Lens Advice

[riffraff]

Hello,

I currently use an old Sigma 500mm AF lens with my Nikon digital SLR's.

It performs well but can be a bit slow when autofocusing.

I was considering changing it for the Nikon 200-400VR lens and 1.4 TC.

On the face of it this option would provide much more versatility.

My main subjects are seabirds and back yard birds.

Does anyone have any experience with this lens?


Thanks in advance.

[Outboard]

Hello,

I currently use an old Sigma 500mm AF lens with my Nikon digital SLR's.

It performs well but can be a bit slow when autofocusing.

I was considering changing it for the Nikon 200-400VR lens and 1.4 TC.

On the face of it this option would provide much more versatility.

My main subjects are seabirds and back yard birds.

Does anyone have any experience with this lens?


Thanks in advance.


An absolute killer combination IMHO. This is what I use when I want a bit of reach but mostly I just use the 200-400VR. I tend to use fixed setups where I attract the birds to me and I can be at a suitable distance away from the setup to get good framing on a smaller bird @400mm but if a large woodpecker for instance should land I can easily zoom out to get it into the frame. The autofocusing is quick though not as quick as the Nikon 500 f4 but not much slower when I tried one a while back.

[Outboard]

Heres a picture from earlier this year, not particularly good but I have done nothing to it. It was shot as a nef resized and changed to sRGB. No sharpening at all.

[ikw101]

Also worth considering Nikon AF-S VR 300mm f2.8 G IF-ED plus 1.4x TC. See review at http://www.digiscoped.com/Nikon300mmVR.html. Both lenses are exceptional however for me the ability to take the TC off and use the 300mm at f2.8 during the winter gloom would swing it.

[bkrownd]

thanks for the link...

[riffraff]

Thanks for that.
The 200-400VR also focuses much closer. Currently I sometimes have to use an extension tube which means I can't use AF with my Sigma.
Having said that, with a little bit of effort, the Sigma can produce some sharp mages.
Plenty to think about....and time to start saving!

[pabs]

You may want to consider the sigma 120-300mm f2.8 too. I bought one of these 6 months ago and found it a superb lens for getting flight shots of birds plus the zoom helps get over the close focus problem which I use in the field for butterflies and moths etc. This lens also comes at quite a good price.
regards,
Paul
http://www.birdlist.co.uk

[Duke Leto]

Hello,

I currently use an old Sigma 500mm AF lens with my Nikon digital SLR's.

It performs well but can be a bit slow when autofocusing.

I was considering changing it for the Nikon 200-400VR lens and 1.4 TC.

On the face of it this option would provide much more versatility.

My main subjects are seabirds and back yard birds.

Does anyone have any experience with this lens?


Thanks in advance.

Which body and version of the lens? having just bought a used 500 Sigma HSM I was exceptionally pleased on how fast it focused on my D200 (not tried it on the D70 yet) It focuses much faster than my AF-S 300/4 which is the only comparison I can make.

Having played with a 200-400vr which is a cracking lens and would love one for sports photography, it seemed a shame to mate a 1.4 on it to get a reasonable focal length bird lens and then have a lens which started at 300mm/5.6!! even without a TC it seems a shame to have what is no more than a consumer 200-300/4 (get this with my 70-200vr plus a 1.4) and it only gets good when you get to 400/4

Seasons Greetings