wildlife photography lens

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barbury

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garry
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hi Guys im new to photography and I like taking pictures of wild life and birds could anyone give me an idea which canon lens would be better for this I have a canon 50d . Iv looked at a few lenses but have not dicided which one is best can any one help as regarding money I have a few thousand but need help thanks
 
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Usually for birds whatever lens you have, following sod's law it's invariably too short :lol: most consider 400mm is the minimum for bird photography. At this focal length the Canon 400mm f5.6 prime is considered one of the best in flight lenses, being relatively light with excellent IQ. Zooms of course offer more flexibility and the Canon 100-400 and Sigma 120-400 are the two contenders. Also to consider are the Sigma 150-500 OS and the Sigma 50-500 OS these have the advantage of slightly more range. All these lenses can be found in the £800-£1500 price range.

Moving on to the Canon 500, 600 and 800 primes, here we are talking considerably more money around £5,000 upwards, so not sure if this is beyond your budget, but the Canon 500mm f4 is also an excellent lens.

For myself I use a Sigma 150-500 which I have had for about two years and have been well pleased with it's results as the photo shows. Examples of the other lenses can be found on the forum.

http://SPAM/c3whur/feb/IMG_4316.jpg
 
artyman said:
Usually for birds whatever lens you have, following sod's law it's invariably too short :lol: most consider 400mm is the minimum for bird photography. At this focal length the Canon 400mm f5.6 prime is considered one of the best in flight lenses, being relatively light with excellent IQ. Zooms of course offer more flexibility and the Canon 100-400 and Sigma 120-400 are the two contenders. Also to consider are the Sigma 150-500 OS and the Sigma 50-500 OS these have the advantage of slightly more range. All these lenses can be found in the £800-£1500 price range.

Moving on to the Canon 500, 600 and 800 primes, here we are talking considerably more money around £5,000 upwards, so not sure if this is beyond your budget, but the Canon 500mm f4 is also an excellent lens.

For myself I use a Sigma 150-500 which I have had for about two years and have been well pleased with it's results as the photo shows. Examples of the other lenses can be found on the forum.

http://SPAM/c3whur/feb/IMG_4316.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advise do you think its worth me waiting and saving money and getting the 500 as this will give me more distance and quility to my photos ( if I get the camera right haha) cheers for the help
 
The 500mm will be an excellent lens but thats a fair amount of money and the uses a fairly limited, have you not considered the 100-400mm. You can pick them up new for a touch over a grand and will make a good general purpose lens as well.

The quality wont match that of a prime but you gain a lot of versatility..

You could always rent a lens for a few days and get a feel for what you actually require...
 
Rolyratman said:
The 500mm will be an excellent lens but thats a fair amount of money and the uses a fairly limited, have you not considered the 100-400mm. You can pick them up new for a touch over a grand and will make a good general purpose lens as well.

The quality wont match that of a prime but you gain a lot of versatility..

You could always rent a lens for a few days and get a feel for what you actually require...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice that is great ill look at the 100-400 as well what lenses did you take your pictures with thanks
 
With the 100-400 lens you could use a 1.4 or a 2x extender to give you extra reach.
 
Dave P said:
With the 100-400 lens you could use a 1.4 or a 2x extender to give you extra reach.
Click to expand...
F5.6 at the long end wont work AF on a 50D with a 2x converter I believe?

Matt
 
If you can afford a 500mm f4 buy one. Apart from the other big primes nothing else is in the same league. I so wish I still had mine :'(
 
barbury said:
Thanks for the advice that is great ill look at the 100-400 as well what lenses did you take your pictures with thanks
Click to expand...

I use a 100-400 myself, although mine is a little old now (1998) and soft at 400mm so I am taking it in for calibration in the next couple of weeks.

Sent from my iPhone using TP Forums
 
Hi Gary and welcome to TP. It seems you have posted the same question in three seperate forums :thinking: My suggestion to you as you seem to have a spare bit of cash to throw at one, would be buy yourself something like the 300 L. Start taking some pictures and get used to your kit, good photographs are not produced by having the biggest lens. Once you feel confident about producing good shots then you could if you wish sell the 300 and move on up the focal length ladder or keep it and purchase an addition.
 
100-400 seems like a preaty good lens for wildlife, in my opinion.
 
Yep if i was you i would be going for the 100-400 nice sharp lens and lighter than the siggy 50-500, also if you get the 500L straight away you would prob need to then spend around another £600 for a tripod and gimbal head to hold it :thumbs:
 
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