Newbie - Lens Question

[Chrissie]

I use a Nikon D70 SLR with a Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm 1:4-5.6G lens when shooting my hockey shots (not through the glass). It was suggested that I try an f2.8 lens 70-200mm. My question is: what is the advantage of going to f2.8 and how much am I loosing by going down from 300mm to 200mm. Is the quality going to be good enough that I can zoom in with a program vs. using the camera zoom? My ultimate goal is obviously to get the most crisp, clear picture I can.

Thanks!!
Chrissie

[ekstasis16]

A big advantage is that you'll be able to shoot at a lower ISO setting at 2.8 as opposed to 4 and have less noise in your images. As for the focal length, that's more of a personal choice. I like to shoot tight so I'd like to have the option of a 300, but it depends on the size of the venue and what kind of shots you like to get. You should be able to crop a bit with a 6 megapixel image depending on what you do with the shots (web use, print, etc)