Advise of New Lens

[Kaye]

I am looking to purchase a new lens. I use an old Sigma 70-300mm for my little league and softball photos. I have been looking at the Nikon 70-300 VR, Sigma and Tamron version of same. Would appreciate any advise on this lens.

I would love to be able to purchase the Nikon 80-200mm, but that is a little out of my reach. Also was told I would need to use a tripod with this lens for action shots. And I do like the 300 length.

Any other suggestions will be appreciated as well.

Thanks
Kaye

[Aegea]

I'm reasonably happy with my 70-300 VR. It's very sharp up to about 200mm, then gets a bit softer, particularly over 270mm. The VR is very useful, but not magic, and as I've discovered it's not a complete substitute for good technique at the long end. The AF is reasonably quick, but sometimes misses and cranks back and forth through the entire range before locking on - for instance, birds in flight are possible, but I get a lot of failures, too.

From what I've read, I think you'd find it significantly better than the Sigma and Tamron versions, but I have no experience with those lenses.

[tamcry]

The Nikon 70-300 VR is an excellent lens. I use it more than my Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX HSM11 which is a much faster lens. I find that the Nikon 70-300 is easy to focus and in the daytime is fast enough for me.
Hope this helps.
Al

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by Aegea

I'm reasonably happy with my 70-300 VR. It's very sharp up to about 200mm, then gets a bit softer, particularly over 270mm. The VR is very useful, but not magic, and as I've discovered it's not a complete substitute for good technique at the long end. The AF is reasonably quick, but sometimes misses and cranks back and forth through the entire range before locking on - for instance, birds in flight are possible, but I get a lot of failures, too.

I must have an absolutely AMAZING copy then. Sharp even to 300mm and the VR lets me shoot at that length at 1/60 and still get blur-free results with stationary targets.

The AF can be a bit of a bother, but it's all in the subject matter: it also works best on the D300+ bodies because of their better AF system

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I must have an absolutely AMAZING copy then. Sharp even to 300mm and the VR lets me shoot at that length at 1/60 and still get blur-free results with stationary targets.

The AF can be a bit of a bother, but it's all in the subject matter: it also works best on the D300+ bodies because of their better AF system

+1 with that! I have not one complaint about my copy either. I attribute the AF hunt to my crappy technique though. I only have 3 AF areas on the D40, which may or may not be a factor. Overall, I am very happy with my set up.

[kirbinster]

Here is one taken this morning with the 70-300vr at a full 300mm