Help! Nikon long lens diliemna

wardy07

wardy07

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I’m in need of help in deciding which lens to buy with a relatively limited budget for a lens for wildlife, mainly birds. My choices are as follows :
Nikon AF-S 300 f4 ( not the PF version)
Sigma 100-400
Tamron 150-600 mark 1

It’s to go with a Nikon D7200 and within my £550 budget if I buy secondhand as I’ve seen them all available to buy.
I had the Tamron on a Canon body and was reasonably happy with it but wondered if the either of the others were a better proposition given the minimum focus distance and lighter for carrying and hand holding.
I was kind of settled on the Nikon but the lack of VC has got me wondering and also the age of the lens by comparison.

All your help would be appreciated.
 
I've had the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary in the past on a FF Canon body and thought it superb.

I never used it for birding though but the results were great.
 
The Nikon would be a problem for me with no VR if you need it you need it on its own it would be too short for where i go.
The Tamron i had a early one and had problems with focus freeze, yes Tamron where good about it but it was under warranty.
The Sigma 100-400 i loved it even with the 1.4 converter.

The Sigma at 400mm

DSC_5655 by electric.mike, on Flickr

At 230mm


DSC_6380 by electric.mike, on Flickr
 
The Nikon 300 f4 is a worthy lens with excellent IQ but remember that 300mm is unlikely to be very useful for wildlife as that would be 450mm on your D7200, though with a 1.4 it gets you to 630mm ... I would have similar reservations with the Sigma 100-400.
I have used the Tamron 150-600 Mk1 and found it to be very good for the price and being 600mm it is much more of what I would consider that you need for wildlife, actually 900mm on your D7200.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
I've had the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary in the past on a FF Canon body and thought it superb.

I never used it for birding though but the results were great.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yes I had that one as well on Canon, in fact I had most of the long lenses but I’m on a tight budget and have read so many reviews and opinions online that I’ve totally blown my mind so thought maybe people who have used any of these on the Nikon D7200 could maybe share their experiences.
 
mikew said:
The Nikon would be a problem for me with no VR if you need it you need it on its own it would be too short for where i go.
The Tamron i had a early one and had problems with focus freeze, yes Tamron where good about it but it was under warranty.
The Sigma 100-400 i loved it even with the 1.4 converter.

The Sigma at 400mm

DSC_5655 by electric.mike, on Flickr

At 230mm


DSC_6380 by electric.mike, on Flickr
Click to expand...
I have to say they are my thoughts too, 300 really too short and Tammy mki are ok so long as you get a good copy and I know there were some bad ones around. Thanks for your input though.
 
gramps said:
The Nikon 300 f4 is a worthy lens with excellent IQ but remember that 300mm is unlikely to be very useful for wildlife as that would be 450mm on your D7200, though with a 1.4 it gets you to 630mm ... I would have similar reservations with the Sigma 100-400.
I have used the Tamron 150-600 Mk1 and found it to be very good for the price and being 600mm it is much more of what I would consider that you need for wildlife, actually 900mm on your D7200.
Click to expand...
Thanks and yes I understand what you’re saying about reach issues with the shorter lenses.
I’m just a bit nervous of getting an early issue Tamron and inheriting the AF issues.
 
wardy07 said:
Thanks and yes I understand what you’re saying about reach issues with the shorter lenses.
I’m just a bit nervous of getting an early issue Tamron and inheriting the AF issues.
Click to expand...

Maybe not within your budget but a Sigma 150-600 'C' would be a good alternative.
 
gramps said:
Maybe not within your budget but a Sigma 150-600 'C' would be a good alternative.
Click to expand...
Yes that would be my preference to be honest, maybe I should just hang fire and save a little more.
Shame the prices rose so much as they were going for around that figure regularly a year ago.
 
Go for the Sigma 150-600 contemporary, it is very nearly in your price range. I'm sure i got mine for 600£ in second hand as new condition. Not sure if the price has gone down but no reason to limit yourself to 400mm if you can get 600!
 
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I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to my dilemna here yesterday, it did help me although some of you might think I'm mad but..I decided to go for the original Tamron 150-600 after looking through a lot of my photographs taken with that lens and my then Canon body.
When I compared them to shots taken with a Sigma equivalent and indeed the Canon 100-400 mkii lenses, to my eyes the Tamron pictures were sharper in general and I preferred the rendering so there we are.
Lens should be here tomorrow, looking forward to using it on my D7200.
 
wardy07 said:
I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to my dilemna here yesterday, it did help me although some of you might think I'm mad but..I decided to go for the original Tamron 150-600 after looking through a lot of my photographs taken with that lens and my then Canon body.
When I compared them to shots taken with a Sigma equivalent and indeed the Canon 100-400 mkii lenses, to my eyes the Tamron pictures were sharper in general and I preferred the rendering so there we are.
Lens should be here tomorrow, looking forward to using it on my D7200.
Click to expand...
I think you are unlikely to regret that bearing in mind your budget. :)
 
gramps said:
I think you are unlikely to regret that bearing in mind your budget. :)
Click to expand...
Yeah I figured that too, I’m happy with my decision based on previous experiences with the same lens albeit on Canon. It should be better on my current body, I used it the original Canon 7D before.
 
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