Need a new lens

[mswebb]

Hey everyone,

I am currently using a Nikon D50 with Nikon 70-210mm 1:4-5.6 lens to shoot snowboard racing events. Given the small scale CCD in nikon dSLRs, the lens acts like a 105-315mm. In general I am happy with the lens as it is reasonably crisp and isn't too heavy to use without a tripod at full zoom.

I do find that I would like more zoom though and a boost in detail would help.

Can anyone recommend a good non-fixed lens for this cold-weather sport. I would prefer non-fixed so that can easily frame shots as they present themselves. I understand that I will need a tripod if I incorporate more zoom so that's not a real issue for me, but I will need to look at an easy release system so that I can quickly drop the camera from the tripod and use handheld for shots that are in close range.

Steve, I know you have the "Bigma", how do you think it would fare in this setting?

Sorry for the number of shots in this post but I need them here to show you what I am looking at...

[nburwell]

Since you want more reach, you're going to probably be looking a much larger lens than what you are shooting with now. Looking on Nikon's web-site, you could go with their 80-400mm VR lens, but that is also $1,500 depending on where you look. Sigma offers a nice alternative to Nikon with their own 80-400mm for $1,000. I don't know what your spending limit is, so I really don't want to recommend anything else. But those are certainly two lens that I would personally look at.

[savona]

Hey MS, I can't believe you shoot snowboarding and do not post in the sports section! :)

What is your budget? I think it will help with some recommendations.

[mswebb]

The shots above are from the first outing this year. Second actually, I didn't take the camera on the first. Up until now I have only been shooting for the team for post-race analysis. Our ski club cancelled the snowboard racing program so my son is now independant and I end up shooting for posterity more than anything. A few parents have asked me to get shots of their racer and I happily do so. I am still reviewing shots from this weekends race and might post some up when I'm done (they tend to be very repititious though).

I haven't thought too much about budget as I could probably justify a lens on the order of $1500 provided I agree to stick with Nikon for the long haul. Would like to see a lower price but doubt I will get what is best for less.