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Sigma 500mm lens help (1 Viewer)

fieldfare

Member
Hi all
I have a question hope you can help with.
I have a Canon 300D and a Sigma 170 – 500mm lens.
You will all understand that sometimes this is not enough reach when taking photos of small birds.
I was thinking of getting a 1.4 converter, I understand that I will lose 1 f stop but will I also lose the auto focus.
If I do lose AF any suggestions on a different lens or any ideas on extending the reach would be appreciated.
Mick
 
Hi Fieldfare

On a 300d the combined TC and lens must be f5.6 or lower to retain AF. So you are talking about a f4 or f2.8 500mm/600mm Monster piece of glass. I hope you have very deep pockets to fund such a beast. Maybe cheaper if you can learn to sneak up on the little beauties. Interesting article in Birdwatching by our good friend Nigel Blake.


Robert
 
Hi Mick

If you want a 500mm lens that will AF with a TC then I suggest you try the 2nd hand listings in Amateur photographer & be on the look out for a Sigma f4.5 500mm.Andy Bright uses one of these on his Nikon with great results www.digiscoped.com

Cheers Steve.
 
stevo said:
Hi Mick

If you want a 500mm lens that will AF with a TC then I suggest you try the 2nd hand listings in Amateur photographer & be on the look out for a Sigma f4.5 500mm.Andy Bright uses one of these on his Nikon with great results www.digiscoped.com

Cheers Steve.


Hi:
I agree with above.
I use a Sigma 500mm f4.5 too. Very nice and about the least expensive option for 500mm prime. Can be had for <$2k used if you look around and are patient. Generally speaking as noted above, you need 5.6 to get AF to work. The Sigma 500mm will usually NOT work (cuz it's half a stop to slow) in my experience with a Sigma 1.4 tc but will work with a Nikon tc which you have to modify slightly to get to work with the Sigma 500mm. Why this is so I do not know.

Nikon and Canon 500mm are F4 (instead of 4.5) and are f5.6 with a 1.4tc which is generally thought to be better for AF. Much more $$$$$ though.

Now that I've got the 500 I'm looking at the 300-800mm too. There is never enough reach when it comes to birds.

Cheers,
Craig Ryder
 
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It's hard to sneak up on birds with a 500/600 monster piece of glass. Best to sit down and let them come to you. Why not go the digiscoping route then you would have 3000mm and everything would look big. A 1.4x increase is only marginal and you loose shutter speed and focusing speed. Neil.
 
You'll go from 800mm to 1,120mm with the 1.4x TC and the 170-500 but you'll kill your optical quality and your AF will probably be slower than it was in the Minolta Maxxum 7000 (first integrated AF SLR) and it may even be non-existant. That there was SLOW AF. I suggest just accepting your lens imitations, working on your stalking and sneaking skills to get closer and realising even the very high budget birders can't get the small birds from too much of a distance.

But, if you have around 40k to throw around I suggest a Canon 1,200mm L lens (1,920mm with the 300d's 1.5x crop).

http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Fixed_Focal_Length/EF_1200mm_f56L_USM/

http://www.tanchung.com/canon/ef1200mmf56xu.htm
^life size image of the monster.

I actually got to see one of these in real life and look through the viewfinder of the 10D it was on and I was really impressed! So sharp! and even the colours were better than I can see them without optical assistance!

One more thing, I want you to bird a bit with your lens set to appx 281mm (450mm with your 1.6x crop) so you can see just how well off you are with those smaller birds with your 800mm!
 
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Hi Mick, I use the 300D/Sigma 170-500 with a Kenko Pro 1.4 teleconvertor and it keeps autofocus, loss of sharpness is slight and can be tweaked in Photoshop later if necessary.
 
Thanks everyone for your input.
It certainly given me something to think about..
Don’t think my pockets are deep enough to buy an 800mm lens just yet

Mick
 
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