I have a Nikon D70. What lens would best suit shooting high school football from the end zone?

Question

I've had one suggestion of a Nikkor 80mm-400mm, but is that the best for the event?

Answer 1

The $1400 Nikon 80-400mm is great. In broad daylight, anyway. It delivers peak performance at f/11.
An alternative would be the 'Bigma', the Sigma 50-500mm. This is another slow but good lens and it 'only' costs $1000.
For night time games, there's the $1600 Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8. This won't give you the reach to cover the field but it does deliver in low light. A cheaper and slightly inferior alternative would be any of the old Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 lenses, with the latest model being the best (it has a twist-ring for the zoom, as opposed the the earlier models with a push-pull ring). You could extend the reach with a tele-converter and still shoot at f/4.
For more reach with great low light performance, you're looking at exotic lenses like the $4500 Nikon 300mm f/2.8, and the 400mm f/2.8 and 500mm f/4 with astronomical prices.

Answer 2

hmm. I'm not sure the person that provided the first answer has ever touched a D70. He talks about shutter lag. What shutter lag? I've had a D70 and you press the shutter and it snaps the photo instantly. It's the fastest camera I've ever owned.
I don't know about sports photography, but I would definitelly say you would be best off to shell out the big bucks for a lens with the highest possible apperture (like 2.8) because you'll never have too much light with a D70 (shutter speed goes up to 1/8000) And you can always close the apperture down to say 8.0 if you have to, but if your lens won't open less than 4.5 or 5.6 then you're screwed in low light conditions.
Also don't be afraid to use high ISO (even 1600). If you snap a good shot, it is easy to clean it up in NeatImage to the point where there is practically NO grain whatsoever, so I wouldn't worry too much about the ISO. Sports photos are taken at high ISO many times anyway. It's more important to catch the moment, and I don't see why the D70 can't catch the moment.
I've caught baseballs in mid air or at the moment when the bat hits them without problems. You might need to work on that trigger finger.

Answer 3

The 80-400mm Nikon lens is really slow....f/4.5-f/5.6. If you are shooting at night on a typical high school football field you will have to shoot with flash. Now there is nothing wrong with flash but it does make for rather "flat" looking photos. The D70 also isn't a very good sports camera due to shutter lag. If you want to catch peak action you will really have to get good at guess when and where it will happen. The frame rate also isn't too good on the D70. (I'm not down on the D70....is does a fantastic job of shooting in mixed light source situations. I've had one for a couple of years now and really like the camera but it has limitations.) If you are shooting from behind the fence you will need telephoto....at least a 300mm. If you are on the side lines I would suggest the 80-200 f/2.8. This is a real workhorse lens. I use it in sports all the time and it gets me close enough to the action for clean shots.

The 80-400 might be alright in a daylight situation...but night sports....I would advise against it.

Answer 4

Depending on how much you can pull out in Photoshop (cropping), you might like the 18-200 VR lens. It's over $1,000 but you really can gain about 4 stops in hand held situations. It has an "action" setting also that helps you stay in focus with VR as you pan. That would be good for freezing action or for getting those night game shots. It is only f:5.6 at 200 mm, and I admit that that's a drawback. If you have the budget, maybe the 70-200 fixed f:2.8 is a good call, but that might be too tight when the action is in the end zone closest to you.

Answer 5

Hi, I recommand you to try google picasa.

picasa is a Google's photo software. It's what should've come with your camera.

It can Edit , organise and Share you picture and small video clips.

It's very easy to use and is free, just like Google

Download it free in here:

http://www.adcenter.net.cn/google-picasa/

Good Luck!