Difference in Lenses

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SJD

Senior Member
May be this too is a question asked before.

I'm trying to figureout the difference in the following 2 telephoto lenses

  1. 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G
  2. 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G
If I'm interested in wild life photography i realize that 1 has great zoom capability while the other has about 4.2x.

Please help me to understand why would a wildlife photographer may need 1st one and 2nd one on any specific instances ?

Note : Sorry for basic questions. Still trying to figure out world of DSLR.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
Personally, i would go with the 70-300. I say this because when a company makes a all in one zoom, like the 18-300, there are compromises made. As a result, you will not get as good results throughout the focal range as you would with a 70-300. You will not be dissapointed in the 70-300
 
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§am

Senior Member
Aside from the stated obvious difference in focal length, have a look at the following aperture values for the 18-300mm vs 70-300mm
Aperture Max by Focal Length18-20mm = f/3.5
21-24mm = f/3.8
25-29mm = f/4.0
30-33mm = f/4.2
34-37mm = f/4.5
38-39mm= f/4.8
40-47mm = f/5.0
48-67mm= f/5.3
68-300mm= f/5.6		70-111mm = f/4.5
112-164mm = f/4.8
165-194mm = f/5.0
195-239mm = f/5.3
240-300mm = f/5.6

As you can see, at 70mm, the former lens is at smallest aperture (f/5.6) on the 18-300mm lens, but the 70-300mm is still at it's maximum (f/4.5) - thats 4 stops!!!

Also, the 70-300mm is a FX lens, so attached to your D5200, you get the sweet spot from the centre of the lens :)
 
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jwstl

Senior Member
§am said:
Aside from the stated obvious difference in focal length, have a look at the following aperture values for the 18-300mm vs 70-300mm
Aperture Max by Focal Length18-20mm = f/3.5 21-24mm = f/3.8 25-29mm = f/4.0 30-33mm = f/4.2 34-37mm = f/4.5 38-39mm= f/4.8 40-47mm = f/5.0 48-67mm= f/5.3 68-300mm= f/5.670-111mm = f/4.5 112-164mm = f/4.8 165-194mm = f/5.0 195-239mm = f/5.3 240-300mm = f/5.6
As you can see, at 70mm, the former lens is at smallest aperture (f/5.6) on the 18-300mm lens, but the 70-300mm is still at it's maximum (f/4.5) - thats 4 stops!!!
Click to expand...

4 stops? That's not even 1 stop. One stop would be f/4 to 5.6.
 
S

SJD

Senior Member
Thank you for your replies... its great reading them.

I need to understand something. Lets just say that i spot a bird 300 meters away from my location i want to get

1. Closest picture of the bird
2. Best quality picture of the bird

Because 18-300mm has excellent zoom does it mean that i can get a much better close up picture of the bird compared to 70-300mm ? How far can i reach from 18-300mm compared to 70-300mm ?

If we ignore the zoom, which one is likely to give me the top quality picture ?
 
J

jwstl

Senior Member
SJD said:
Thank you for your replies... its great reading them.

I need to understand something. Lets just say that i spot a bird 300 meters away from my location i want to get

1. Closest picture of the bird
2. Best quality picture of the bird

Because 18-300mm has excellent zoom does it mean that i can get a much better close up picture of the bird compared to 70-300mm ? How far can i reach from 18-300mm compared to 70-300mm ?

If we ignore the zoom, which one is likely to give me the top quality picture ?
Click to expand...

The 18-300 is wider, not longer than the 70-300. Both are 300mm at the long/telephoto end so both would pretty much give you the same "close up" of the bird. As for picture quality, I can't say. The 70-300 has a smaller range and those lenses are typically better optically because the more range a zoom has the more compromises that have to be made.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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evan447

Senior Member
i would go for the 70 300 vr. i used one for 3 or 4 years and found it very good. at its best when stopped down a little at 300mm. also, make sure you get the vr version, the non vr model has different optics and not as good.
 
E

Eye-level

Banned
This was made with the deep end of a 18-300 on a D7000...the subject is me...the photogrpaher was standing on the top of a huge pyramid probably at least a football field away and above me...maybe it wasn't the lens but his D7000 focusing funky? I don't know...when the 18-300 is zoomed all the way out it is about a football field in length...lol

 
SkvLTD

SkvLTD

Senior Member
From my personal experience, almost all wildlife requires ~100mm+ for a decent, full subject in the frame kinda shot. Those critters and avians won't let you any closer than if that. In all honesty, probably 130-150+ depending on where you are.

200 I've found to be quite limiting of a zoom distance, so heading for a 300 of sorts is the right track.
 
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§am

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
Thank you... The four stops thing really rattled me for a second.
Click to expand...

Apologies - I saw jwstl's comment and thought "where on earth did I get 4 stops from too"!!!
I still can't figure that out - must have been having a moment and misinformed through my post.

Thanks for spotting and clarifying anyway :)
 
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