28-300 Vs 80-400 Sports: I recently purchased a D850. I have a 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR VR lens ($850) that I was using on a D7200. I am looking at the AF-S NIKKOR...

Bruce121

I recently purchased a D850. I have a 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S NIKKOR VR lens ($850) that I was using on a D7200. I am looking at the AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR ($2100). Reading reviews of both they seem very similar except for the obvious additional reach of the 80-400mm. I am interested in outdoor HS sports photography. Is all you’re getting for the additional cost just the extra reach or is it in general a better lens for sports? Faster focusing maybe than the 28-300mm? Or am I just wasting money, which after the the purchase of the D850 is in short supply.
Bruce

jim quist Loc: Missouri

If you are going to buy a lens for outdoor sports I would recommend the 70-200 2.8.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

There have been mentioned on past topics, on this forum, that the 28-300mm Nikon lens is not recommended for the D850. Some have said, they have used that lens with very good results, on the D850. I have a friend who owns the FX 28-300mm lens. He uses it on a crop sensor D7100. And gets very good results from it. A very good affordable sports lens is the Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 G2.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

mas24 wrote:

There have been mentioned on past topics, on this forum, that the 28-300mm Nikon lens is not recommended for the D850. Some have said, they have used that lens with very good results, on the D850. I have a friend who owns the FX 28-300mm lens. He uses it on a crop sensor D7100. And gets very good results from it.

It’s handy, but not the sharpest arrow in my quiver. I shoot with a D810. Probably worse performance on the D850. The 70-200 is noticeably better.

Bruce121

Maybe that's the answer to save some money since I have a Tamron 70-200 2.8 G2 which I use for indoor sports. Perhaps an extender on the 2.8 to get extra reach outdoors better investment? Although I will have to check to see if a Tamron extender will work on the D850.

Bruce121

Didn't know that about the 28-300mm Nikon on the D850 not being recommended.
What about the 80-400mm Nikon on the D850?

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

All things being equal, the extra reach on the long end is less important than having the extra wide angle the 28 short end provides IMHO.

You can crop from 300 FOV to a 400 FOV easily but the 28-20 is an entire different lens equivalent that you are missing.

CO

I have the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 ED VR. It has very fast autofocus. I'm not familiar with the 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6. You could rent from LensRentals.com to compare.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Bruce121 wrote:

I recently purchased a D850. I have a 28-300mm f/3... (show quote)

I have both lenses that I use on an 800E.
I seldom use the 28-300, and would definitely not buy it with the intent to pair it with an 850.
The 80-400 suits my purposes well, but there are other lenses in that range that you should consider.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

Kmgw9v wrote:

I have both lenses that I use on an 800E.
I seldom use the 28-300, and would definitely not buy it with the intent to pair it with an 850.
The 80-400 suits my purposes well, but there are other lenses in that range that you should consider.

Correct, the 28-300 is considered a « convenience « lens that covers a wise range while not being great at any one thing. You will certainly be able to use it to capture images, which may be what you will need to do while saving up for a more specialized lens. The Nikon 80-400 is a fine lens, but heavy and expensive. When I need a hand-held longer lens, I grab either a Nikon 300PF or a Tamron 100-400. You have many choices and I am sure you will get many opinions.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Kodak in their glory days was the source of all knowledge... they recommended an 85 mm for portrait shots and even sold a semi-compact portrait camera with a screw out 85mm fixed lens. So for sports, the 80-400 gives good portraits without foreshortening of the 28 mm and long reach for the far goal post.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Bruce121 wrote:

I recently purchased a D850. I have a 28-300mm f/3... (show quote)

If you want the very best I strongly suggest the Nikon 200-500 f5.6. I have used that combo and it is very good. And you will get more reach and LESS COST. And IMHO, I have found it to be sharper at the 500mm end than the 80-400 at the 400mm end.

SeaBrat Loc: St Petersburg, FL

Bruce121 wrote:

I will have to check to see if a Tamron extender will work on the D850.

I have used the Tamron extender with my D850 and it works great on the Tammy 70-200. It is still for sale if you are interested. https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-618756-1.html#10674406

cedymock Loc: Irmo, South Carolina

Bruce121 wrote:

I recently purchased a D850. I have a 28-300mm f/3... (show quote)

If any of the outdoor sports are going to be under lights or in afternoon-evening the 70-200 2.8 would probably be best, unless you have a lot of money to spend.

Ruherek

I just bought the Sigma 70-200mm F/2.8 DG OS HSM for Nikon F for my D850 and find that at 200mm the focus is rather soft. I tried focus fine tune to see if was back or front focusing and no, it was ok at zero on the scale. I was hoping for tack sharp and it is just not there. I read the reviews on multi models and the Tamron supposedly has the same problem.