# Camera lens no bigger than 300mm as low f number as possible?



## bigcake (Jul 18, 2012)

Hi

I was wondering what lens, any of you would recommend that is no bigger than 300mm in focual, but as little f number as possible, also a fairly fast lens as well, i do not want to spend no more than £300 though.


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 18, 2012)

You aren't going to find fast glass at that focal length for anywhere near that price. Multiply your budget by 4, and that's about how much you will invest in a 300mm fast lens.


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## enzodm (Jul 18, 2012)

Plus, you have to tell which brand of camera you have. 
E.g.,  Canon 300/2.8: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-300mm-2-8L-IS-USM/dp/B0040X4PRW/ (only 7300$, 37% discount).
However, your budget is for low end zoom lenses, more than fast primes (by the way, normally "fairly fast lens" = "as little f number as possible", unless you mean fast autofocus).


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## rokvi (Jul 18, 2012)

bigcake said:


> Hi
> 
> as little f number as possible......fast lens...........no more than £300.




 

Im sorry mate. I Don't mean to be nasty, but photography is an expensive hobby, you will need to save your pennies a little while longer as good lenses cost an awful lot. If you have the 70-300mm kit lens you will just have to make do with that. If you keep it under 300mm you can still get decent photo's though.


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## sm4him (Jul 18, 2012)

Also, you just say "no bigger than 300mm." That's a pretty wide-open range: 10-24mm, 35 or 50mm prime, 100mm...they're ALL "no bigger" than 300mm.  Are you looking for something CLOSE to 300mm?

Regardless, you have two options. You can either get:
1. Desired focal length
2. Low f number
3. Fast, great quality

OR you can get:
1. Desired focal length
2. Low cost

Actually, a third option is to start now scouring Ebay, Craigslist, etc and hoping that you luck into the deal of the decade.


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## enzodm (Jul 18, 2012)

The funny thing of those "hi" users that compare from time to time is that inside their message, invisible, there is a broken image URL, bringing to a known online shop. Not sure it serves for something, however I would call it spam, in some way. This one has 5 identical posts with www . axhx.info/ xiaowang6.jpg (Spaces added on purpose).


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## table1349 (Jul 18, 2012)

Take a couple of sleeping pills and dream photographic dreams.  It's the only place you are going to find a fast cheap 300mm.  Photography is not a cheap hobby.


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## jake337 (Jul 18, 2012)

bigcake said:


> Hi
> 
> I was wondering what lens, any of you would recommend that is no bigger than 300mm in focual, but as little f number as possible, also a fairly fast lens as well, i do not want to spend no more than £300 though.



Nikkor 300mm f2 ais.


Now for about under $400 you can find a nikkor 300mm f4.5 IF ED AIS and for much cheaper the non IF ED, AIS, AI version.


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## jake337 (Jul 18, 2012)

EVERYONE!  He never said anything about f2.8 lens.  He said the fastest 300mm for his price point.


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## table1349 (Jul 18, 2012)

Fast and f5.6 aren't in ths same sentence.  Plus the lens you listed is a bit over the op's price range.
Nikon Nikkor 300mm f2 8 ED IF AI s FX Native DX Ready | eBay


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## jake337 (Jul 18, 2012)

gryphonslair99 said:


> Fast and f5.6 aren't in ths same sentence.  Plus the lens you listed is a bit over the op's price range.
> Nikon Nikkor 300mm f2 8 ED IF AI s FX Native DX Ready | eBay



I think the 300 f2 is over most peoples price point on this site!

I was just showing the OP what the fastest 300mm would cost if he chose to look it up.

The 300mm f4.5 ais should be within the OP price point especially if it is an AI version.  F4.5 isn't fast but is the fastest at his price point.  Can't go to ebay at work so I'm not sure how much the 300 f2.8 ais is in your link but I would guess anywhere from $999 to $2,000.


Either way we still don't know what body the OP is using.  A D7000 or better would be nice with the 300 f4.5 IF ED AIS though with their better ISO handling.  Having used one with my D90 I can say you'll be shooting ISO800+ a lot during the golden hours without flash.


I would suggest doubling your budget and looking for a nice used 300mm f4 afs/af-d or a 180mm f2.8 af-d/ais(not 300mm but long, fast and cheap)


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## Dao (Jul 18, 2012)

I wonder why this thread got moved to Digital discussion.


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## KmH (Jul 18, 2012)

Where was it moved from?


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## Derrel (Jul 18, 2012)

Well, the smallest,lightest, and LOWEST-COST telephoto under 300mm AND with a low f/number is probably going to be...drum roll....a used manual focus 135mm f/2.8 lens. If you shoot Canon EOS, then you can choose from nine different lens mounts (like M42,Nikon,Yashica/Contax,Leica R,Olympus OM,etc) and get a $10 Chinese-made lens adapter that will allow you to mount the used lens onto a new EOS digital or film camera. 135mm f/2.8 telephotos were always plentiful, and are easy to carry, easy to manually focus, and easy to SHOOT. The focal length is not too big, and will easily be overlooked by security guards, boyfriends, insane dads, and mom-zillas...

Shoot...then crop later. 135mm/2.8 used manual focus lenses can be picked up second hand (fifth hand these days is probably more-accurate!) for $10 to $145, depending on brand. "Off-brand" 135/2.8's typically sell for only $10-$30 these days. I bought one a while back at Goodwill for $19.99, with a set of three extension tubes mounted to it!

If you have, say, a "Baby Nikon", they will accept all the old, pre-AI Nikon mount lenses,unmodified, so say a used 135/2.8 Q.C. Auto-Nikkor (vintage of oh,say 1973 and earlier) is like $60 these days in great shape! Vivtar used to sell a 200mm f/3.5 manual focus lens very affordably, and there are a number of those around these days for $40 or so.


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## bigcake (Jul 18, 2012)

sorry guys i meant a long range lens, that is good in low light and can take photo's quickly meaning a shutter speed but can focus fairly quick i have a cannon by the way. cheers so far


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## gsgary (Jul 18, 2012)

Sorry no such lens my 300f2.8 would cost you 5 times that


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## Dao (Jul 18, 2012)

KmH said:


> Where was it moved from?



Strange, now the little blue point right arrow (indicated that the thread was moved from another section) disappeared.  Oh well.  

Edit: Never mind, I think I mixed up with the new post blue arrow with the thread move blue arrow.  LOL


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 18, 2012)

bigcake said:


> sorry guys i meant a long range lens, that is good in low light and can take photo's quickly meaning a shutter speed but can focus fairly quick i have a cannon by the way. cheers so far



You just asked for the same exact thing you did in the initial post, just different words.

Like I said, multiply your budget by about 4, and then you will be in the ballpark of fast zoom lenses.


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## bigcake (Jul 18, 2012)

ok then does people know any good programs that is compatible on mac to reduce noise and brighten photo's up? pretty good please


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## o hey tyler (Jul 18, 2012)

Photoshop CS6.


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## Dao (Jul 18, 2012)

bigcake said:


> ok then does people know any good programs that is compatible on mac to reduce noise and brighten photo's up? pretty good please



Lightroom do a pretty good job on Noise reduction.


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## bhop (Jul 18, 2012)

For your budget.. Sigma 70-300 is an ok lens.  Not great, but ok.. it's not a 'fast' lens though, as has been mentioned, you gotta pay for that sorta thing.


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 18, 2012)

o hey tyler said:


> Photoshop CS6.




LOL, the guy has expensive taste, doesn't he?


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## jake337 (Jul 18, 2012)

gsgary said:


> Sorry no such lens my 300f2.8 would cost you 5 times that



That is an understatement if your talking about the latest and greatest too.....


More like 16 times that!


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## KmH (Jul 18, 2012)

Actually, Photoshop CS 6 is relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other professional grade software.

But a couple of alternatives are - Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 

Corel PaintShop Pro X4


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## AaronLLockhart (Jul 18, 2012)

KmH said:


> Actually, Photoshop CS 6 is relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other professional grade software.



I'm listening...


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## o hey tyler (Jul 18, 2012)

KmH said:


> Actually, Photoshop CS 6 is relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other professional grade software.



As you stated, "inexpensive" is all relative. It's still a considerable amount of coinage for someone to drop on software.


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## SamSpade1941 (Jul 18, 2012)

I am still dreaming I am going to run across a $100 180 f2.8 ED AF Nikkor in a Pawn shop


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## enzodm (Jul 19, 2012)

bigcake said:


> sorry guys i meant a long range lens, that is good in low light and can take photo's quickly meaning a shutter speed but can focus fairly quick i have a cannon by the way. cheers so far



shutter speed does not depend on lens. "Long range" for you means zoom or fixed? (still, the point is 300$ is the minimum or so, except for Derrel suggestion).


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## gsgary (Jul 19, 2012)

jake337 said:
			
		

> That is an understatement if your talking about the latest and greatest too.....
> 
> More like 16 times that!



Mine is non IS and sharp as a razor


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## Judobreaker (Jul 19, 2012)

enzodm said:


> bigcake said:
> 
> 
> > sorry guys i meant a long range lens, that is good in low light and can take photo's quickly meaning a shutter speed but can focus fairly quick i have a cannon by the way. cheers so far
> ...



If you have a faster lens you can use a faster shutter speed to get the same exposure if you open up the aperture.
You'll lose some DoF but you can use a faster shutter speed.
It's not in the lens, but the lens has quite a lot of impact on it.


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## gsgary (Jul 19, 2012)

The only len i can think of is the Sigma 100-300f4 or 120-300f2.8 and both are out of your price range


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