Tokina 100-400mm Lens for Nikon

[goldfinger147]

Im looking for a lense that has decent zoom for my D70s and found this , just wondering if anyone has one or can tell me if they think its any good, seems most reviews aren't that bad from what i found. I'm going to be using it for taking track pictures at The Historics at Lime Rock in two weeks. If anyone knows of another better lense for a cheap price like this one please let me know.

It almost seems to good a deal for less than 200 bucks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CC9IAE/ref=nosim/103-5930980-6695035?n=502394

[c0wb0y007]

The price isn't that high, it's a cheap lens.

The most important thing are the following figures -> f 4.5-6.7
Although it's a cheap I don't recommend it. Reason being; That you will suffer too much light loss shooting between 200 and 400 mm. You can compensate that by shooting at low shutterspeeds but I think that's out of the question when the lens doesn't come with a vibration reduction system.
You will be amazed how much light you need to end up with bright pictures. It has to be on hell of a sunshiny day.
When it comes to a low budget zoom lens for a Nikon I would go for the 70-300mm by Nikkor.
If you want to get rid of some of your money you can go for Sigma's 70-200mm f2.8

But this one ... no thanks. I might be the wrong guy to answer this question, I have the tendency to spend a decent amount of money on a zoomlens because I want to end up with bright and detailed pictures.

Cheers

[MartijnGizmo]

In the low budget range nothing beats the Sigma 70-300 APO DG for the money. The Tokina is quite soft at the long end, needs to be stopped down to f/11. And 400mm at f/11 is kinda hard to handhold except for really sunny days.

[goldfinger147]

Would the Nikkor or the Sigma be better for Taking race shots?

[c0wb0y007]

Would the Nikkor or the Sigma be better for Taking race shots?

Goldfinger147,

Both lenses are fine. As far as I know the difference in price is because Nikkor uses more expensive glass. The glass quality being used by them is sligthly better. Another thing are the coatings. I don't know how far Sigma goes with these layers but as far as I'm concerned, they are fine.

If I had to choose another brand than Nikkor I would go for Sigma. Those lenses are well-built and offer good results. No wonder that lots of pro's who want to save some money on glassworks go for this brand.

I would advise you to turn to a 70-200mm by Nikkor or Sigma.

Cheers

[ae86_16v]

In the low budget range nothing beats the Sigma 70-300 APO DG for the money. The Tokina is quite soft at the long end, needs to be stopped down to f/11. And 400mm at f/11 is kinda hard to handhold except for really sunny days.

That's the one I picked up over the Nikkor 70-300mm. I paid $150 for the Sigma.

Here's at full 300mm zoom (450mm in 35mm equivalent.)

http://img92.imageshack.us/my.php?image=untitledphotoro5.jpg

[goldfinger147]

I think im going to go with the sigma.

They have it on Amazon for $200 bucks, i looked at some sample picks on pbase.com and the inmotion zooms appear to be very clear although none of them where from nikon camera i would imagine the quality should be the same on each lense.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HWZLQY/sr=1-5/qid=1156515575/ref=sr_1_5/102-3544200-4194554?ie=UTF8&s=photo

[goldfinger147]

Actually anyone know which one is better here
http://www.47stphoto.com/item_child.asp?c=5892450&p=9132195&catky=&subcatky1=&subcatky2=&subcatky3=
or
http://www.47stphoto.com/item_child.asp?c=6646691&p=2405359&catky=&subcatky1=&subcatky2=&subcatky3=

Also has anyone done any race shooting with lenses like any of these?