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Archive 2013 · 300 f/4 AF-D with 2x tele (Or other long non VR lens w aperture ring)

  
 
breenj
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · 300 f/4 AF-D with 2x tele (Or other long non VR lens w aperture ring)


I don't use Nikon for my personal stuff, but at work we have Phantom high speed cameras that can use Nikon F-mount lenses. No auto-focusing, so focus is manual. Also we need to be able to manually control the aperture with an aperture ring. With high-speed recording, the exposure time will be low enough that VR is not needed. We need a 500-600mm lens. Also it seems to be difficult to buy used for government use (I was thinking an older non-VR telephoto 500mm or 600mm lens would be good, manual focus even.) Looking at the AF-D line of lenses (as far as I can tell, the D means they have an aperture ring?), it looks like the longest lens available is 300mm f/4. The camera we would use this with would have either 10um or 11.5um pixel size (bigger than Nikon DSLRs - they are typically 4um to 7um I think?). If we used the 300mm f/4 with a 2x extender (->600mm f/8), could we expect a sharp picture? Hoping the larger pixel size would help. I imagine what might not look too sharp on a DSRL with ~5um pixels might look OK on a camera with ~10um pixels. Also, we should be able to step down to maybe f/11 (one step) at most.
Are there any other Nikon F-mount long lenses that are not too expensive (no VR I am assuming) that are longer than 300mm and sharp, and available for sale new? Maybe the Sigma 300 2/8 w/tele? Does the Sigma 500mm f/4.5 or 800mm f/5.6 have an aperture ring? I have tried to find details or photos on the Sigma lenses and it appears to me the 300/2.8 has aperture ring and the others don't? Any other suggestions for long, sharp, but not too terribly expensive F-mount lens?
Also our objects of interest are all far enough away that we won't need to adjust focus during use, just before.


thanks
John



Mar 03, 2013 at 05:41 PM
georgms
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · 300 f/4 AF-D with 2x tele (Or other long non VR lens w aperture ring)


John, a very good source about various Nikkor-lenses is this fine site: http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/lenses.html#500.
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think the (older, long) Sigma-lenses without OS (Sigma's VR-variant) will have an aperture-ring. All long Nikkor-lenses without VR will have the classic aperture-ring too.
Hope this helps and please excuse my English, Georg.



Mar 03, 2013 at 06:44 PM
binary visions
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · 300 f/4 AF-D with 2x tele (Or other long non VR lens w aperture ring)


Can you buy from someone like KEH to get used? Just wondering if it's the private sale that's the problem.

Something like a 500mm f/4 P would be perfect.



Mar 03, 2013 at 07:00 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · 300 f/4 AF-D with 2x tele (Or other long non VR lens w aperture ring)


There is no such thing as a 300/4 AF-D. D means that the lens has a (rough) distance encoder. From 1986 to ~1992 the lenses were simply AF, then the D versions appeared beginning in 1992. The 300/4 was not updated until the AF-S series on lenses appeared beginning in 1996, though the 300/4 AF-S was later.

You can manually control the aperture of almost all AI modified, AI, AI-S, AF, or AF-D lenses, and some AF-S lenses (if not also a G). You don't want lenses with the G designation, as they do not have the manual aperture control ring and rely on a CPU in the lens to convey info to the camera.

EBH



Mar 03, 2013 at 07:09 PM
breenj
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · 300 f/4 AF-D with 2x tele (Or other long non VR lens w aperture ring)


Thanks all for the info - the photosynthesis link, the KEH recommendation and the lens designation history. As far as I know there are no rules against buying used from approved sellers, but I have tried buying from KEH and it never worked out, our purchasing system is so slow to get all approvals that the lens we need is gone, and no matter how much info I provide at the beginning of the process, it seems a suitable substitution never works out. I did get confirmation from B&H that the Sigma 500 f/4.5 has an aperture ring, so it is looking like that is first choice and the Sigma 300 f/2.8 as second choice. And then the Nikon 300mm AF-S f/4D (there I think I got the nomenclature right this time, not AF-D). With proper teleconverters.

thanks
John



Mar 04, 2013 at 12:15 AM





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