“I have a Nikon D3100 I need a lens with more of a zoom range due to my interest in nature photography (animals) what lens would you recommend for this type of use?”
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If you are already using the 70-300mm Nikkor on your 3100 you might also look at adding the Nikkor 2X teleconverter to the lens. Your Best Buy store should be able to order that lens for you and they are available online. They are a bit pricey but the results are fantastic.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.**CORRECTION** You were given advice earlier that you could use a Nikon 2X teleconverter on the Nikon 70-300mm VR lens. This is NOT true. (Unless you rip apart the teleconverter and remove the part that prevents the lens and converter from attaching to each other.) You can use a Nikon teleconverter on a Nikon Professional lens like the 70-200mm VRII f/2.8. lens, but the 70-300mm is a "Consumer-grade" lens. There are differences where the lens and teleconverter connect that will not even allow you to attach the teleconverter to the lens. I personally, shoot birds and animals with a Nikon 600mm prime, or a Sigma 150-500mm OS lens. (I keep the Sigma at the 400mm zoom distance because it is noticeably sharper there than at 500mm.) I only use my 300mm primes if I'm going to a zoo, or a place where I KNOW that I will be able to get VERY close to the animals. Oh, and by the way, I've used the Nikon TC-20eIII 2X teleconverter on my Nikon 70-200mm VRII f/2.8 lens, and my D300s body doesn't like it at all, my D700 will work with it - but I'm not happy with the sharpness or focus speed/reliability, my D800 and D7100 both work decently with the lens-Teleconverter combination, but it is still noticeably slow to focus, and the focus "hunts" in less than the brightest lighting. I can only imagine that the 70-200mm f/4 lens would operate the same way, or worse since the f/4 version is a full stop slower than the f/2.8 version.
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