might" cut it. It's hard to say, I haven't had the chance just yet to get out and try to shoot some wildlife in good light. It's been raining/overcast since I got it. This will autofocus on the D40.

The other option might be an 80-400 Sigma OS but I'm not sure if it is fast focusing or not.
 
ooocharmsooo said:
I would say about 50 feet> ?
Click to expand...
Unless you're standing in the water or he's on a boogie board, I don't think 50 ft is an accurate guess. I would say much further than 50 ft.

Off hand, I'd say a 300mm lens would be your minimum, for that kind of magnification.

larsbc
 
nikon also makes autofocus teleconverters that give you extra magnification:
http://nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5

if you have a 70-300VR and a TC, that's about as far as you're going to get without spending mad cash, or getting wet :)
 
leftheaded said:
nikon also makes autofocus teleconverters that give you extra
magnification:
http://nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5

if you have a 70-300VR and a TC, that's about as far as you're
going to get without spending mad cash, or getting wet :)
Click to expand...
But not a very good idea. 300mm is already somewhat cutting it, putting a 1.4x TC makes it an f/8 lens, so autofocus is out of the question. I don't think the OP wants to manually focus in this situation?

There aren't many cheap ways to get autofocus and more than 300mm unfortunately.
 
Hi Erica. You are now in an area where you have some greatly varying options. Those narrow down considerably if your budget is not very much, so I suggest you share what you are willing to spend on this lens. From a budget standpoint, I second the 70-300 VR, roughly a $500 lens. That might not sound very cheap, but it is a high quality lens and has VR, which is useful at the telephoto focal lengths.

Next up would be the 300mm f/4 AFS, which is roughly $1,100 for a USA version, assuming you are in the US. Really excellent image quality, but also a much larger lens than the 70-300 VR, both in size and weight, and it is not a VR lens, so you usually need to use it on a monopod or tripod unless you crank up the ISO to have a fast shutter speed. The 70-300 is a stop slower at 300mm (f/5.6 instead of f/4).

And then there is the 70-200 f/2.8 VR, which is probably does not have enough reach for what you will be doing, but is a great lens and can be used with a 1.4x TC to get you out to 280mm without much loss of quality (not visible to my not so great eyes). But the 70-200 is about $1,600, so it isn't cheap.

Probably the cheapest Nikon lens for this use would be one of the 55-200 AFS lenses. If you are posting on the web and just making small prints, you will be able to crop pretty significantly with the D40.

Then there are the third party lenses, but be sure that they autofocus with the D40 (it requires lenses with built in focus motors, which rules out the Tokina and Tamron offerings to my knowledge). Check Sigma's website for a list of lenses that are compatible with the D40, all HSM lenses should work.

Unfortunately the cheaper alternatives like the 70-300 D won't AF on the D40, so you would have to focus manually to use that lens.

As for teleconverters, they work best with the wider aperture lenses. I would not spend the money on one to use with the 70-300 or the 55-200.

--
Good shooting,

Gene
North Carolina
 
Erica, I do not generally take surfing pictures, but did get this last year, may give you an idea of what to expect. From memory I was about 120 feet from this guy, it is a reduced full frame shot from a 70-300 lens.

So for waves breaking a fair way out you will get smaller subjects, closer in, larger. You would have some ability to crop your better shots to get in a bit closer also.

Gene has given a good breakdown on lenses and costs, I think you would do pretty well with the 70-300 VR and get some pleasing results.



--
Gerry,
http://gerryd.smugmug.com/ discount code on homepage

 
From what I read, I will be spending over $500.. Which is pushing it a little bit with my budget, BUT I will just have to wait about a month or two to purchase it!

Is this the correct lense that most people are telling me to get? http://base.google.com/base/a/121112/D7510810381989796182

Also, I know most don't like buying from best buy.. BUT I do have a credit card from them, and was wondering how bad this lense was for the price?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=4161329&st=+70-300+VR&type=product&id=1051806982664

You guys(and gals) are so helpful!! Thank you so much for your help!
 
From what I read, I will be spending over $500.. Which is pushing it a little bit with my budget, BUT I will just have to wait about a month or two to purchase it!

Is this the correct lense that most people are telling me to get? http://base.google.com/base/a/121112/D7510810381989796182

Also, I know most don't like buying from best buy.. BUT I do have a credit card from them, and was wondering how bad this lense was for the price?

http://www.bestbuy.com/ ... ...329&st=+70-300+VR&type=product&id=1051806982664

You guys(and gals) are so helpful!! Thank you so much for your help!
 
Your first link is the lens that people are advising you to get (and the only real option for you now - although it's a very good option).

The lens from Best Buy won't autofocus on your D40, so it would not be a good choice.

You might also think about getting a monopod if you're going to be taking action shots at 300mm. I think they're pretty cheap.
 
leftheaded said:
nikon also makes autofocus teleconverters that give you extra
magnification:
http://nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=5

if you have a 70-300VR and a TC, that's about as far as you're
going to get without spending mad cash, or getting wet :)
Click to expand...
Nikon teleconverters are only compatible with some of the higher-end lenses, not the 70-300VR. You might be able to find some 3rd party teleconverter, not sure.
 
G Rash said:
Hi Erica. You are now in an area where you have some greatly
varying options. Those narrow down considerably if your budget is
not very much, so I suggest you share what you are willing to spend
on this lens. From a budget standpoint, I second the 70-300 VR,
roughly a $500 lens. That might not sound very cheap, but it is a
high quality lens and has VR, which is useful at the telephoto
focal lengths.
Click to expand...
Yes, for static subjects. A moving surfer needs to be captured at fast shutter speeds and VR will not help here.
G Rash said:
Next up would be the 300mm f/4 AFS, which is roughly $1,100 for a
USA version, assuming you are in the US. Really excellent image
quality, but also a much larger lens than the 70-300 VR, both in
size and weight, and it is not a VR lens, so you usually need to
use it on a monopod or tripod unless you crank up the ISO to have a
fast shutter speed. The 70-300 is a stop slower at 300mm (f/5.6
instead of f/4).
Click to expand...
Not a bad idea, it's a great lens. If she can maintain a shutter speed greater than 1/300, handholding the 300mm f/4 should work I would think. It's not so big a lens that it's hard to hold steady.
G Rash said:
And then there is the 70-200 f/2.8 VR, which is probably does not
have enough reach for what you will be doing, but is a great lens
and can be used with a 1.4x TC to get you out to 280mm without much
loss of quality (not visible to my not so great eyes). But the
70-200 is about $1,600, so it isn't cheap.
Click to expand...
The TC-17E II (1.7x) and TC-20E II (2x) teleconverters work very well with the 70-200VR - I use both of them frequently. Expensive yes, but very flexible as to overall range and maintaining zoom capability versus the 300 f/4 prime.
G Rash said:
Probably the cheapest Nikon lens for this use would be one of the
55-200 AFS lenses. If you are posting on the web and just making
small prints, you will be able to crop pretty significantly with
the D40.

As for teleconverters, they work best with the wider aperture
lenses. I would not spend the money on one to use with the 70-300
or the 55-200.
Click to expand...
They'd have to be 3rd party anyway, Nikon TC's will not work with either of these lenses.
 
at least 300mm,

in Hawaii on wakakekie (spelling is very wrong) beach someone was using a 400mm with a 2x tube on a DX camera (1.5 crop) to get pictures of people surfing, and that would be ideal...

(now do you know why i like DX format?)

but for you I'd get at least a 300mm and see what happens, but just remeber to get great shots or to fill the frame with your friend (in camera) you're looking at spending way more money than what it's worth.
ooocharmsooo said:
Hello,

My name is Erica, I am new to this whole thing, and was wondering
if you veterans could help me out a little bit! I just bought my
first SLR it is a Nikon D40. I bought this model because it felt
really comfortable in my hands, and everywhere I read, said this
was the perfect beginners camera! ANYWAYS.. I was wondering if you
guys(and gals) could help me out by giving me some advise on
lenses. I want to be able to stand on the shore(I live by the
beach) and take pictures of one of my friends surfing. I need
something powerful enough to get close ups on his face or at least
his upper body. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks much!
Erica.
Click to expand...
--
hi, I use a camera, flash, and lens. I'm also grumpy most of the time.
http://www.andrewthomasdesigns.com

' I should tell you that of all the shots I’ve taken in my TFCD portfolio-building adventures, yours are definitely my favorites – and I think we got the highest number of use-able shots as well. Point being, if you want to do some shots sometime, I’d definitely be down.' - Mandy Ingram
 
Mark53 said:
Not a bad idea, it's a great lens. If she can maintain a shutter
speed greater than 1/300, handholding the 300mm f/4 should work I
would think. It's not so big a lens that it's hard to hold steady.
Click to expand...
This is on the beach, she is going to be using iso200 with 1/1000th shutter on f14 or something, so it's not a big deal.

--
hi, I use a camera, flash, and lens. I'm also grumpy most of the time.
http://www.andrewthomasdesigns.com

' I should tell you that of all the shots I’ve taken in my TFCD portfolio-building adventures, yours are definitely my favorites – and I think we got the highest number of use-able shots as well. Point being, if you want to do some shots sometime, I’d definitely be down.' - Mandy Ingram
 
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