# Just hired a Nikon 80-400 lens



## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

I decided to hire a good zoom lens for my D5000 for when I go to this weekends Silverstone F1 and thought I'd share my initial thoughts. I only play at photography and dont have the knowledge that some of you have on here, so any advice will be gratefully received.

The lens is a Nikon 80-400 which I have hired from Lensesforhire.co.uk who have given great service so far. It has cost me about £150 for 9 days including postage both ways...










I need to read the manual as there are some settings on the lens that Im not familiar with..










Im going to be spending the next couple of days comparing this lens to my Tamron 70-300, and already Ive discovered that this Nikon lens is a bit of a beast in size/weight comparison. Think I'll be needing to use my tripod at Silverstone...










So heres a shot of my garden (excuse the washing on the line), taken with my stock Nikon 18-55. All photos taken with Aperture Priority, hand held and unedited...










I decided to focus both lenses on Mr Wood Pigeon who conveniently landed on the wooden archway in the centre of the above picture. First up the Tamron taken at full zoom of 300mm...


















Then the Nikon 80-400


















To be honest I expected slightly better zoom magnification with the 80-400 over the Tamron, but I know it has better glass and with the right skills I should be able to take some really nice photos at the weekend.

So I decided to photograph something a little further away, the furthest I could see was the roof of the house opposite. So I focused on the group of different roof tiles, first I used the Tamron...


















And the Nikon...


















Again, not much difference as far as zoom goes. But when zooming into the photos on my laptop Im obviously seeing much more detail on the Nikon lens. Im looking forward to playing around with this lens over the next few days. I'd love to receive some advice from any of you on how to get the best from this lens :thumb::thumb:


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Well the Nikon 80-400 served me well at Silverstone. Photos here

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=312298

This lens might not zoom much further than my Tamron 70-300, but it does allow for some clearer photos when cropping the images.


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## Buckweed (Aug 27, 2012)

Wow can't believe how much bigger the nikon is compared to your tamron.:doublesho


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Its blooming huge!! I had to use my cameras neck strap (which I hate) just in case I dropped it. I can see now why the tripod mounts to the lens and not the camera body. I managed to use it hand held though.


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## id_doug (Apr 6, 2011)

That looks like a whole lot of lens for not much difference! Your Tamron lens seems more than a match for it "big cousin" I know which of the two I would carry and it's not the one you hired. It's a shame you didn't get one with a much bigger zoom than just 100mm to see what that would of been like for you :thumb:


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

id_doug said:


> That looks like a whole lot of lens for not much difference! Your Tamron lens seems more than a match for it "big cousin" I know which of the two I would carry and it's not the one you hired. It's a shame you didn't get one with a much bigger zoom than just 100mm to see what that would of been like for you :thumb:


I know what you mean, and I felt the same way initially. But if you look at the link I posted above then the Nikon allowed me to zoom into the pictures and crop the photos whilst maintaining lots more detail. The Tamron photos loose quality when zooming into them, whereas the Nikon photos remain clear.:thumb:


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