Tokina AF 80-200mm f/2.8 AT-X PRO (828)

You may not need it, but you definitely want it! This is a superb lens. It is sharp wide open (f/2.8) and even better stopped down (i.e. 4-5.6). I'm using this lens on a Nikon D80 and D40 (meters but does not autofocus). If you are serious about using this lens on the D40 you should have a split focusing ring installed. My kids play sports (soccer and football). This lens works great under stadium lights (usually ISO 800-1600, f/2.8, 1/200th) without a flash. Make sure you use the proper white balance (Auto works most of the time). During concerts this lens works great. The only drawbacks of this lens are found at the 80mm focal length. On the DX sensor the crop factor means you are using a 120mm lens. You might find this a bit restrictive since the view is very narrow. Again, this is not a problem for outdoor sports, but might pose a problem in a small venue (i.e. sidelines of a basketball court). I wondered if the zoom would be fast enough for Highschool football. It is just fine. In many instances I will manually focus, but generally autofocus works great. If you are used to AFS lenses, this could take some getting used to. You have to physically overide the autofocus using the selector switch between the zoom and focus rings. I never use the focus limiter.

Nikon AF 80-200mm f/2.8D Lens Name: Nikon calls this the Nikon ED AF Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 D Optics: Sixteen elements in eleven groups. Three of them are of ED glass. Diaphragm: 9-bladed diaphragm with nine conventional straight blades. They make a nice 9-sided polygon at all apertures, unlike the AF-S that simulates a circle at larger apertures. Filters: Uses standard 77mm filters. Close Focus: About 5.5 feet, which is pretty good. That's about a foot less close than the AF-S when I compared the two directly, and about the same as the 180/2.8AF. Size: 3.4" (87mm) around by 7.4" (187mm) long. Weight: 2 pounds, 14 oz (46 ounces total or 1,300g) Case: It comes with a fairly useless case. Just put it away someplace for when you sell the lens. Nikon Product Number: 1986, in catalog as of spring 2008. Performance This is an extremely sharp lens. I have only shot with it a couple of times. Distortion performance is also good for a zoom: 80-115mm: fairly neutral 200mm: some pincushion distortion It has the usual light falloff. Here's a page, made at 200mm by someone else illustrating the falloff. Autofocus is accurate. In real photographs the focus is always dead on at f/2.8. This is important to me, some other lenses' focus errors exclude me from being able to get good results wide open. I like this lens because of this. Oddly I've heard a couple of others have inaccurate focusing at f/2.8 at 200 mm on a D70. If you want to use this on a D70 I'd check this carefully. The one I used worked great on my F100, and just as many other people see this lens working flawlessly, no, spectacularly, on their D70s. I'm unsure if it is free from the ghost problem flawing the 80-200 AF-S. AF speed is almost as fast as the AF-S on an F100. Don't worry about this difference. It does of course make more noise and jump around more than the AF-S does while focusing because the big front lens group is rotating at blindingly fast speeds. Jump around? Yeah, this is because of the torque reaction you get as the big front element starts and stops rotating almost instantly while driven by the camera's AF motor. In the AF-S lens the elements that move for focusing are the smaller internal elements.

One of the best Nikon sport lenses made... Although it's heavy, it does not overpower the user when attached to the camera; excellent balance. I find it feels much better when used on a full size unit or one with a battery grip like the D300s. The clarity of the photo's when compared to those from a standard zoom like the 18-200VR is immediately visible to even the most inexperienced viewer. The f2.8 capability allows you to shoot at 1/4000th - 1/6000th easily in bright sun with ISO 800 or 1000. Focus is fast and it tracks well. Short version: If you can stand the weight, and want to shoot a pro lens on a bargain budget - this is the one for you.