Lenses for wildlife shooting

JamieC

bfjr wrote:

Not to threadjack... but you don't see shots like that everyday! Thanks for sharing.

jamie

Swartzy

Jamie...all I can say is....
Wow...brilliant execution. Great colors and capture. Very impressive! bfjr nailed it!

gerberbaby

Wow!! Amazing

Lee Massey

I must admit that the one lens that I would love to have would be the 200-400 F4 VR from Nikon. That is one sweet lens...

Lee

BigAl

Fixed focal length lenses may have better IQ, but you can't beat the versatility of a zoom. These were taken with a Bigma:

bird @ 313mm



rhino @ 363mm



zebra foal @ 266mm (cropped to remove the adult butts)



Landscape @ 50mm



(see, none taken at maximum zoom )

gluwater

Great stuff Al! You bring up a good point. The type of lens you use should be based on your needs, not what others prefer or say is better. I'm not saying others opinions are bad, but they should be used to help you make an educated decision, not just follow others opinions blindly. I have noticed that the zooms are a real popluar lens for Africa. A lot of photographers I have seen online have used the 100-400 while on photo safaris in Africa. Those are some beautiful shots BTW.

davev

What lenses for wildlife?
I use the one thats on the camera. Sometimes you just have to crop a little more.

Mostly I now use the Canon 400 f5.6.







Before that, the Canon 70-300is (non do)





and before that, the Sigma 80-400os









They all work. With some, you need to do a bit more in post.

gluwater

Showoff

Techno

What lense might fit my Lumix FZ7 ?
This is about the best I can get with the as is :cry

gildco

davev wrote:

What lenses for wildlife?
I use the one thats on the camera. Sometimes you just have to crop a little more.

Very fine work, Dave. You aptly prove that it is not the lens itself so much as the photographer.

davev

Nick, Gil, Thanks.

dbaker1221

All right since you brought this up.. All I have is my 300mm 4-5.6 kit lens.
it has worked pretty well for me. with my d50 but you always long for more.
Because of my daughter,{plus I sell a few to other parents} I shoot alot of sports & need the zoom. Because of $$ I'm leaning toward getting a sigma 300 2.8 zoom "low light sports" & later putting a TC on it for nature.
Any thoughts on this would be great. thanks.

johnandsandy26

Hi.
I use a 2.0x telephoto and 0.7x wide angle.along with polarizing filters and neutral density filters for my sony mavica

Harryb

johnandsandy26 wrote:

I use a 2.0x telephoto and 0.7x wide angle.along with polarizing filters and neutral density filters for my sony mavica

I used a teleextender and a wide-angle extender on my old Sony 717 also. Both worked rather well.

gluwater

dbaker1221 wrote:

Because of $$ I'm leaning toward getting a sigma 300 2.8 zoom "low light sports" & later putting a TC on it for nature.
Any thoughts on this would be great. thanks.

Sorry, I have never used this combo but I would think it would work just fine. Anyone have any experience with this combo?

pathfinder

I haven't done this with the Sigma f2.8 300mm prime, but I do exactly that with my Canon 300 f2.8 IS L frequently. It makes a very nice, hand holdable 600mm lens that still focuses as close as a 300mm lens with an aperture of f5.6 with a 2x. Without IS, I doubt you will want to try to hand hold 600mm.

I have a Tamron 200-500 lens, and I find that if I mount it on a heavy tripod it does a fine job - but it is not handholdable without a tripod at 500mm at all.

lifesdisciple

Anyone hear anything about the Sigma 135-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG APO Aspherical AutoFocus Telephoto Zoom Lens?

I really need to upgrade my crappy Quantarary 75-300 f/4-5.6 and was wondering if this was worth the investment. I don't have a lot of money. I can't see how a lot of you have these amazing lens. some of these lenses cost more than both of my cars combined. i wish i could afford something nicer but in reality i can't. just trying to get the most bang for my buck. i really love shooting birds and wildlife and my lens just isn't cutting it. is this the lens for me or can someone recommend something better in the $500-$600 price range? Thanks for your time.

lifesdisciple

lifesdisciple wrote:

Anyone hear anything about the Sigma 135-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG APO Aspherical AutoFocus Telephoto Zoom Lens?

I really need to upgrade my crappy Quantarary 75-300 f/4-5.6 and was wondering if this was worth the investment. I don't have a lot of money. I can't see how a lot of you have these amazing lens. some of these lenses cost more than both of my cars combined. i wish i could afford something nicer but in reality i can't. just trying to get the most bang for my buck. i really love shooting birds and wildlife and my lens just isn't cutting it. is this the lens for me or can someone recommend something better in the $500-$600 price range? Thanks for your time.

or better yet, since i have only read not so good things about this lens i found very nice reviews and many of them about this lenSigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO EX RF HSM Lens. Anyone use or hear of anything about it?

Andy

lifesdisciple wrote:

or better yet, since i have only read not so good things about this lens i found very nice reviews and many of them about this lenSigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO EX RF HSM Lens. Anyone use or hear of anything about it?

Here you go:

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=site%3Awww.dgrin.com+bigma&btnG=Google+Search

Steve Cavigliano

lifesdisciple wrote:

or better yet, since i have only read not so good things about this lens i found very nice reviews and many of them about this lenSigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO EX RF HSM Lens. Anyone use or hear of anything about it?

Hey Michael,
Check out Big Al's Bigma pics, one page back. Bigma is the affectionate nickname for the 50-500 Sigma. Great lens!! Works best in good light and is a bit on the heavy side. But as Big Al's pics show. With good light it is a great lens It doesn't work well with a TC, but on a 1.5/1,6 camera you get close to 800mms. Not bad for a bit over $100 per 100mms









Do a search on Bigma and you will find many decent pics and good feedback.

Steve

lifesdisciple

thanks for all the info, links and pics. i read in one of the links that it was in the sub 850 range. where would this be? i can only find it for $999. is that because the new release of it has the DG?

dbaker1221

my new wildlife lens --Bigma 50-500
had it a bit over a week right now (12/27)

trinko

Bigma is great!
When I'm out doors taking nature shots just about the only lens i use is the Bigma
Here's a bird shot at 500mm

and here's a tiger--shot in the Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago

finally here's a self portrait.

the Bigma is fine for almost all nature shots. It's a bit heavy but that actually helps stabalize it. I've taken good shots at as long an exposure as 1/80.

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Hey Michael,
Check out Big Al's Bigma pics, one page back. Bigma is the affectionate nickname for the 50-500 Sigma. Great lens!! Works best in good light and is a bit on the heavy side. But as Big Al's pics show. With good light it is a great lens It doesn't work well with a TC, but on a 1.5/1,6 camera you get close to 800mms. Not bad for a bit over $100 per 100mms




Deleted great photos. sorry.




Do a search on Bigma and you will find many decent pics and good feedback.

Steve

photographix

sigma 135-400

lifesdisciple wrote:

thanks for all the info, links and pics. i read in one of the links that it was in the sub 850 range. where would this be? i can only find it for $999. is that because the new release of it has the DG?

hi i have a sigma 135-400 4.5-5.6 D APO and i love it. i got it on ebay for $450. and man it shoots!. get one quick. rick.

ebwest

I'm a little late but I wanted to jump in on the praise for the 100-400 5.6L. I hand hold 75-85% of the time and haven't had any issues with the IS.

All these are hand held.

Plsurfer

I just recently got a canon 400mm 5.6L, so i havent had more than 2 weeks to shoot with it but so far...I LOVE IT!!!!!!! this photo was shot yesterday 1/27....

Harryb

Outstanding shots taken with a variety of lenses. Looks like's there is plenty of viable options out there for wildlife shooting.

Albert Dickson

Kuddos for the Bigma 50-500mm EX DG
I have been using this lens as my primary wildlife shooter for about a year. I like it. It is a bit slow (f6.3 @ 500mm) and heavy, but the focus is quick and quiet. For a good quality 500mm zoom under a grand, it's a winner. Seems sharpest at f8. Until I can afford the "big nasty" it will do just fine. Oh yeah one other thing: The barrel lock on my Bigma lens came loose inside and jammed things up. I sent it to Sigma USA in NYC with a note explaining I was traveling in a few days and would need it. They fixed it next day and FedEx'd it overnight back to me at no extra charge. Not Bad!

Jim Victory

My primary lenses for wildlife, mostly birds, are the 400 f/5.6L, 500 f/4L IS, and 600 f/4L IS.

I like the 400 for HH work and the 500 for both HH and tripod. The 600 is tripod or BB.

400 f/5.6L + 1.4x TC:


500 f/4L IS + 1.4x TC:


600 f/4L IS + 1.4x TC:

flatheadfisher

mushy wrote:

Anyone using the Canon 100-400 IS USM L ?? its possibly my next purchase so any comments positive or negative would be appreciated

I just bought one and I love it. I used it in a recent trip to Everglades National Park. I used the entire zoom range, especially trying to capture large birds in flight. It is very heavy! My arms are going to get bigger. You can see the pics at www.michaelayers.smugmug.com .