Which Lens?

[danielhundley]

I am interested and getting into bird photography. I am not that experienced in that area of photography and I

need a lens that would do what I want. I want to photograph eagles to herons to small birds. I am using a nikon

d200. I also don't want to spend over 2000 dollars. I have looked at many lenses and have narrowed it down to two

lenses: the Nikon 300mm f/4 afs with the 1.4x teleconverter and the Sigma 150-500mm F/5-6.3. I believe that when

shooting small birds in the air, I am going to need auto focus,otherwise I would get the 1.7x tc. Any input on

which lens would suit me best? Thanks -Dan-

[Matt Laur]

Don't forget that you're going to need to spend at least $300 on a decent tripod and head, or the lenses you're talking about will lose much of their appeal.

 

What sort of light are you thinking about? The Sigma, at f/6.3 on the long end, isn't very fast... but more importantly, that's a bit darker than the f/5.6 that Nikon says you need for their AF to work properly. The D200 is a fine camer (I use one), but it only has the one central cross-type AF sensor. That means that tracking moving birds in flight is a challenge unless you're delivering as much light as possible to the camera as you compose. Just something to think about.

[carl_becker2]

Small birds will be hard to shoot. I started with a Nikkor 300mm f4, not long enough. Then I purchased a Nikkor 400mm f5.6, not long enough and not fast enough. I now have a Nikkor 500mm f4 P (old manual focus) and my 1.4 TC. I can now get some results. I could probably use a better ball head with my large Gitzo tripod and Nikon D300. I would like the extra ISO performance from the D300. I am most interested in perched smaller birds like finches, warblers and nuthatches. Larger birds should be less of problem tele wise. I suggest you look at a used 500mm, Sigma if you need AF.

[danielhundley]

I already have a good sturdy tripod and head. I was looking into the Nikkor 500mm f/4 P but couldn't fine one on ebay. And also no autofocus. I will be upgrading soon to the D300 or D3 within a year or so which has the 51 focus point and I'll be able to bumb up the ISO. As for the Sigma I am worried that the image quality won't be as good as the 300mm f/4 with a 1.4x TC. Input. Thanks.

[robertbody]

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/panoramic08/images/2008-07-25-zoo-eagle-40d_8971sp.jpg">

<br>

Unless you're talking about captive birds, 300mm will not do... not if you want real closeups.

<br><br>

Now there are exceptions

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/panoramic08/images/2008-06-30-rip-corm-16218sp.jpg">

<br>if suburbia birds are used to people, and you crop

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/panoramic08/images/2008-06-30-rip-ducks-16845sp.jpg">

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or if the birds are busy...

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/animals08/images/2008-06-21-gilb-herons-10256.jpg">

<br>or eating

<br><br>

The first picture was with a $5800 Canon 500mm f/4 (rented), the others are with a Nikon 300mm f/4. You could

rent from <a href="http://www.borrowlenses.com">www.BorrowLenses.com</a><br>

but I don't believe they rent the Sigma lens you listed. You should look in Nature Forum as well... the first

step is determining which focal lens will do, and while 500mm f/6.3 might seem usable on paper (from the Sigma

zoom upper end), in practice if you're shooting at the right time of day (the magical times before/at/after

sunrise/sunset), that f/6.3 will not do very well. Same deal if you put an tele-extender on a 300mm f/4.

<br><br>

Now that advice holds if you aim for as good as good can be. $2000 is a lot of money, but not enough for a 500mm

Nikon or Canon prime (Nikon's 500mm f/4 is $7200 or $7800 vs Canon's $5800 - a serious price difference). The

300mm f/4 is quite usable and fun, it just doesn't reach far enough for birds, unless you can bait them with food

-- works on Sparrows but otherwise... not usually

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/panoramic08/images/2008-06-20-gilb-finch-9850sp.jpg">

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with a Nikon 300mm f/4 (both)

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/panoramic08/images/2008-07-01-rip-ducks-17120sp.jpg">

<br>

The second half of this page:

<a href="http://www.robertbody.com/answers/new-photos/2008-third.html">New Photos 2008...3/4</a> has my bird photos

and if you click to see the big picture, the camera icon in upper right shows details about exposure/lens.

[robertbody]

500mm f/4 P - the manual focus lens - sounds like a great deal -- oh try KEH.com if you don't see it on eBay...

but the little problem of no-autofocus.. is a BIG deal in practice, because the birds will not stay still, it

will be a serious handicap. I had my hands full already with autofocus in place, just getting the focus point

aligned, maybe re-framing...

<br>if you're manually focusing a 500mm focal length on a tripod... without Image Stabilization... and the

exposure is 1/180s at f/4... hmmmm. Your tripod, tripod head and technique have to be right on too. Here is a

link on placing your hand on top of the lens to stabilize vibrations from shutter release that resonate through

the lens

<a href="http://www.moosepeterson.com/techtips/longlens.html">http://www.moosepeterson.com/techtips/longlens.html</a>

 

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/panoramic08/images/2008-06-27-rip-egrets-14522sp.jpg">

<br>

Oh and most of my 300mm f/4 are handheld, actually all of the ones here are handheld, sometimes you don't get much

time to prepare... and don't plan on being closer to birds than 20 feet, unless they come to you, 20 feet or so

is their comfort zone, usually it's even more than that.

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/animals08/images/2008-06-25-free-heron-13165.jpg">

<br>

Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S - 1/750s f/4 ISO-200 - 6:16am -- but 33% crop

<br>

<br>

and then birds-in-flight

<br>

<img src="http://www.robertbody.com/animals08/images/2008-06-23-gilb-heron-pro.jpg">

<br>

The most challenging of all... lot of missed opportunities, frames... and usually they don't approach you but

rather fly away, and you're cropping a lot afterwards, or the focus is off, or way off...