My lens inventory, what to sell and what to buy...

OK, folks, I need some help. No, Frank and Harris, not THAT kind of help, but in deciding, once and for all, what to keep, what to sell and what to buy. So, first, my current inventory:

18-35 f3.5-4.5 Nikkor
18-70 f3.5-4.5 G, AF-S Nikkor
28-70 f2.6-2.8 Tokina ATX-Pro
60mm f2.8 Nikkor
85mm f1.8 Nikkor
80-200mm f2.8 AFS Nikkor
120-300mm f2.8 HSM Sigma
500mm f4.5 HSM EX Sigma

I have pretty well decided to sell the 18-35 and the 28-70 and give up the stop as that is the range I use the least. The last two weekends I have rented the Nikon 24-120, first the Non-AFS and then yesterday the AFS-VR and tested them on the D70. I was not unhappy with either, but the focus was MUCH better with the AFS version, not a surprise. So I may add this lens to complement the 120-300. This worked really well at the NIFL Indoor Football games where I can shoot the 120-300 on my D2H and the 24-120 on the D70. Flash is not an issue, so I just leave it on the D70 and this combo is good for the end-zone shots as well pre and post game activiities.

Which now brings me to the dilemma, the crux of the problem, the bane of my existence.....I now have a huge overlap with the 80-200 f2.8 AFS, a wonderful lens which really did me right yesterday when the 120-300 suddenly quit focusing. My guess is that the "quit focusing" may have had something to do with landing on the floor from a height of 4 feet or so   , right in front of a table full of Hooter's girls     who all had great sympathy for the old jerk who did such a stupid thing :wink: :wink: . Luckily the D2H did not go with it, and even better I already have an estimate of about $200 for the repair, including a complete "lube and tune", whew.

So, folks, let's chime in and help Dewey figure this out, eh? I am also considering one of the many, perhaps the Tamron, lense in the 28-300mm range for an "everyday" lens for my wife to use on the D70.

What do you all think?

 

Yeah, the redundancy really helped on Sunday, one of the reasons that I am thinking so hard about this. At the short end, if I get the 24-120 I will have that covered between it and the 18-70. I really hate to sell any of it, but I really hate to cart it around even more :lol:

As to the Hooter's girls, us old married guys can only look anyway, and boy am I glad that neither my eyes nor my imagination have gone bad :wink: .

 

I found the same with the lens this weekend. It certainly worked well for me. I think with that and something decent to the 300 range it would be a good kit for both backup and something that my wife could use as well.

Now, as to carrying a hubble, perhaps a bit of rubble :wink: . I can tell you that the heavy stuff gets real tiring after 3 or 4 hours. This Sunday with the 80-200 not on a monopod and both bodies around my neck certainly indicates why I need to be 20 years younger :wink:

 

Re: Hi Bill.........

In your dreams, bucko :lol: As to "how do I like it", first off in the interest of full disclosure it broke on me. The barrel got loose so I shipped it back to Sigma for repair. FedEx tried to deliver it yesterday when I wasn't home, Sigma only got the lens last Tuesday, darned good turn-around. Now, the simple answer here is "I like it, a whole bunch". I had rented the Nikon 500mm f4 AFS several times before purchasing the Sigma and fell in love with the length. I also rented the 600 and just didn't like it as much. So I started looking and not having >$5k to spend I found the Nikon to be out of my reach. Then I read about the Sigma and found a place I could buy it brand new for $2700, US warranty. I also paid an extra $40 for a 3 yr Mack, so I have 7 years on the lens now. After using both my very subjective, absolutely non-scientific estimation is that the Sigma is 90-95% of the Nikon. I would give the nod to the Nikon in AF speed, but not by a whole bunch. It AF's quite fine with my modified Nikon TC's which is better than it will do with a Sigma 1.4TC, go figure. Given the cost differential I really like it, a whole lot. Here is one recent sample:

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This one is a bit different, as it is uncropped and shot with the 500mm + TC-14E + TC-20E. Notice that the focal length does not get adjusted by the TC's, a issue I can live with. Given the stacked TC's I'd say this lens performs pretty darn well. If you go to my site, www.deweydrive.com/gallery look in the Nature albums and you can see a lot of samples of this lens. Last fall with the birds in Skagit Valley some in November were with this lens on a D70, most others with my D2H. Look in the Sports gallery for the Seahawk game I shot. Most of those were with the D2H and this lens on a monopod. May not have been Nikon, but none of the other photographers laughed at me   . In fact one fellow, shooting Nikon, came by to say he was glad to see another Nikon shooter on the field. We had the Canon folks outnumbered that day for sure, 2 of us to 50 of them :lol: .

I heard the same regarding the AF-I, and the AFS really does make a difference with glass this big. A friend of mine just picked up one of the Sigma's from Ritz, I think, for $2400 new. If you are interested I can ask him for info, just drop me a note.

 

Well, you can find some of the Hooter's girls if you go to www.everetthawks.com and follow the Multimedia link to Game Photos. There will be more up tonight.

Glad to see you, of all people, have your priorities straight.

As to morrally upstanding folks and my 500mm, the phrase "My Cold Dead Hands" comes to mind....... :wink:

 

I see, just one more Smart-You-Know-Who to deal with :wink: , but the burgers are sure good at Hooter's aren't they? I mean, isn't that why we go there?

Now, on to the serious. I agree on the 18-35 and the 28-70, but why would you sell the 80-200 and the 120-300 to replace with the 70-200VR? I really missed that extra 100mm at the game on Sunday and while I can gain that back with the 1.4 TC it is at the expense of 1-stop, which is a killer in that lighing. Same issue I will have with night High School football in the fall. As to the 70-200 itself, I agree, but just have not been able to convince myself that the upgrade cost from the 80-200 AFS that I have is worth it.

Thanks for the comments, both of them..... :wink:

 

Geno, that is pretty impressive, thanks for the thoughts.

What I am most specifically trying to cover is the gap between 70mm and 120mm. My 120-300 is perfect for shots on the field from about the 5yd line to the far end zone, but 120 is too long when the players get to the near end zone. The 80-200 can get a good portion of that, but is still too long for some of the "end zone dances" that go on, which is where the 24-120 range is so nice. Now, that 18-200 would cover this just marvelously as well. How does the focus speed compare with the 24-120? This would be the "primary" lens on the D70. I also see that Tamron has another Digital lens, the 28-300, with pretty much the same specs, f3.5-6.3, at about the same price. Any thoughts on this lens? The price is sure right on these lenses as well, and given that the bulk of what interests both my wife and I, the 18-28mm range is the one we use the least often, and would, I think, be the easiest to "sneaker zoom" for. The other nice thing about both of these options for me is that it would cover the bulk of the field for indoor football, still requiring flash on the D70 but I'm stuck with that regardless.

Gee, Geno, thanks for giving me yet another good choice :roll: :wink: , I'm going to have to get off my butt and decide soon I think.

 

Thanks, Geno, I think that pretty well "seals the deal". I know how much difference I saw in focus speed between the "old" Nikon 24-120 and the AFS version on the D70 and it was significant. Since that is where it would be primarily used, this would be a big consideration. Given that, I may be best suited with the 18-70 kit lens for the "widest end", the 24-120 for the "middle" and then look for a lightweight 70/80-300 for the "long" end for my wife. This would also make a good "second body but much lighter" when I want some overlap with the D2H and the "heavier/faster" glass as well.

Man, I hate these decisions that cost me money :lol: .

Thanks for the info and the opinions, they really are a huge help.