Low budget question

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Bolerus

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Mike
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hi

I have recently bought my first dlsr kit, and with summer holidays and kids school uniforms coming up and car insurance etc I have pretty much ran out of budget for the time being.

Currently I have a nikon d50 (love it) and the kit lens, and a sigma 70 - 300

I also have a x2 Tc convertor (which I have had a bit of trouble using correctly but that is probably more my shortfallings)

I am hoping to get a bit more magnification than the 300 is giving me at the moment, ideally I would like, eventually to get a 500mm prime lens (used a friends on my camera and loved it)

my question is:-

with my current budget I have 3 options
1) use the x2 convertor (Practice to get used to the light drop and loss of autofocus)

2) Buy a fixed 500mm mirror lens (fixed f8 from what I can see) (they seem to go for around £60 ish on ebay or £100 new)

3) forget the cheap option just use my 70- 300 and crop closer

any opinions / food for thought would be apreciated.
 
What is it you're mainly wanting to photograph? A lot of wildlife shots including small birds can be accomplished at 300mm with a bit of care in setting up and a dollop of patience. I've managed a few full frame tit shots (:D) with my 180 macro.

The loss of AF is a bit of a b****r with your TC, if it involves any sort of moving subject then AF is obviously a big advantage.

Ultimately there's no substitute for 500mm or 600mm lenses for real long range shots, but they're not easy to live with when it comes to carting them about, they cost the earth, and the better shots with them are still achieved by getting closer than you might think.

Mirror lenses are really a cheap alternative with a fixed f8 or f11 aperture, so you really need the best light to use them or you'll be forever bumping up the ISO, and image quality isn't as good as conventional lenses. Having said that, they're usually cheap enough to buy and you wont lose a lot if anything when and if you decide to move it on so you don't have much to lose by trying one. :)
 
What kind of images are you shooting? If it's static stuff then the 500 mirror will be 'OK' but not as good quality as newer designs.
If you're shooting moving subjects you really need the flexibility of a fully-functioning lens.
I'm afraid there really is no 'cheap' option as you go for longer focal lengths - best bet is keep checking eBay and see what comes up.
I'd have thought for most stuff a 300mm plus 2x convertor would be OK. I did moon shots with a 600mm on a D1x and it was long enough for that.
 
I initially bought the 2x TC for moon shots (it cost me about £10 from ebay so will never complain about it lol), but I am finding that when I go out on wander days, I am being drawn more and more to wildlife shots and pics of the kids
 
Check out the Sigma 50-500, called the "Bigma" It's good quality and versatile but like most 500mm lens types I wouldn't call it a walk around!
 
nice looking, but at £600 used, doesent fit into my budget, at all at the moment.

which was kind of the point of this post.

A seller with that sigma lens also has a Used PRESET 500MM F1.8 LENS for £30 which I asume is a mirror lens, at that price it might be worth getting to tryign out.
 
It won't be a f/1.8 - maybe f/8 - if it was a f/1.8 it'd be the only one in existence and worth about £20k
 
i have seen mirror lenses described as 1.8 mirror lenses on ebay before

"Tamron SP 500mm Mirror Lens F1.8 - Nikon Fit Item number: 200100279949 "

went for £57

I had assumed it was f8 and a typo but that company has a few different mirror lenses described at preset f1.8 cant imagine they are all typos.

Have sent them an email asking for more information, will let you know if i get any
 
You need to be careful when you're looking at these lens descriptions, it probably says or was meant say f1:8 (Not f1.8) signifying that the ratio of the max aperture diameter to the focal length is 1:8 which would make it an f8 lens.
 
thanks for the info, there is sooo much to learn lol
 
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