Ok found a VR1 in excellent condition , it arrived today. Its quite a bit bigger and heavier than my trusty 80-400G. Hope its worth it , just need to decide on D500 now
multibit wrote:
Ok found a VR1 in excellent condition , it arrived today. Its quite a bit bigger and heavier than my trusty 80-400G. Hope its worth it , just need to decide on D500 now
Tyr-Sog wrote:
nice! If you don't mind me asking, how much?
It was £2500 UKP's , the only other one I could find was £2000 but it was far worse condition so I paid extra for the best condition. I noticed mine has a LP-47 plate fitted , the VR2's are 1k more . Both seem to be hard to find second hand in the UK for good prices
multibit wrote:
Ok found a VR1 in excellent condition , it arrived today. Its quite a bit bigger and heavier than my trusty 80-400G. Hope its worth it , just need to decide on D500 now
Excellent thats great to hear, currently using the D7000 , love the IQ of this old camera so hoping the D500 is as good or better . Think I'll get the x2 TC too
I switched from the 200-400mm f/4 VR1 to the 300mm f/2.8 AF-S II + 1.4x. I took the combo to Bosque del Apache and found the ability to lock on to flying birds w & w/out converters better than the zoom. I am now wondering if it would be worth the dollars to get a VR version of the lens.
For those who have owned both, is there and optical difference? I will say that I am enjoy the the mass and size of my lens... it was several pounds lighter than the 200-400 and 3/4 pounds lighter than the VR versions.
I have money to make the "upgrade," but do not want to waste the dollars is the difference is just the addition of VR.
multibit wrote:
Excellent thats great to hear, currently using the D7000 , love the IQ of this old camera so hoping the D500 is as good or better . Think I'll get the x2 TC too
Congratulations on your acquisition. If you can afford it, the D500 and the 300 2.8 make for an excellent, versatile combo. I like the fact that the 300 2.8 is still reasonable compact, compared to its bigger cousins.
It takes a bit to get used to the weight of the 300 2.8 (I bought a used vr ii a few months ago), but I'm sure you'll love it. I recently added a 1.4x TC extender to it, and other than the additional weight and the fact that you have "only" f4, as opposed to f2.8, at your disposal, I hardly notice it.
From what I gather, there seems to be a bit of a debate whether the 1.7x or the 2x TC is better. I've seen plenty of comments online that the version 3 2x was better than the older 1.7x, but others apparently prefer the 1.7x. I have a good copy of the 200-500, so I'm not sure whether there are any benefits of adding a 1.7 or 2x TC at this point.
Make sure you post some shots in this thread, when you get the time.
OwlsEyes wrote:
I switched from the 200-400mm f/4 VR1 to the 300mm f/2.8 AF-S II + 1.4x. I took the combo to Bosque del Apache and found the ability to lock on to flying birds w & w/out converters better than the zoom. I am now wondering if it would be worth the dollars to get a VR version of the lens.
For those who have owned both, is there and optical difference? I will say that I am enjoy the the mass and size of my lens... it was several pounds lighter than the 200-400 and 3/4 pounds lighter than the VR versions.
I have money to make the "upgrade," but do not want to waste the dollars is the difference is just the addition of VR.
If you noticed a difference going from 200-400 f/4 I'll probably see quite a big difference coming from a 80-400G.
The first one I seen was non VR , unfortunately it had already been sold and they hadn't removed it from the site .
Hopefully somebody else thats tried them can comment if its worth going VR
Chris_88 wrote:
Congratulations on your acquisition. If you can afford it, the D500 and the 300 2.8 make for an excellent, versatile combo. I like the fact that the 300 2.8 is still reasonable compact, compared to its bigger cousins.
It takes a bit to get used to the weight of the 300 2.8 (I bought a used vr ii a few months ago), but I'm sure you'll love it. I recently added a 1.4x TC extender to it, and other than the additional weight and the fact that you have "only" f4, as opposed to f2.8, at your disposal, I hardly notice it.
From what I gather, there seems to be a bit of a debate whether the 1.7x or the 2x TC is better. I've seen plenty of comments online that the version 3 2x was better than the older 1.7x, but others apparently prefer the 1.7x. I have a good copy of the 200-500, so I'm not sure whether there are any benefits of adding a 1.7 or 2x TC at this point.
Make sure you post some shots in this thread, when you get the time....Show more →
Thanks Chris,
I loved the D7000 and 80-400G but was struggling under lower light, forests or just the usual UK weather AF was frustrating . I'm hoping for better AF and cleaner high ISO when needed . Regarding the TC's I'll do more reading to see which is better between the x1.7 or x2 , I think I'm going to need one for birds higher up in trees or further away inflight . I was going to get the 200-500 but after the reports I heard the focus is slower than my 80-400G I gave it a miss . Being just a hobbyist I couldn't stretch to the larger primes but do have enough left for a D500 or D810
Will thats a beauty ! I'd be happy to get anything half as nice as that .
I'll give the D7000 a go at the weekend with the 300mm f2.8 VR, just hoping the weathers a bit better than it is atm
multibit wrote:
Will thats a beauty ! I'd be happy to get anything half as nice as that .
I'll give the D7000 a go at the weekend with the 300mm f2.8 VR, just hoping the weathers a bit better than it is atm
Thanks. Thought you might get a kick out of my very first shot with a D7K Nov 2010
300 f2.8 VR 100% crop handheld/SOOC...I was blown away
Very first shot ? Wow that looks 3D on my monitor , amazing stuff Will I'm not surprised you was blown away .
I hope the D500 is capable of this quality BTW it was your old thread that made me buy a D7000
Figured the thread was due for a bump. Picked up a D4 for my closeup hawk images. Pairs pretty well with the 300 F2.8 AF-S D II if you get close enough..
There is a small flock of trumpeter swans that overwinter near my home. These birds make regular flights from the west side of the river to the east. This is a great place to photograph winter wildlife and try to produce something a bit different than documentary shots...
AF was frustrating . I'm hoping for better AF and cleaner high ISO when needed . Regarding the TC's I'll do more reading to see which is better between the x1.7 or x2 , I think I'm going to need one for birds higher up in trees or further away inflight . I was going to get the 200-500 but after the reports I heard the focus is slower than my 80-400G I gave it a miss . Being just a hobbyist I couldn't stretch to the larger primes but do have enough left for a D500 or D810 
