New lens, new shoting style....

[joemikel1]

<p>I own a D300 and a nikkor 80-400VR, and for the last year and a half, I´ve been developing my birding shooting style: stalking with my handheld equipment. Movement freedom...lots of scenes and subjects....<br>

Yesterday I got crazy, and bought a used but mint Sigma 500 EX HSM on ebay. And now, waiting for the lens to come, I'm wondering how much my new gear will change my shooting style...? Will it be a real improvement in the IQ of my shots? Will it be boring to be attached to a tripod or a monopod so my movements will be ocasional and slow? .. Will this force me to use a hide?.<br>

I know I should have wondered this before my purchase, but as I said, I got crazy....<br>

Thanks in advance for any suggestion!</p>

[tonybynum]

good choice, the main thing is where do you shoot -- that will dictate everything as far as style and how

your shooting might change . . . . that said, you'll need a sturdy tripod and been bag if youre shooting from

a car, and a gimble head to make best use of that lens. . . 500 is a little short in some cases for birding, in

other words you'll always want more, but it's a step in the right direction. . . Your IQ should improve so long

as you lean some new techniques and have good tripod, or beanbag, and a good head, i recommend the

kirk king cobra for it's size, stability operational ease, functionality and weight. . . The whimberly heads are

great but I like the king cobra for using in the field. . . again the entire issue is where and what youre shooting and not so much the size of the lens . . .

[joemikel1]

<p>Tony, thanks for your suggestions! . I already own a sturdy tripod and a gimbal head. I shot in my island, Gran Canaria, with a few singing birds, some kestrels and raptors and various seabirds avalaible, all them very untamed. My photostream shows what can be found.<br /> I guess I will have to stay where I put my tripod and lens, so I´ll have to use a hide and atract birds to some kind of setup ( with fresh water and some food I guess). This is new to me....<br /> I also plan tu use my kenko DG 300 TC1.4x (hope AF maybe fast enough). Any comment about the performance of that combo will be very welcomed!</p>

[michael.gregory]

<p>Senor Rodriguez,<br>

You are embarking on a grand adventure. When you use the big lens your style will be different than it is with the smaller one. I know this because for years I shot with a Canon 5D Mark I and an ef 100-400 f4-5.6 L lens. Then a windfall allowed me to purchase an EF 500 L and a 5D Mark II. I have found that the two lenses require different techniques. While the zoom lens works best if the Camera is in Aperture priority mode and the Mark I requires manual selection of ISO and has a lower pixel count, The larger lens Can be hand held, (even with a 1.4 converter on it), if I use shutter priority mode. I usually use a monopod so that I can stalk with it, but a light carbon fiber tripod is light enough that I some times use that instead, and for some subjects depending on the location and situation I find that the action head and the bigger tripod are advantageous, Especially if I am using the flash the flash extender and the external flash battery pack. The hide can also be very useful under these circumstances some times, again, it depends on the subject the situation and some times the time of day. <br>

Look forward to expanding your horizons step by step and enjoying it all.</p>

[david_poole1]

<p>Great choice for your first long lens. Remember you can always move a little closer. One thing that has helped me, since I "hunt", using those 38 years of stalking skills and using a little camo (pants and shirts and hats) has allowed me to get pretty close to wildlife where a 400 at times it too darn long... So enjoy...</p>

[dcstep]

<p>If both your zoom and your new 500mm have some sort of image stabilization, then your style needn't change much at all. You can still hand hold. I think that with either lens, you'll find an improvement from using a tripod, assuming that you can move through the woods with a tripod. That's generally not a problem in Colorado, where I am, but things might be tighter where you are, demanding a high percentage of hand held.</p>

<p>I shoot aperture priority with all my lenses when shooting birds. I chose the aperture based on the DOF that I want and adjust ISO to give the speed that I need in the circumstances. You see all the parameters in your viewfinder every time that you look in there, so you can shoot aperture preferred or shutter preferred or manual, based on whichever is most comfortable to you.</p>

<p>The beauty of going to 500mm from 400mm is that you'll be able to reduce your crop by 20%, or more if you use a teleconverter.</p>

[steve_thompson]

<p>When I converted from film to digital (Nikon D-300) I found I could shoot at higher ISOs. I took it to far, or farther than I needed to. When I zoned in on the proper ISO to get high enough shutter speeds to do birds in flight I found it helpful to use the technology built into the camera. Using the focus 3-D tracking and expanding the AF area to all 51 points really helped me get sharper BIF shots. If something isn't working for you I think it wise to go off in a completely different directions and try that. The important thing is to get results you like in the final image, how you achieve this is largely personal preference.</p>

[dcstep]

<p>Good point Steve about using multi-point AF for BIF. With my 400mm I found it impractical because the subject was often so small in the screen that the multi-points might lock onto the background; however, with the 500mm, particularly with the 1.4TC attached, I use 9-point multi-point to get a big assist from the camera when the subject isn't exactly centered, but still near the center. That was my single biggest change going from 400mm to 500mm.</p>

[alex_lofquist]

<p>A 500mm lens practically cries for a 1.4X TC. (I almost never remove mine from my 500.) The advantages in using a TC instead of longer lenses, is that your near focus is not sacrificed, nor is the lens weight significantly increased. (And you can always switch back to the bare 500 when needed.)</p>

[dcstep]

<p>I agree with Alex. I leave my 1.4TC on and only take it off if a I'm expecting a fast, relatively close subject, like pheasant, like I constantly see and constantly miss.</p>

[andy_smothers]

<p>Welcome to the big glass club. I own 2 Nikon 500mm f/4 lenses. One is my old MF classic (F4P) that I simply cannot part with (as it was once owned by John Shaw) and the other is my AF-S version. Highly recommend the advice you have already received on the gimbal and tripod. I use Wimberely myself, but have heard great things about the King Cobra. Certainly use the 1.4TC. The major difference will be you inability to "zoom" without relocating your position.<br>

With a large prime, you have to master the ability to know what your focal range will get you and how close you have to get to your subjects relative to their size. Best of luck to you with your new Sigma. I adore Sigma EX lenses and the company is simply a joy to deal with. I own their 120-300mm f/2.8 and they just repaired my 100-300mm f/4 that was out of warranty for free.<br>

BTW, I would not try to handhold a 500mm AF lens with a TC. Not going to be a lot of fun for too long. :)<br>

All the best,<br>

Andy</p>

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