got my first dslr

[scamps180]

Hi guys, just purchased a canon 350d, off a site, body only, so bought a very cheap 38-76mm lense, i have a bird feeder about 10 mtrs from my back door, what spec lense would reach to get close in, i have not got a clue what i'm doing to be honest. lol

[John D]

Originally Posted by scamps180

Hi guys, just purchased a canon 350d, off a site, body only, so bought a very cheap 38-76mm lense, i have a bird feeder about 10 mtrs from my back door, what spec lense would reach to get close in, i have not got a clue what i'm doing to be honest. lol

Hi, Depends on the size of bird but for say a Blue Tit size bird you would be looking to have nothing less than a 300mm lens from around 4/5M distance. It would be however better to have around 400mm minimum as it would give you a bit more scope. With lenses you normally get what you pay for!
A distance of 10m is really far to much to obtain a reasonable image.
To be honest no matter what lens you have you'll always want better/longer reach. However long zooms don't come cheap and long primes are even more expensive.

John D


Zenfolio | John's Wild World

[Geoff F]

For a good quality new lens you are looking at anything from £700 to infinity. Very cheap long lenses lack quality.

Possibly a cheaper 300 mm prime (fixed length) or zoom and build yourself a hide. But still not cheap. Possibly look for something secondhand.

Allow around £50-100 for a reasonable tripod as well, but you could easily go up to twice that amount.

The 350D is OK but you don't have many spare pixels to allow for a substantial crop and resize; so you will need to get a bit closer.

[momji1971]

Great advice. Depending on how serious you are on shooting birds, I'd say 500 would be a minimum. Especially for small birds like tits.

If you are serious about long lens photography. Bite the bullet now and pay for a substantial tripod. I'm talking about £200 new with large bore legs.

It will save you a fortune as you realise the first, second and third cheaper tripods you purchased aren't up to the job!

With patience and practise, bring the birds closer and you should get decent shots with a 300mm.

Main thing is to get out there and get shooting. The more you shoot, the more you learn, the better your images will become.

Most of all, HAVE FUN DOING IT!
regards.
Stu.

[scamps180]

many thanks for the advice guys, as i said before i am a novice to all this, and i look forward to posting some pics(but dont laugh) lol

[big bill]

Hello Scamps ,I have the 400D and I use the Sigma 170-500mm lens at these distances and have no problems ,youcan purchase this lens or the 50-500 mm lens from the internet site that we all use at times that starts with E .
Here are a couple of pics taken over that distance with the 170-500mm lens from lounge window up the garden to area were feeding station is


I shoot mainly in raw mode and convert in photoshop,this gives me greater control and allows me to have a larger file to work with so can crop in a bit more closer if need be hope this helps

[beppo]

big bill. isnt the first picture out of focus or is it just a thing with the lens?!

jm

[Gaza]

Hi Scamps180
My son also uses the Canon 350D and borrow my 70 - 300mm IS
It produces good images, without spending a fortune, and being image stabilised, the tripod isn't so important.

[big bill]

The first image is slightly out of focus was concentrating on the eyes and trying to get the shot as they move about a lot but herres another

[nytecam]

Originally Posted by scamps180

many thanks for the advice guys, as i said before i am a novice to all this, and i look forward to posting some pics(but dont laugh) lol

Well where does one START - you're getting some very expensive advise equipmentwise and I certainly won't smirk at your results however modest your equipment - good luck in your quest.

BTW I work at 3000mm fl min on the moon or Mars as 300mm doesn't cut astro-mustard