£2000 lens budget,advice needed please

[jc001]

Hi,
Im thinking of spending £2-3000 on a new lens,Im hoping for any advice on what the best setup would be in this price range? ..probably like most wildlife shooters im looking for the best reach/image quality i can get.I'd be happy with a prime or zoom lens,but i do enjoy the bokeh from big appetures.
I already have a canon 400d body.

At the moment im digiscoping with my canon a95(5mp) and leica apo62(16-48x),so im hoping to take a big step up from the image quality/reach and fiddlyness of this set up.

Any adice is very welcome,im new to this ...if i can spend £500 and get the same quality i'd love to hear that too :)

thankyou,

jc

[tjsimonsen]

Hi,

I'm not sure what the prices are in the UK, but if they are somewhat similar to Canada, then 2000-3000£ is still not quite enough for one of the big appature tele lenses (though perhaps a used Sigma 500/4.5 is a possibility). But you can definitly get good glass for that amount. As many other here, I use the EF 100-400 and am very pleased with it (see my gallery for some of the more lucky results: http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/38764). Other good possibilities are 300/4 + TC or the 400/5.6. You will definitly get less fiddeling (and probably better results) compared to digiscope, but not likely longer reach.

Thomas

[postcardcv]

That's a decent budget so you'll have plenty of good options...

Probably one of the first choices would be a Canon 300 f2.8 with 1.4x and 2x tcs. The lens retails in the UK for ~£3k but can be got cheaper as an import, you should be able to get it and both convertors for less than £3k.

Another good option would be a Sigma 500 f4.5 (£2400) with a 1.4x tc for when you need a bit more. This is the lens I use and I am very happy with it, the only thing I'd swap it in for would be a Canon 500 f4 or 600 f4...

I'm curious as to what sory of tripod you use currently, is it one that will be up to the job of supporting a big prime lens? If not a new tripod will be another expense to account for.

As for cheaper options - the Canon 400 f5.6 (£800) and the Canon 100-400 IS (£1000) are both excellent lenses. Both crop up fairly frequently secondhand so you can get them for about £2-300 less than new. They are good lenses if you want to get shots while out birding rather than let photography take over (it will happen if you get one of the big primes).

[GYRob]

thers a 500f4.5 USM L £2295 at mifsud's site now but you will need a non reporting tc to use to keep af .
i agree with postcardtc on the 300f2.8isL it give's very good opptions and has IS . well worth thinking about.
Rob.

[Ragna]

I think postcard has give good advice if you can afford the 300 f2.8 Canon then this is the lens to go for its supposed to work very well with the converters.Also the Sigma 500 f4.5 is an excellent lens these are excellent second hand buys and seem to go for anything between £1000-£1500, i would'nt buy this new as you'll loss to much but buying used youll lose virtually nothing when/if you come to sell it.

[jc001]

Many thanks for these replies,its a massive help.Some great suggestions,and nice pics to back them up.

Im hoping to try some of these setups if i can find some places thatll let me.Its a daunting buy for someone so indecisive:)

[Keith Reeder]

Hi JC,

let us know a bit more about your aspirations: what birds are you shooting? Are you particularly interested in a portable handholding set-up? Are you going to be routinely shooting in low light?

And so on.

Personally I can't speak highly enough about the Canon 100-400mm + Kenko Pro DG 1.4x teleconverter approach (560mm you can handhold!) but there are some reported issues with that combo and your camera.

But given that you can get that lens for £885 from Ian Kerr (AKA "Kerso", AKA "Flash Camera" on Ebay), you could afford it, the Kenko and a new 30D and still have loads of cash left!

;)

[jc001]

Hi Kieth,thanks for the reply + helpfull suggestion.

Ive seen some of your pics around before,and theyre looking very nice,i'll keep that setup in mind.

I think the most important thing for me,is to be able to get very well detailed close up shots,from 20-30 metres handheld or by just using branches,knees etc as a lens rest.Ideally in just average light.

Im getting a bit frustrated with the slowness of digiscoping,some stuff is long gone by the time im setup and focused etc..I went down to cornwall a few months back,and the people i was staying with were wondering why i wasnt getting shots of some of the birds we were seeing,so i tried to explain that i usually had to setup and pre-empt where a bird was going to be,they just looked puzzled,in the end the only way i could show them was to give them a try at digiscoping ..they were amazed,and had nothing but sympathy for me after that i think:)

Ive copied and pasted some links to some of my digiscoped shots from another post,hopefully to give you an idea:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/60/207464840_599cd9e27e_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/132/359628108_9fdf094995_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/59/207490135_b02d745e89_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/105/315669120_3c7811ff72_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/250/447785130_2cfda20aec_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/366054075_f12cbb0666_o.jpg

So in a nutshell....much better shots than these...handheld or using branches,knees,monopod etc....stunning detail from 20-30 or 40 meters in average light....the ability to more or less point and shoot.

I probably dont stand a chance without spending much more money,but as you asked,the standard im aspiring to is Nigel Blake image quality capability (dream)..So im not asking for much;)

thanks,

jc