Nikkor AF-S 70-300Vr Ed question or two

P

Paganman2

Senior Member
I have this lens and think it is great and use it on my D7100 as my one and only lens, i tend to use the long end almost all the time as my hobby requires this, i also crop quite heavy on top of this to get me closer to my subjects, i have seen the charts that show the drastic difference in IQ when using the lens at the 200mm mark, i understand at this point the lens is on par with many pro grade 200mm zooms.
My dilemma is - could i make use of this IQ improvement by shooting at 200mm on my D7100 and still make up the difference by cropping in post to equal what i was at when using the 300mm end, if so would i see an IQ advantage for doing this?

P.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
You can try but I doubt you would see the difference in real life.

You do not say how much you are cropping or what you are shooting but you might be better off getting a longer zoom like the 150-600 Tamron that many people here rave about.
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
You can try but I doubt you would see the difference in real life.

You do not say how much you are cropping or what you are shooting but you might be better off getting a longer zoom like the 150-600 Tamron that many people here rave about.
Click to expand...



Hi don,

Its just my bif/planes in flight when using the 300mm end at f8 i still use the crop mode in my D7100 the 1.3 crop mode, and after that i still crop my pics down to 2000mp on the long side, i have just tried in LR with some of my pics to crop the extra difference that i think would be about an extra 1/3, as in camera with the extra crop mode when using the 300mm end it is the crop eqv of 600mm so under the same crop mode in cam but using 200mm would equal 400mm, a 1/3 difference that i would want to make up in post with cropping.

I have cropped down to 1300mp on the long side to test how they might look.

P.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
IF you are already using the Camera Crop mode then you really don't have a lot of room to crop any further without degrading the image a lot more. Cropping the photos the way you have been doing is already past where you should be. I shoot BIF as often as I can and you need all the resolution you can get. Using the 1.3 crop mode in the camera is already cutting down the resolution in the final product. You are better off not even using it and then cropping in post. It amounts to the same thing but only with better control in post. If you use ACR in Photoshop then you can crop there and maintain the MP count and that will get you a little more leeway in cropping.

If you are having to crop that much already you need a longer lens.
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
This is one of the test pics i have done where i have cropped even closer than normal to see if it would loose detail or pixalize, it was shot at 300mm and f8, so i assume if i shot at 200mm the IQ would be better the object would be slightly smaller, but to be honest i do not crop this much normally anyway its normal for me to crop to about 2500-2000mp.

P. DSC_4769.jpg
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
I have been studying reasonably priced - mid hundreds of pounds, and the only improvement in length i have come across is the siggy 120-400OS but even this lens is not supposed to be as sharp as the 70-300vr at 300 or 400mm and at 200mm the 70-300Vr walks all over it, it seems to be that hard sue to the price to get an improvement in IQ over the 70-300vr, and i just cant afford 1000 or more.

P.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Paganman2 said:
I have been studying reasonably priced - mid hundreds of pounds, and the only improvement in length i have come across is the siggy 120-400OS but even this lens is not supposed to be as sharp as the 70-300vr at 300 or 400mm and at 200mm the 70-300Vr walks all over it, it seems to be that hard sue to the price to get an improvement in IQ over the 70-300vr, and i just cant afford 1000 or more.

P.
Click to expand...

Quality is not cheap. You have already stretched the D7100 70-300 past its limit for quality. I shoot the exact same camera/lens combo so I know what its limits are.

TANSTAAFL
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
Do you mean 2500-2000px The camera only shoot at 24MP?

The shot is already grainy and the plane is underexposed. If you want better quality then you need a longer lens.
Click to expand...

I know the plane might be a bit under exposed - i dd a quick levels in post, but also there is zero noise reduction added but some sharpening done with a mask to make it pop abit.

P.
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
Don do you know of a zoom lens that would go to 400mm or more, work on our d7100's and be equal to or better than the 70-300 oh and cost less than £500?

P.
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
Or would a v good convertor say a 1.4 x on my lens when used at 200mm would it better the 300mm end in IQ and would the focusing still be ok?

P.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Paganman2 said:
I have this lens and think it is great and use it on my D7100 as my one and only lens, i tend to use the long end almost all the time as my hobby requires this, i also crop quite heavy on top of this to get me closer to my subjects, i have seen the charts that show the drastic difference in IQ when using the lens at the 200mm mark, i understand at this point the lens is on par with many pro grade 200mm zooms.
My dilemma is - could i make use of this IQ improvement by shooting at 200mm on my D7100 and still make up the difference by cropping in post to equal what i was at when using the 300mm end, if so would i see an IQ advantage for doing this?

P.
Click to expand...
The more you crop the more detail you lose. What you might make up with IQ (I doubt it's that much) you'll lose by cropping.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Paganman2 said:
Or would a v good convertor say a 1.4 x on my lens when used at 200mm would it better the 300mm end in IQ and would the focusing still be ok?

P.
Click to expand...

No. You are already at 5.6 at 300mm. For the amount of money you have to spend on a longer lens, you already have the best low priced zoom lens ever made. Face it. You are either stuck with this lens, or you need to shell out about a 1000 USD for a Tamron 150-600mm or the new Sigma 150-600mm C lens to get any sort of quality to match your/mine/Dons 70-300mm VR lens with a longer focal length.

Except your fate and you'll be happier. I know I am.
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
Blacktop said:
No. You are already at 5.6 at 300mm. For the amount of money you have to spend on a longer lens, you already have the best low priced zoom lens ever made. Face it. You are either stuck with this lens, or you need to shell out about a 1000 USD for a Tamron 150-600mm or the new Sigma 150-600mm C lens to get any sort of quality to match your/mine/Dons 70-300mm VR lens with a longer focal length.

Except your fate and you'll be happier. I know I am.
Click to expand...

I am happy trust me, its just when i know i have all this vast improvement in IQ just sitting there if i zoom in, but i need all the range i can get from it, even zoomin g back to 250mm was no different, i believe 200mm is the crucial bit?

P.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Paganman2 said:
Or would a v good convertor say a 1.4 x on my lens when used at 200mm would it better the 300mm end in IQ and would the focusing still be ok?

P.
Click to expand...

Forget about shooting at 200mm and getting better IQ after cropping It is not going to happen. I very seriously doubt if you could tell the difference in IQ shooting at 200mm and 300mm even not cropping at all. Our eyes are just not that good.

1.4 converter might help you some shooting at 300mm. I have one that I have used on my 70-300 but have never been happy with the results.
 
P

Paganman2

Senior Member
On all the lens charts it shows the 200mm step as being very very high in IQ the same as most Pro level 200mm f2.8 lenses costing thousands, and the 300mm being ok and usable just not in the same league as at 200mm.

P.
 
Top