Lense for sports photography

[frofan]

I take alot of fast action pictures and just picked up a D70. I'm not shopping for a better lense, since the 70mm that came with the camera just won't zoom in enough. I goto alot of dirtbike, car, football, and basketball games, so I need a fairly fast lense.

What do you guys think about the Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 lense? I would like to keep the price under $300 or so. Would this be an OK choice, or would you recommend something else?

[Clemmie]

My friends who shoot racing regularly, seem mostly settled on an 80-200/2.8 as their lens of choice. And a 300/2.8 is a favorite of the football shooters. These do tend to run more than your budget, though.

The 70-300 would certainly be nice for extended coverage - but the higher aperture, especially toward the long end, could cause you problems in maintaining high enough shutter speeds, especially on night games. You could compensate, of course, by using 800 or 1600 film - though that could run into some money over time.

If you were shooting a Minolta, I would steer you to the classic 70-210/4, which can be had for $50-$60 used, as a good compromise. Am not sure exactly what in that range might be available for your Nikon, but there is probably something comparable.

[Lionheart]

I take alot of fast action pictures and just picked up a D70. I'm not shopping for a better lense, since the 70mm that came with the camera just won't zoom in enough. I goto alot of dirtbike, car, football, and basketball games, so I need a fairly fast lense.

What do you guys think about the Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 lense? I would like to keep the price under $300 or so. Would this be an OK choice, or would you recommend something else?

The Sigma would probably be fine if you're on a budget, but you'll have to crank the ISO settings up to 800 minimum or 1600 for indoor action. Night sports, mmm, dunno, that's tough at f4 even at 1600 unless the stadium is really well lighted. I remember shooting at an Angels/Tigers baseball game at Anaheim, and 1600 was pretty tough even as well lighted as that stadium was. I was using a 70-210 f4 lens at the time, shooting on ISO 1600 film on a 630, but barely hand holdable at f4. Save up and splurge on one of Nikon's VR lenses (the VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF comes to mind), you won't regret it. Of course, someone might mistake you for a Canon user with that white/gray Nikon lens. Hehehe-sorry ;) , couldn't resist that, just one of those poke fun at Nikon coming from a Canon user thingy. Seriously though, a constant f4 is the minimum for a tele zoom if you plan to shoot under any lighting indoors or at night.