Nikon DSLR lens recommendation

wijcc

wijcc

wijcc

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My sister had a Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Lens for her Nikon D5300 camera. She unfortunately fell over and broke the lens, it has snapped apart near the bottom :/
I am thinking of getting her a new long range lens for Xmas. Are the cheaper Tamron lens any good, they are quite a bit cheaper than the Nikon ones?
Can anyone recommend some good long range lens for her camera that won't cost me an arm and a leg... ideally as little as possible without it being crap.
Thanks in advance guys
 
The tamron 70-300 VC s good, but make sure it is the VC version because the non-VC is a paper weight.
 
stupid question but why is the Nikon 70-300mm VR better than the Nikon 55-300mm DX VR... if both are f/4.5-5.6G?
Is the 70-300mm worth the extra money?
 
The Nikon is sharper and focuses faster and more reliably, and has less vignetting since it is a FF lens. It is also slightly better made and the VR works better

Whether it is worth the extra money depends on much you personally think the extra quality is worth, no one can answer that but you. The difference isn't big and if you have to ask then likely you wouldn't notice the difference.

I got the Nikon 70-300 on crop when there was less choice. The Tamron 70-300 VC didn't exist and the 55-300MM didn't either. If I was to buy again then i would definitely think a little more about the cheaper options but would probably still go with the Nikon 70-300mm. I was exceptionally happy with it, over 70-200mm it is basically as sharp as my 70-200mm f/2.8 VR that is 3x heavier and 4x the price. I got a lot of good wildlife photos with it. At 300mm you really need to stop down to f/8 to get the photos to pop and bring out fine hair/feather detail, but that is normal for cheap lenses. Focus never let me down, BIF was reasonable for the money.
 
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thanks for your advice :)
I have no idea about quality and such as i don't have a DSLR myself, I am more of a point and click guy. I have a panasonic FZ200 which i only brought 2 or so years ago when I wanted the extra zoom when i went on holiday.

Tamron SP AF 70-300 F/4-5.6 Di VC USD Lens for Nikon (£240)
Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Lens (£230)

Which out of the these two would be better please?
 
At those prices I would go with the Nikon. It is possible that the tamron is slightly better but my feleing is it is better to stick with first parry unless there is an obvious advantage in third party leses. You wont have to worry about autofocus or VR issues with future cameras for starters. Also, if you get a problem with a Nikon lens you can send the Nikon lens and Nikon camera back to Nikon services where they will tune the lens to the camera and ensure they both work well together. If you get a 3rd party lens each item will have to be sent off separately to the respective service centers and will be tuned to be within tolerances only.
Probably the biggest factor is color consistency, Nikon lenses all have similar color casts, Sigma and Tamron are different.
 
Back again for more advice, need to get another big zoom lens for the nikon d5300.. It needs to have more zoom than the 55-300mm lens that i brought last time. Can anyone suggest any lens that don't cost an arm and leg?
Thanks in advance
 
wijcc said:
Back again for more advice, need to get another big zoom lens for the nikon d5300.. It needs to have more zoom than the 55-300mm lens that i brought last time. Can anyone suggest any lens that don't cost an arm and leg?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...


Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 VR
 
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