Farne Islands (1 Viewer)

Hi, I,m planning a trip to the Farne Islands, but am not sure what gear to take. I have been told that you are so close to the birds that a very long lens is not required. I have both a Nikon 300mm F4AFS , Nikon 500mm F4 AFS, also have the 1.4 TC, what advice can anybody give. It would be nice to have the freedom of only needing the lightweight 300mm. Cheers Stephen

I'm sure the 300mm would be more than enough, you'd get some great shots with the 500mm aswell but i very much doubt it would be needed. I've seen some great shots of birds filling the frame taken with a 17-85mm lens.
I havent been there yet since i got my camera but from what i remeber i think I'd be using the zoom at less than 400mm quite a lot.
Maybe the 300mm and take the converter just incase might be the best bet.

Depends what your targets are. Generally a large prime is overkill

I've just got back from there, and I used a 400mm f5.6 and a 70-200mm f4, both handheld. I agree a 500mm or 600mm (+ tripod) is overkill really, having said that I saw several people with this kind of gear there. The main thing I'd say about the Farnes is watch the weather forecast. Last week the boats didn't go at all on the Wednesday, they went to Inner Farne only on the Thursday and the same on the Friday. If the sea swell is too rough they won't go, and it doesn't have to be really bad before they start cancelling. If possible, give yourself at least 2 days up there to try and get across and avoid disappointment.

The 500mm might be useful for flight shots but is an overkill for most other things as virtually all species can be seen quite close. If you can beg/borrow a zoom it would be useful as some are too close even for the 300mm.