70-300 VR on a D40?

Hi folks.

I've been getting to grips with my D40 and the kit lens recently and am now looking for a longer lens so I can get in on the action. My main candidate is the 55-200 VR as, by all accounts, it's bloody good value. However I am thinking about splashing out on the 70-300 VR instead. Does the fact it's not a DX-format lens have any bearing on what it'll be like to use? What's the implication of mounting a non-DX lens on a D40?

Thanks in advance,
Alex.

Go for. It will work great on your D40x!

If your main goal is to shoot things at a distance, then the 70-300mm will work out finel. If you want to use something for portraits in tighter situations, the 55-200mm VR offers a wider angle of view as well as closer focusing. I have both and they serve different purposes for me.

--
If you like what I can do with cards, wait til you see what I do with the limes.

batwad said:

Hi folks.

I've been getting to grips with my D40 and the kit lens recently
and am now looking for a longer lens so I can get in on the action.
My main candidate is the 55-200 VR as, by all accounts, it's bloody
good value. However I am thinking about splashing out on the
70-300 VR instead. Does the fact it's not a DX-format lens have
any bearing on what it'll be like to use? What's the implication
of mounting a non-DX lens on a D40?

Click to expand...

You lose the edge distortion and softness as its off the edge of the CCD. Also its rare to get any vignetting if at all.

batwad said:

Thanks in advance,
Alex.

Click to expand...

--
Bluenose

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phipop
hello,

i have the 70-300VR with my d40x. it works also very good with my F(N)75. the fact that it is not a dx format but a full format makes it a 105-450 mm with the d40x.
it is a very good lens, no doubt.
even at 300mm (450) it looks good to me.

it is a big (long) lens with the d40x, but it is not a problem, and vr works good.
it 'sucks' faster the battery.
philippe

I just received a 70-300VR to put on my D40 on Friday. Didn't get to use it at all until yesterday. I got the lens for pictures of kids baseball, soccer, running "action dog" shots, and vacation. My kids are off-season, so I just have pictures of the dog:

70mm:



200mm no cropping:



70mm cropped at 1250 ISO:



I picked these photos to show as they cover 70 and 200, and the mid-air shot is actually in terrible light (I think the ISO is 1250?). I simply cropped out distracting details. The 70 shot was on a whim, but I think it compares favorably with what my 50f1.8 can do; it helped that the end-of-day light was coming from the right place.

I found that I couldn't use much of the reach of this lens in my backyard (I guess that's not a suprise for most people). I had the shutter speed set to high to capture the motion shots with less than about 1000 ISO, but they came out OK considering that.

Cheers

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D40, (18-55 DX), (50 f1.8), (70-300 VR)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemccallum/

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phipop
hi

here is one at 300mm. it is maybe not a super photo for everybody, but the lens is wonderful!
thanks for looking
philippe

It's a great lens for a D40 or a D2x, or anything in between. The fact that it's not a DX lens means you are using only the "sweet spot" of the lens when mounter on a cropped sensor camera. Looking to the future, it will also be suitable for full-frame Nikons ;-)

phipop said:

--
phipop
hi
here is one at 300mm. it is maybe not a super photo for everybody,
but the lens is wonderful!
thanks for looking
philippe

Click to expand...

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

phipop said:

phipop
hello,
i have the 70-300VR with my d40x. it works also very good with my
F(N)75. the fact that it is not a dx format but a full format makes
it a 105-450 mm with the d40x.
it is a very good lens, no doubt.

Click to expand...

Even if it were a dx format it would have a field of view of 105-450. DX has nothing to do with field of view. If it were a dx it would not work on a full frame properly

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phipop
i could not probably say it properly like some others.
so that comes from page 16 from the nikon book of my 70-300.

'when mounted on Nikon digital slr (nikon dx format) cameras, the lens 'picture angle becomes 22°50-5°20 and its 35mm equivalent focal lenght range is approx. 105-450mm.'

the fact is this lens works correctly on both my cameras (f75_ 70-300) (and d40x_105-450).
and it's good.
philippe
.

You are correct about the field of view. The field of view of a 70-300 lens, both dx and non dx is the same on a D40.

phipop said:

--
phipop
i could not probably say it properly like some others.
so that comes from page 16 from the nikon book of my 70-300.

'when mounted on Nikon digital slr (nikon dx format) cameras, the
lens 'picture angle becomes 22°50-5°20 and its 35mm equivalent
focal lenght range is approx. 105-450mm.'

the fact is this lens works correctly on both my cameras (f75_
70-300) (and d40x_105-450).
and it's good.
philippe
.

Click to expand...

--



Everything happens for a reason. #1 reason: poor planning

phipop said:

--
phipop
i could not probably say it properly like some others.
so that comes from page 16 from the nikon book of my 70-300.

'when mounted on Nikon digital slr (nikon dx format) cameras, the
lens 'picture angle becomes 22°50-5°20 and its 35mm equivalent
focal lenght range is approx. 105-450mm.'

the fact is this lens works correctly on both my cameras (f75_
70-300) (and d40x_105-450).
and it's good.
philippe
.

Click to expand...

DX is an attribute of the camera due to the size of the CCD and is not really anything to do with the lens.

A DX lens means that the circle of light at the point of focus is smaller on a lens that is classified DX which is designed to cover a DX sensor. DX has nothing at all to do with focal length.
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Bluenose

Do the comments apply equally to a D80?

D40, D50, D70, D80, D200, D2x - all have the same sized sensor, and all would be using the "sweet spot" of a non-DX lens, ie. a lens designed to cover a frame the size of 35mm film.

golfer1 said:

Do the comments apply equally to a D80?

Click to expand...

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Thanks for the feedback folks. I toured a few camera shops today and handled both the 55-200 and 70-300 and the 300 just felt like such a nice piece of kit compared to the 200. You get what you pay for, eh?

The decision was helped by one of the stores doing a deal on the 70-300 VR, pricing it at £300. I should be picking it up in a few days; I can't wait!!!