steven_e007
Member
Hi,
I usually use junk - I have rather a lot of it
But recently I aquired a really fine Nikon F3 body. I have a standard 50 mm lens for it, but...
I'm into photoing birds (a bit, I'm not a fanatic or anything, but my wife is an ultra keen birder, so when I tag along, a camera gives me something to do
)
I confess - I have recently been trying out a digital SLR (sorry to use bad language on the site).
I've had enough - can't stand the things. OK, they have advantages, but I'm sick of fighting with it, always auto-focussing on the wrong thing and getting it's exposure 'confused' by the back light or the shade or the refelection and it never fires the flippin' shutter when you actually press the button and, and, and...
:rolleyes:
So, I am of a mind to get a nice big lens for the Nikon and do it properly.
I'm thinking 200 mm upwards. My previous experience of zooms is that they give barrel distortion at one end and pincushion at the other and are a bit slow and dim for their bulk, I always prefer prime lenses, but as I said, I usually use cheap M42 junk.
So, question is... how good are Nikon Nikkor zoom lenses? I'm looking at maybe an 80-200 AI zoom or a 100-300 AI zoom. Alternatively I'm considering a 200mm or 300mm AI prime lens, all second hand obviously.
Is the prime lens superiority as noticeable with Nikkor lenses as with the more humble stuff?
Any Nikon gurus out there who can give a Nikon novice some advice?
Thanks.
I usually use junk - I have rather a lot of it

But recently I aquired a really fine Nikon F3 body. I have a standard 50 mm lens for it, but...
I'm into photoing birds (a bit, I'm not a fanatic or anything, but my wife is an ultra keen birder, so when I tag along, a camera gives me something to do

I confess - I have recently been trying out a digital SLR (sorry to use bad language on the site).
I've had enough - can't stand the things. OK, they have advantages, but I'm sick of fighting with it, always auto-focussing on the wrong thing and getting it's exposure 'confused' by the back light or the shade or the refelection and it never fires the flippin' shutter when you actually press the button and, and, and...

So, I am of a mind to get a nice big lens for the Nikon and do it properly.
I'm thinking 200 mm upwards. My previous experience of zooms is that they give barrel distortion at one end and pincushion at the other and are a bit slow and dim for their bulk, I always prefer prime lenses, but as I said, I usually use cheap M42 junk.
So, question is... how good are Nikon Nikkor zoom lenses? I'm looking at maybe an 80-200 AI zoom or a 100-300 AI zoom. Alternatively I'm considering a 200mm or 300mm AI prime lens, all second hand obviously.
Is the prime lens superiority as noticeable with Nikkor lenses as with the more humble stuff?
Any Nikon gurus out there who can give a Nikon novice some advice?
Thanks.