Some help please (1 Viewer)

(wasnt sure in what part of the forum to put this so...)

Hello friends, I am new to this forum and as a swede from the north and living in the neck of the woods I love nature and birds and love to photografh almost everything (im pretty bad but getting the hang of it more and more) but my question is my gear. (and sorry for all the text )

I know as well as the next guy/woman that you can get really good pictures with an old camera but its the lens and the man/woman behind it that makes the difference.

The thing is, in most of the cases I cant sneak up to the birds due to the high levels of dead branches in the forrest (the swedish spruce and the birch, they will hear me a mile away and its hard to sit and wait for hours while they are allways 70 meters away from me and the sun is turning in the wrong direction while waiting so any suggestions on my gear cuz I want good close ups and dont want to crop the pics afterwards to get a good "zoom"

gear:
Canon EOS 7D
Canon Zoom lens EF 70-200mm 1:4 L IS USM
Canon extender EF 2X III
Sigma EX DG HSM 50mm 1:1.4
a crappy tripod

I am looking at Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6,3 DG OS HSM but it costs about 1137:- USD and Tamron SP 150-600/5-6,3 Di VC (1024:- USD) but right about now I need to invest in diapers for my newborn


/kind regards

Hi, with your current gear you are not going to get good close ups walking around. With a 200mm lens your best option is to buy a small pop up hide or if money is the issue a camouflage net around £10 on amazon. Get some warm clothing, get in location before first light and sit and watch the world wake up. You will be amazed at what you can see close up and the added bonus is you do not disturb the wildlife.

I do this in Spain and I have had water rail walk within 3 feet of me. I take a small folding chair and a cheap monopod and throw the net over the top of me. It takes a less than a minute to get set up. Once under the net you become invisible.

I use a canon 7d and a canon 400mm 5.6 which can be bought cheaply second hand. They have no IS but light is good in Spain. Additionally it is execllent for flight shots on the walk home.

The 150-600 Sigma C is better than the first version Tamron,it could be a good choice as even if you still need to work from a hide it would give great results.

Thank you both for the info, Ill think I will fix a pop up hide until the lens is in place

Do you guys know if I can have my Canon extender EF 2X III on the tamron or the sigma?

I really want to shot "Picus viridis" "Fringilla montifringilla" "Loxia leucoptera" "Falco subbuteo" in april in these parts.

Isbj0rnen said:

Thank you both for the info, Ill think I will fix a pop up hide until the lens is in place

Do you guys know if I can have my Canon extender EF 2X III on the tamron or the sigma?

I really want to shot "Picus viridis" "Fringilla montifringilla" "Loxia leucoptera" "Falco subbuteo" in april in these parts.

Click to expand...

I would forget extenders on either of these lenses. It is not just the AF problems but you will loose too much image quality. I have the Canon 2 x Mk3 extender which works great on my 300 F2.8 but is pants on my Canon 800 F5.6 L IS as I am limited to live view AF and the IQ is not great.

The Tamron and Sigma 150-600 lenses offer decent quality at a very reasonable price but you will be disappointed with extenders on them.

Just my thoughts.

johnf3f said:

I would forget extenders on either of these lenses. It is not just the AF problems but you will loose too much image quality. I have the Canon 2 x Mk3 extender which works great on my 300 F2.8 but is pants on my Canon 800 F5.6 L IS as I am limited to live view AF and the IQ is not great.

The Tamron and Sigma 150-600 lenses offer decent quality at a very reasonable price but you will be disappointed with extenders on them.

Just my thoughts.

Click to expand...

thanx for all the info johnf3f, so if I would go upp some money to about 1200 pounds, do I have a better option in a lens then? I mean, I dont care if its a used lens and they sell it in a retail store....

The 2x TC works very well with an f4 prime lens, the 1.4x works well with the 100-400 Mk2 although in both cases IQ remains sharp but AF slows down for first acquisition.
You might be able to pick up a used version of the 100-400 Mk2 ( avoid the Mk1) for the budget you have, especially if you sold the 70-200 f4 and changed your 2x TC for a 1.4x.

Dave makes a good suggestion - well worth investigating.

Thanx so much guys for all the info, now I just have to point out to my wife that a new lawn mower, hairdresser and new apple trees comes on third place on our shopping list

I have both the Canon 100-400 MkII and the Sigma 150-600 C. At 400mm the Canon wins but not by lot, at 560mm the Siggy is better than the Canon with a 1.4x tc. Where the Canon does shine is the MFD at around 98cm - handy for larger insects like Butterflies and Dragonflies, not so good a proper macro lens but the increased working distance is great.