bird lens

hayley.price

hayley.price

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hayley
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Hey I'm thinking of getting another lens for birds

I currently use my tamron 70-300mm lens but as I'm starting to get better at shooting birds its not that good of focal length so I'm going to look into getting a longer focal length lens any ideas?

It's for my NIKON D5100
 
What's your budget?

For longer than 300mm your going to need to pay out at least £500 for something second hand around the 400-500mm mark.

Options include

Sigmas 50-500 or 150-500 (or for less money the xxx(120?)-400) are all fairly budget long lenses costing £5/600-£1200 depending on condition.

Being a canon man I don't know Nikons own options, but I'd guess they have something similar to the Canon 100-400mm.

Of course you could always get a long prime? How much versatility do you need?
 
If you are always at 300mm on the shots then look for a prime or a short zoom. Think there is a 100-300 on nikon but unsure how good it is.

Personally I have a 300mm Tair 3a M42 mount. Hefty beast but is good (just need a decent adapter). That was 50ukp, although seen them on ebay going up to 150ukp... Pics on the links in the sig

Amazon has a few dedicated lenses but they appear to be pricey.

Might be worth popping to a camera store (used) and seeing if they have anything in the range you are looking for that you can test just out the front door (to compare to yours).

Alternatively if there is a meet near you and there are nikon people with lenses you may be able to borrow one temporarily. :)

Good hunting!
 
budget not a problem not getting it now just gunna see my options find out how much and save up till i can get the one i need,

longer the betta lol

and versitality not major more focused on the length as i have other lenses i can use for other needs
 
If budget isn't an issue and you want long then I'd go 600mm f4 VR. I don't usually do any wildlife photography unless it's by chance but after playing with one in Dec I was impressed by how light the lens felt given the performance- which really was quite stellar- and it reaches a long way. I didn't like the tripod collar but then I don't like the way Nikon have done it on any of their longer lenses.
If I was doing wildlife I'd certainly consider it or the 500. Could have been a 'good' copy- don't know enough about these lenses but I would have thought it wasn't a one off.
 
hayley.price said:
budget not a problem not getting it now just gunna see my options find out how much and save up till i can get the one i need,

longer the betta lol

and versitality not major more focused on the length as i have other lenses i can use for other needs
Click to expand...
If budget isn't a problem, then how wedded are you to the Nikon range? The new Canon 600mm f/4 mk II weighs in at under 4 kg - considerably lighter than the lens it's replacing, and considerably lighter than the Nikon equivalent. The weight reduction makes the difference between being easily portable and being a pain to lug around, and between being hand-holdable and needing a support.

Couple that with a Canon 7D and you've got pretty much the ultimate birding setup.
 
StewartR said:
If budget isn't a problem, then how wedded are you to the Nikon range? The new Canon 600mm f/4 mk II weighs in at under 4 kg - considerably lighter than the lens it's replacing, and considerably lighter than the Nikon equivalent. The weight reduction makes the difference between being easily portable and being a pain to lug around, and between being hand-holdable and needing a support.

Couple that with a Canon 7D and you've got pretty much the ultimate birding setup.
Click to expand...

Mmmmm :)
 
StewartR said:
If budget isn't a problem, then how wedded are you to the Nikon range? The new Canon 600mm f/4 mk II weighs in at under 4 kg - considerably lighter than the lens it's replacing, and considerably lighter than the Nikon equivalent.
Click to expand...

And only £4000 dearer ... :D
 
It's not £4000, Hayley. It's £4000 more than the Nikon 600mm - in round numbers, £11000 vs £7000.

But the Canon is only that price because it's newly introduced. Give it a year or so and it will be down to around £7-8000.
 
Within a decent budget range you could always get the Sigma 150-500 OS. It's available for around £625 so wont break the bank and it gives a very impressive IQ for the range. I've just got one for my Canon 5D2 or 7D and I can't wait for some good weather to really give it a try out. I've took a few pics so far and it's very impressive.
 
I recently got the sigma 150-500 second-hand on here, I am certainly pleased with it but would say the gain you get from 300 to 500 isn't as much as you'd think.

I think a lot of people upgrade from this to a Nikon 300 f4 prime, unless they can afford the 600 prime which I think is the lens of choice if money is really no problem!
 
Hayley - I have just put my 500 f4 up for sale in the classifieds. It is a Nikon lens, the AFI and has internal focus motor this was the first of the AFS type lenses. Might be more affordable for you. Ideally you would match it to a D3 or D700, you will have to check if it works with newer amateur bodies because some of the pro gear is only compatible with pro spec bodies.
 
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