picsman Loc: Scotland

My mtb lens are 79-200 f4, 16-35 f4 and a fisheye, all Nikon. I am wondering about a new fast fixed zoom as in the woods I need all the light I can get, and speed lights are too much trouble. Has anyone got experience of 105 or 135 lens for sports and if so is the AF sufficiently fast for the fast pace of mtb? Many thanks.

picsman Loc: Scotland

For the few, 79 should of course be 70!

Vietnam Vet

whats mtb? are you wanting an f4 or a fast lens?

picsman Loc: Scotland

Mountain bike racing, looking for a fast lens.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

picsman I've tried this challenge repeatedly... without acceptable results...
Have been contemplating off camera flash for any hope of publication quality success here...

btw, the 135mm f/2 has to be stopped down to at least 2.8 or 4 for a high level of acuity...
I use this lens for portraiture...

My best luck with MTB so far has been with the very cost effective AF-S 35mm f/1.8G Nikkor.
Provided you are using a crop body...
Here I have positioned close to jump where the MTB's catch airtime...

And you're right... illumination is awful in the woods...
My best shots have been where a ray of sunlight has breached the foliage and illuminated the trail...
But this scenario is so ephemeral as the sun swings its arch through the heavens...

Hope this helps and post your successful triumphs here... I need the encouragement to keep trying this...

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Out hiking the MTB Trails behind the studio Wednesday…
Low and behold... came upon an X Games BMX rider doing Bunny Hops over a rail…
First Image: BMX Airtime at 1/1600 (panning); FL 100mm on a D7200…

The next image pertains to your query....
“Has anyone got experience of 105 or 135 lens for sports...
and if so is the AF sufficiently fast for the fast pace of mtb?”

This second Bike Path (W&OD Trail) Image was taken with the very fast f/2 135mm.
I use the AF 135mm f/2.0 D DC IF-ED Nikkor frequently both in the studio & on location...

btw, there can be a significant learning curve in using this optic effectively at least this is my experience...
Hope this helps, or might be food for thought picsman
.

X Games BMX rider doing a Bunny Hop

(Download)

Ballerina Matador... AF 135mm f/2 D DC IF on a Nikon D3x

(Download)

picsman Loc: Scotland

Very nice images. Thanks for showing them. You say there is a learning curve, is that because of a narrow plane of focus? Or something else?

I need to check the most used focal lengths of my recent events as they were all in the woods and suffer from high ISOs.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...Or something else?" picsman both this and the AF 105mm f/2 D DC IF-ED Nikkor have an additional focus control ring which in essence shifts the area(s) of Bokeh either in front or behind the critical plane of focus... While this presents some complexity to the mix the real challenge comes from learning which illumination scenarios have the potential to generate massive amounts of green or magenta color fringing in high contrast edges... btw, these pretty much disappear above f2.8.

If you are shooting in low contrast illumination they are also virtually absent... That said, amp up contrast and you'll have rainbows of magenta & green fringing on high contrast edges near the critical focus zone. It is impossible to explain how to deal with this on a forum... You're on your own here if you get this lens... be prepared to invest lots of time figuring out how to tames this beast...

Best Advice? The AF-S 85mm f/1.8G is an excellent option... It's a cheap (made in China) high preforming lens at way less than half the Defocus Control DC f/2 lens. Also please consider the Pro-Build AF 85mm f/1.4D lens (made in Japan)... This is my workhorse for full length fashion and it's build quality is superb! Now that Nikon has completely dropped support for AF-D lens in it's mirrorless Z6 & Z7 prices for these epic lens are in free fall... You can likely find the AF 85mm f/1.4D lens at a fraction of it's original price... if at or near the AF-S 85mm f/18G it would certainly be my choice... This lens will last forever! No electronics to go wrong and it focuses lighting fast (albeit it's a screwdriver, no built in motor).

Here is an excellent video from Nikon Asia Behind the Scenes with the Nikon D500
They are showcasing "how the compact and lightweight D500 allows them to photograph crisp images of the fast-moving mountain bikers..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goeOTvlcAxU

Final thoughts.... As you may have notice in Nikon Asia's video... Get Closer!
Experience is a brutal teacher... Enough said...

Thanks and good luck with those MTB's