Nikon lenses... which one??

I have a nikon D60....and am wanting to photograph quick moving dogs (agility and obedience - but mainly agility) and horses (showjumping)....

i was reccomended the 50mm AF-S f/1.4 ....?

I wasnt actually planning on buying another lense so needs this to be as cheap as possible

I have a nikon 70-300mm and a 18-55mm(came with cam).....

so can anyone reccomended me a *cheap if at all possible* - lense which will do the above requirements???

short term i can work witha 50mm as i have already at a horse show but long term i will need something longer (and as azz pointed out more expensive lol!) which i dont have atm

anyone any ideas?

Check out your for sale thread - i posted there.

Suze

What is cheap to one person is expensive to another, therefore if you gave a price bracket your thinking of it would be a help.
The Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 would suit


http://shop.ebay.co.uk/items/__sigma...=228459_228460

To give some idea of price
Bazza

ideally under £200 (lol)....

as im living off £400 for the next month and need £100 for dog physio and £100 for petrol!

and other bits ,,,, but yes desparately want a lense asap for a show!!!

i dont even mind buying a cheaper one that willl ''make do'' as im due a S.L and that will more than pay for a nice expensive lense

Ideally you would need an f2.8 lens with a decent mm length, but you may be struggling to find one in that price range.

Bazza

If you want quality, then I'd say go for the 50mm - but bear in mind you will need to get close - put your 18-55 lens on 50 and see if you can work with that distance

That lens Bazza mentioned is pretty good for the money - f2.8 70-200 Sigma. Although most people drool over the Nikon equivalent which is more than twice the cost

Your 70-300mm should be pretty useful too

Up the iso and reduce shutter speeds until you can afford a good lens to suit your needs. Problem solved, no cost.

Shoot in RAW and any bad uns can at least be made good in lightroom/aperture/PS whatever.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Expensive lenses will not make that much difference until you get your technique sorted. Remember its is the photographer that makes the picture not the equipment. Sure expensive kit helps - but the fundamentals need to be in place first.
You could spend your cash then end up dissapointed with the results.
If I was you I would focus on getting reasonable results with what you have before splashing out further.

Hope that helps.

Shooting in RAW will not allow you to "make good" a out of focus or camera shake cursed image. For some reason there is an myth that anything is possible if you shoot RAW and work on it in Photoshop/Lightroom. It just ain't so

If you are shooting in low light conditions (indoors arena for instance) you can only up the iso so much before noise becomes a major issue. The reason the pros use these f2.8 300mm lens is because they have to, without it they cannot produce the goods.

Until you are able to equip yourself with similar equipment you will struggle to produce results similar to the pros.

In your position I would attempt to produce images the pros will not be taking. For instance, at dog agility try to get amongst the competitors waiting to start their round and try to get some shots of them preparing or practising. Shoot in RAW so you can get the light balance right when you convert the raw image. With your lens you really are going to struggle to get the long range shots of dogs clearing obstacles in low light so you may have to try to be a bit "different".

I sell just as many prints of dogs with their owners at field trial, just waiting for their turn as I do of the dogs actually competing. If you could do the same you might be able to save what you earn from the "different" images and get the super dooper f2.8 lens which will give you more scope.

Hope you do well

Steve

No, but it can do wonders for an underexposed picture.
This means you can sacrifice perfect exposure a little and up your shutter speed to get the sharper shots.
Not ideal - but certainly useful in dark conditions with fast moving subjects.