What Lens?

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Kev Lewis

eeyore: Btw insurance wise I use E+L whose proffesional level insurance is well worth it even if you are an amateur. This company has so many loopsholes in its T&Cs that they rarely pay out

Ive never had a problem with them, even when I killed my little bigma and 10D by rolling a floating hide over - I have heard bad things about their amateur level insurance but IME pro level is a different kettle of fish.

Household insurance would be fine If I had any, but i dont cos i cant afford it and i have nothing else apart from my camera gear worth insuring - my unsused stack of med format gear lives at my mums together with my decent lightroom computer, just a cheapy one here.

[Wolfhill]

If you bought either of these lenses I wouldn't imagine you would need to use a converter as the 600mm on the D200 would effectively be 900mm at f4!!! I use the an older Nikon 300mm f2.8 lens the only difference with the new one is it has VR(Vibration Reduction) it was £3,500 in its day (over 6 years ago) but it is still one of Nikons best lenses for quality. I usually put a 1.7x tc on it to get that little bit nearer (effectively 700mm with the D200), the quality won't be as good as on the 600mm f4 but it's a lot cheaper and lighter.
Fergus

[eeyore]

Going back to your original question given that the 600mm is nearly £5k more if its an either or choice I would go for the sigmonster 300-800 at just over 4k as this is excellent value for a 800mm lens

another possibility would be to get a 400mm f2.8 ( I presume nikon make one, but i am a canon user so couldnt say for sure) with a 2x tc this would be an effective 800mm f5.6

[Kev Lewis]

Nikon do make a 400 f2.8 which weighs about the same as the 600 f4. It is razor sharp and if you can get close enough to the birds it will outperform the 600. I use the EFIIx1.4TC on my Canon 600mm regularly, if you want a frame filling image, without any cropping, then you still need to be very close. In fact at 5.5metres (minimum focus on the 600mm) a small bird won't fill the frame which is why I use extn tubes as well to get the minimum focus closer

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Kev Lewis

In fact at 5.5metres (minimum focus on the 600mm) a small bird won't fill the frame which is why I use extn tubes as well to get the minimum focus closer

Is there much difference in the quality of the various extn tube makes Kev. You can get cheapy sets off ebay (around £15), but I'm not sure about the quality aspect. Also dont you loose metering in some of them?

[Bushcraft]

Thanks everyone for your help, I will take it all into consideration. I have been into power lifting and bodybuilding since a young age so my backs already knackard lol, add the huge packs I have to carry when taking large groups out into the wilderness and a zimmer frame is not too far away even at the age of 23!!! maybe I should save the cash and invest in someone to carry me about for a change?

[carlj]

Outdoor photography recently reviewed the Siggy 800mm, and this month do the Siggy 500mm f4.5 (a snip at £3k).

Worth a look as the review also gives a nod to the 800mm.

[Bushcraft]

Originally Posted by Fourwings

I can highly recomend the Sigma 150mm EX DG macro lens.

Superb build quality, fast, silent and it takes crackin' images.

Several of us here on WAB use this lens so have a good look in the insects/Dragonfly/Butterfly gallerys.

Can you get right in with this lens? I have a Tamron 90mm and think its great but I can't zoom in enough and I find that the AF scares insects as its not internal. I do of course use manual most of the time but somtimes when im hanging over an edge or lurking in a tree I only have the one hand so need the AF. I want to be able to do different macro work and make tiny insects look large.

Thanks

[Tobyh]

Originally Posted by Bushcraft

Can you get right in with this lens? I have a Tamron 90mm and think its great but I can't zoom in enough and I find that the AF scares insects as its not internal. I do of course use manual most of the time but somtimes when im hanging over an edge or lurking in a tree I only have the one hand so need the AF. I want to be able to do different macro work and make tiny insects look large.

Thanks

I also have a Tamron 90mm, a great lens but I know what you mean about focusing really close. As I understand the Sigma is the same 1:1 ratio but it effectively allows you to focus from alot further out, allowing less disturbance of your subject.

I've posted another thread about Teleconverters as I'm considering that as an alternative to being able to firstly get closer and secondly be able to focus 1:1 from further away.

My main annoyance is the built in flash not being able to cope with being too close and smothering half the image in shadow. Focusing further out with the converter should help avoid some of that until I get a dedicated flash sorted.

PS - If my terminology isn't correct please feel free to correct me, I've still got alot to learn - only been taking piccys properly for about 8 weeks.

[Bushcraft]

Originally Posted by Tobyh

I also have a Tamron 90mm, a great lens but I know what you mean about focusing really close. As I understand the Sigma is the same 1:1 ratio but it effectively allows you to focus from alot further out, allowing less disturbance of your subject.

I've posted another thread about Teleconverters as I'm considering that as an alternative to being able to firstly get closer and secondly be able to focus 1:1 from further away.

My main annoyance is the built in flash not being able to cope with being too close and smothering half the image in shadow. Focusing further out with the converter should help avoid some of that until I get a dedicated flash sorted.

PS - If my terminology isn't correct please feel free to correct me, I've still got alot to learn - only been taking piccys properly for about 8 weeks.

Hi, Yes, the sigma is also a 1:1 so I presume its the same as you say. I also have to get a flash unit. What camera do you use? I may reply late as im out until tomorrow as of now.

Best wishes
Kris