# Nikon D3000 Telephoto Lens



## MsB (Sep 9, 2012)

I have the above camera and looking for a lens to shoot wild life, from a distance. Not vor professional shoots, just good clear photos.
Which one is available for this camera. I only have the lens that came with the camera and a 55-200 mm. I missed quite a few shots on our last vacation due to distance.

Thanks for any help you can offer,

MS P


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## MikeScone (Sep 9, 2012)

*MsB wrote: *


> I have the above camera and looking for a lens to shoot wild life, from a distance. Not vor professional shoots, just good clear photos.
> Which one is available for this camera. I only have the lens that came with the camera and a 55-200 mm.


There are lots of options, but with a D3000, you'll want to be careful to get a lens which has the built-in focus motor. 

If you've already got a lens which goes to 200mm, the next step up would be 300mm zooms, which would give you another 50% in focal length. In the Nikon line this would be a 55-300mm or 70-300mm zoom. You might look at one of the second-tier manufacturers like Tamron, Tokina or Sigma as well - they all have something in this range. Avoid the really cheap third-tier manufacturers. There's no point in getting a frame-filling fuzzy picture. 

At that focal length you'll also want to look for some form of image stabilization (Nikon calls it VR), which will make it much easier to hold the lens steady. The Nikon 55-300 is a VR lens, and seems reasonable in price. Nikon has both VR and non-VR versions of the 70-300 - the non-VR is much cheaper, but I think the VR is well worth it, especially if you're not very good at holding lenses steady. If you get the "regular" 70-300 you'll need to be careful to keep the shutter speed above 1/300th of a second to avoid blurry pictures at full zoom. 

There also "tele-extenders" which fit between the zoom lens and the camera and increase the focal length of the lens. Typical tele-extenders come in 1.4x and 2x multipliers, so a 1.4x tele-extender would make your 55-200mm zoom a 77-280mm, or a 2x would make it a 110-400mm. That said, I wouldn't recommend getting one because even the best of them will lose some image quality compared to the lens without the extender. If you're willing to pay that price, a tele-extender will cost less than a whole new lens, at least somewhat. Again, stick with Nikon, Tamron, Tokina or Sigma brands and avoid others like the plague. 

The next step up from a 300mm zoom would be one which tops out at 400 or 500mm. Such lenses exist, for sure, but they're very pricey. Expect to spend a minimum of $1,000 for any zoom with a 400mm or higher top end, with the Nikon line costing many thousands. For example, Nikon has a 200-400mm zoom which will set you back a mere $6,800 (plus tax and shipping, of course). 

Finally, you can look at a non-zoom "prime" lens if you're really only interested in wildlife or sports. However, the cost of a 300 or 400mm prime lens which would autofocus with your D3000 would be several times that of a 55-300 or 70-300 zoom, as such lenses are considered professional-level specialty items. There are off-brand cheaper lenses but I'd avoid them. With your camera you should not consider the really inexpensive 400mm or 500mm mirror lenses. They will fit the D3000 physically, but neither the focus nor the metering will work. I have a 600mm mirror and use it occasionally, but my D7000 will meter with it (that's one of the advantages of the D7000 or higher-level Nikons). 

For examples of the difference between 200, 300 and 600mm lenses, see my thread on What are those numbers on lenses?


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