Rob wrote:
A short history then!
Its not a matter of spending its the zoom range and weight.
I now use 24-120 f4 plus a 12-24 DX for the majority of my stuff. using
a D90 and D300. I only own one DX lens for wide angle stuff.
I have waited for so long for the D700 replacement which was on imminent
release for so long I've forgotten.
There has never actually been any "imminent release"
expected for a D700 replacement. That's letting your
imagination get the best of you!
Of course, in reality the D800 is simply going to blow
your mind away! It will wipe clean all dreams based on
a D700 in about the first 30 minutes you use one.
My requirements have been for a full frame camera as I like the feel of
the images. using some of my old manual Wide lenses, so much better
than the 12-24 DX will ever produce.
Okay, that's reasonable. (Heh, wait till you get a D800 and have
36MP of resolution to play with!)
I have heaps of lenses including a 80-200 2.8 and a 300 f4.5 IF ED, in
the long range also use a 500 5.6 Mamiya lens with a Zork adaptor.
I hate carrying gear around nowdays, hence trying to consolidate what I
do carry.
My 80-200 f2.8 is heavy and slow in focusing.
A wonderful old lense, eh? The AF-S version and the
70-200mm VR were not enough to get me to switch, but the
70-200mm f/2.8 VRII is enough of a leap forward that it
was worth the price to set aside the 80-200mm. The
70-200mm is perhaps still heavier than you'd like, but
the AF is greased lightening, and the sharpness is
astounding.
the 70-300 would encompass my requirements taking boat races, and
lugging it around all day, weight wise.
For boat races, I don't quite understand your stated
need for fast AF and VR. Boat races don't need either!
Note that VR doesn't have any benefit at all for most
sports, simply because it corrects only for movement of
the camera, and not subject movement. With any
situation requiring a fast enough shutter speed to
freeze motion, VR should be turned off. Racing boats
won't be quite the same as shooting hockey, gymnastics
or basketball, but the shutter speeds required are still
high enough to make VR pretty much insignificant.
And racing boats don't really require super fast AF in
most cases (but might in some, if you are right up close
and want shots of the people as opposed to the boat).
Instead of fast AF use the camera's ability to track
moving subjects and predict where to focus prior to
shutter release, along with continuous focus mode.
Given that use (and granted that you may have other
needs that have not been mention), I'd go with the
70-200mm f/2.8G VRII and either a TC-17E or TC-20E, and
second choice would be an 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D.
Either of those will outperform a 70-300mm significantly,
and take hugely better advantage of the D800's capability
for higher resolution. The 80-400mm will cost
significantly less but won't be as sharp in the 300-400mm
focal length range which of course the 70-300mm doesn't
even have. Yes, the 80-400 has slower AF, but that just
doesn't affect anything if the camera is configured
correctly.
--
Floyd L. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)