Which lens advice

[mroachy]

hello im new to the forum, need advice.
I have a Nikon D80, 70-300mm Nikor zoom lens, which is the best option....get a 2 x telconverter, or as budget is tight save up for months and get a bigger lens, my interest is bird n mammal photos. Thanks. mroachy

[ron1863]

Hi and welcome to WAB. I would save up for a better lens.
You could buy the converter but you will still want a better lens.

[pressld2]

Hi and welcome to WAB!

I'd say it depends which version of the 70-300 mm lens you have - Nikon made two. If you have the non-VR version then I would save up for a better lens. I have that one - bought it shortly after getting my D70 when I was skint and couldn't afford anything better - and I'm afraid the image quality is poor to start with and will only go down hill with a teleconverter. TCs don't extend the focal length of your lens, they just magnify the image. This means that they magnify any imperfections in the image too.

If you have the later, more expensive 70-300, the one that does have VR then you might get away with a decent quality 1.4x converter such as the Kenko Pro 300.

Dave P.

[big bill]

Hello and welcome to wab firstly,I would go down the same way as Ron and save up and go for the better lens something along the lines of the Sigma 150-500mm it has optical stabalisation and if you look through most of the Gallery it is the choice of most of the photographers on the site with a few exceptions going for the 50-500mm lens,but a tc withe your lens at the moment I would`nt think of it like Dave says it will only show up the inperfections of the lens that you are using.

[Phild]

Originally Posted by mroachy

hello im new to the forum, need advice.
I have a Nikon D80, 70-300mm Nikor zoom lens, which is the best option....get a 2 x telconverter, or as budget is tight save up for months and get a bigger lens, my interest is bird n mammal photos. Thanks. mroachy

I have the same dilemma, which lens to choose? Although my DSLR is a Canon 50D and not Nikon, I did look at Nikon cameras, the reviews were great, but the price of the lenses looked even more costly than canon!
So the way forward for me was to hire lenses as they are expensive and a mistake could be costly if it turns out not to deliver for you. It might not just be image quality; perhaps it could be too heavy to carry around etc. A few weeks ago, I didn’t even have a camera or lens! So here are my novice thoughts on the lens I have hired thus far. Both have been prime lenses, as the birds I wanted to photograph are a long way off, and my thoughts were that I would always be utilising the 400, and would probably always want to be closer anyway.

Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM

I hired this as the reviews all said it’s a sharp lens, and I have seen so many bird photographers with one since hiring! It’s not too heavy, very easy to carry around and it takes good sharp pictures. If the light is good the pictures are even better. I found it easy to use without a tripod and got some great shots just standing next to a tree photographing long tail tits, the quality was great.

Great build quality, and it works fine with the 1.4x extender, although you have to manual focus. If you want quality sharp images, it’s a great lens, and I may even buy this one! Although I haven’t made a decision on which lens to buy as yet!

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM

After reading the reviews this lens looked like the Holy Grail for photographers! So I hired it and still have it at the moment. It’s bigger and heavier than the above lens, but still easy enough to carry around. The pictures with this lens are excellent, very sharp and the detail you get in the images is amazing, the feather pattern on a birds wing etc. I have been practicing catching birds in mid flight, and its easy with this lens, you can catch the food dropping from a bird mouth! So for action it’s great. It works well with the 1.4x and 2x extenders and focus is very fast. I can use it hand held even with the 1.4x extender and have had great results. As said I am not an expert at all, but I would say that any lens bigger or heavier than this is perhaps going to be too big to carry around, particularly with all of the other kit needed, bins, tripod etc. This lens is expensive at £3800!
Having been snapping away at birds for a couple of weeks, My novice thoughts are:

Get the best quality lens you can afford.

If you want good shots you have to hide out and be patient – both of the above lenses and I am sure many others would get you good shots if you do this regardless of how much you paid for the lens.

Also understand the settings of your camera! I didn’t know a deal about any of this, but sat next to others and asked questions. Now I know enough to get some good results, but I am still learning and intend to master every setting of the camera.

If you are a “bird watcher” as well, the photography can take over a bit! The larger the lens, the more difficult it is just to grab your bins when you need to. So I am thinking of this when I make my choice.

Everything seems to be a compromise and everyone will have different requirements, but don’t rush into anything. I am sure the experts on here, will give further advice as well. Tit photo below taken with 400 5.6 and the duck taken with the 300 2.8

[mroachy]

Hi Guys, thanks for all your advice.The lens I have is 70-300mm VR Nikor. Playin with the idea of the T/C 1.4x. However, can you please advise where I can hire lenses from, and if they are costly.
Does anyone know if there is a magazine dedicated solely to Wildlife photography, I have been searching, but had no joy?
Thanks again, mroachy

[GTH]

Without doubt, for me, I would advise you to save for the best lens you can.

You can spend good money on compromises...but in the end, unless you want to compromise , you will see the difference in the quality.

Although I am a Canon man.....as soon as I could i purchased a 500mm f4( new)....and just recently took a hike on a Sigma 300mm f2.8 on ebay.....and have no regrets !!

I would consider a good condition Sigma f2.8.....mine`s exellent and very sharp...( cost of £800-00 !!)...Bargain in my eyes !!

Happy hunting......Oh....and welcome

Geoff

[GTH]

That`s a Sigma 300mm f2.8