I just picked up a Nikon Nikkor 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G. How good will this be for photos out to 100 yards?

With a steady hand or a tripod you should be able to capture some nice shots. Show us the results after you try it out...

For best results use a tripod or monopod for a steady base. Also use mid-aperture setting like f/8 to f/11 when possible. Finally, a faster shutter speed. Rule of thumb is that your shutter speed should be at least 2x that of focal length. So if your focal length is 300mm, then your shutter speed should be a minimum of 1/600. Even faster, light permitting, is better. Nikon's have excellent built in noise reduction so don't be afraid to bump up the ISO in order to achieve faster shutter speed and smaller aperture.

All of this when done in combination will result in crisp, sharp, detailed images. At 100 yards, you'll likely have to crop some. When cropping, flaws in the image (like motion blur or out-of-focus) will become more apparent.

You can get it done with 300mm but most wildlife photographers generally use 400mm or more.

Mono, bi or tripod will help alot

Good stuff LP. N-Rut, share those pics after you get a chance to try it out.

Keep ISO as low as possible if you're going to have to crop, which you probably will.

Cut me some slack Ranchman, I just got it. Lol

This is the photo section!

Yes. What a great place to throw a lens question around!!

Well this topic is gonna need a pic to stay here though

I will try to learn the ways of the force more rapidly Obie1

here's a 100yd shot at a deer in low light with a similar lense..except it's branded by Canon. ISO ran up to 6400 1/50 5.6 300mm. Have to do what you can to get enough light and it creates a little noise.

if your really wanting to get better pics you should get a lens with a bigger aperture. f2.8 will make a big difference in the kind of light you can shoot in. You would think if you can see fine then your camera lens can take a good pic but thats not the case. I got the f2.8 because I do a lot of indoor shooting (action sports) and although there is plenty of ambient light (normal viewing light) its usually not enough for the lens and you have to end up really jumping the ISO setting and slowing down your shutter speed in order to introduce more light exposure. Thats when you start introducing noise and blur especially when zoomed in. You will definitely notice it if you have to crop your pictures. If you can afford it go with the larger aperture lenses but they can be 2-3x and even much more the expense. Well worth it if your making a big initial investment to begin with JMO.

Here's a pic I took at ~400 yards with a cheap point and shoot camera...and a spotting scope.

Yes, a Canon 400mm f/2.8 telephoto lens is precisely what you should get.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/profession..._2_8l_is_ii_usm

.....and it's only $12,000

I'd get one if STX would adopt me.

This buck is approximately 100 yards, probably just shy of it. Decent light, but overcast, so not great. Here's the shot info from the camera:

There is some minimal cropping done to this image in post-processing.

This is also shot off of a monopod in the deer stand. So it was a pretty stable set up.



File Name IMG_5636.CR2
Camera Model Canon EOS REBEL T4i
Firmware Firmware Version 1.0.4
Shooting Date/Time 10/25/2013 5:45:01 PM
Author MChance
Copyright Notice Michael Chance
Owner's Name Michael G. Chance
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/500
Av( Aperture Value ) 5.6
Metering Mode Spot Metering
ISO Speed 800
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens 70-300mm
Focal Length 300.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode One-Shot AF
AF area select mode Manual selection
Picture Style Auto
Sharpness 3
Contrast 0
Saturation 0
Color tone 0
Color Space sRGB
Long exposure noise reduction Auto
High ISO speed noise reduction Standard
Highlight tone priority 0:Disable
Auto Lighting Optimizer Disable
Peripheral illumination correction Enable
Chromatic aberration correction Enable
Dust Delete Data Yes
File Size 26383KB
Drive Mode Single shooting
Live View Shooting OFF
Satellite signal status
Date/Time(UTC)
Latitude
Longitude
Altitude
Geographic coordinate system
Camera Body No. 072033029606
Comment

Dang LP, sounds like you've learned a few things in the past year. Great advice.

Here's a more realistic choice for the hobby photographer or professional. This is going to be my next lens purchase.

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/profession...00mm_f_5_6l_usm

....only $1,300

Even the great Wymen Meinzer uses the heck out of this lens.

Thanks for all the input. My wife doesn't shoot, but likes to sit with me. She wanted to start doing some wildlife photos from the stand. I also got her a tripod to set up in the blind. I think this lense will be great for our kids baseball/rodeo events as well. Now the pressure is on to get Ranchman some good pics!!