[GavinM]

Hi All, would just like to put my thoughts on a plan for developing my photography down here and see what you think.

Just for background, I used to use manual SLR's all the time, Zenit/Zeiss setup, which gave way to a Nikon FM3 set up. Then I went digital and I currently have a D100 and I've been having 'not bad' results from my old 70-300G, but it's not really offering me the control I want, or the zoom (though the optics are fantastically good, whatever anyone tells you). I've recently come back to birding so have ordered a Sigma 50-500 to be going on with, while I sort out what to spend my savings (read: Credit Card Allowance) on next year.

I'm thinking of buying used and going for:
D2X
Nikon 500mm F4
Sigma 300-800

Any reasons I shouldn't? Any advice? Opinions? Feedback? I've been to suesbirdphotos.co.uk and absolutely love her work. Ultimately I want to take of a quality that just occassionally, I might be able to sell one.

Thanks, and sorry for the long post!

[Adey Baker]

Only you can judge your financial situation, of course, and also you'll have to examine any secondhand gear carefully when buying expensive equipment.

From a practical point I assume you'll be getting rid of at least one of the two zooms you have - too much kit = too few photos!

But you haven't put an 'or' between the two lenses you've mentioned, so does that mean you're looking for both? In which case I'd say that you'll only want to carry one at a time and this could cause a bit of a dilemma - sooner or later you'll wish that you'd brought the other lens!

What about keeping the 70-300 and looking for a 500 + teleconverter?

[Doug Greenberg]

Buying a used Nikon 500 f4P (manual focus) is by far the least expensive option among those you've mentioned. How important is price as a consideration? If it's a major one (undestandable!) then the 500mm. plus 1.4x and 2x Kenko Teleplus Pro teleconverters make a flexible system that will produce excellent photos.

The Sigma 300-800mm. is, from all reports, capable, sharp, and fun to use, but it's very large and very expensive. At this point there aren't all that many used ones to be found. I'd love to own that lens myself, but I just don't have thousands of dollars to invest in bird photography at this stage of life.

[stevo]

Hi Gavin

Just to clarify you say you`ve ordered the Sigma 50-500mm lens have you had a real chance to really go out & use it in the field?I say this because you might find that this lens meets your requirements,you can always add a 1.4x tc to it which you will then have to use manual focus.

Cheers Steve.

[GavinM]

Thanks very much. I hadn't thought too much about the more gear=less photos equation, but can see it's very true. Adey, For some reason I hadn't considered teleconverters at all, so I'll be looking into those. Stevo, I haven't had a chance to use the 50-500, I'm in Southern Russia at the moment, so I'm having to go off other people's photos and recommendations.

Doug, the money thing, always important to me , but I'm seeing a huge difference in the actual pictures between big bright (expensive) lenses and the inexpensive stuff, so I've pretty much convinced myself to bite the bullet and invest some money. Still aware that the prime factor is the person behind the lens, and I have to keep working at my skills and even then, 'be lucky'

I'll definitely look at the different versions of the TC1.4 - could save me some cash.

Really appreciate the input, it all helps the thought process!

[Romy Ocon]

I've been using the Sigma 300-800 DG (Canon mount) for over a month now, and I'm blown away by its optical performance.

Here's my impressions at FM:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/s...&cat=37&page=1

Cheers,

Romy

[yossi]

If one is at ~$5k+ for a lens, it's maybe worth considering the Nikkor 200-400/4 AFS VR. I own this hunk of glass and it's superb. I was able to shoot it hand held for a short period of time (3kg+) and got excellent pictures. Despite the common word that a TC deteriorates the quality of this lens - I couldn't substantiate it. If you use a sturdy tripod and a solid head (Gitzo 1348 + Wimberley Gimbal in my case), the pictures out of this lens are tack sharp. I shoot with the TC-20EII @ 1/3 stop down (F/9) and with the TC-17EII and the TC-14 - fully open, VR is on. AF is a bit slow and hunts sometimes with the TC-20EII, but with smaller TCs - no problem. I've even stacked 2 TCs together and got more than acceptable results. Focus is done manually of course, but metering and VR are still there. This combo works on both my D100 and D2X.

[GavinM]

romy - thanks. Nice photos, too.

Yossi, thanks, hadn't thought of that. Does the VR make a lot of difference, for instance does it let you shoot at slower speeds in practice?

Just an update: 50-500 , D2X and Kenko Pro 300 1.4 sitting in the UK waiting for me. Just need to wangle an excuse to get out of here for a weekend and I can start shooting (hopefully) mountain birds from the Caucasus for the gallery.

[yossi]

GavinM -
Absolutely. The VR is a dear addition to this lens. Using a TC-20EII TC, when the lens becomes 400-800/8 (I usually shoot @ F/9) the pictures are tack sharp. Disable the VR function and the images get soft, even on a sturdy tripod. I've managed to get decent pictures even by stacking the TC-17EII to the TC-20EII. AF is gone but VR is still there. Combined focal length is 1360mm, and with the X1.5 crop factor is 2040mm. The D2X allows HSC mode, where the crop factor is 2 - and even there, with a focal length equivalent to 2720mm, the pictures are still useable.

[GavinM]

Thanks Yossi, that's really interesting and I will check one of those out. Lens Aquisition Syndrome. It's a nightmare.

[GavinM]

Just an update to let you know where my travels through lensworld ended up.

Currently have a D2x and I've just bought a used Nikkor AF-S II 600mm F4. Won't get to use it for a couple of months, but figured with a 1.4x I've got roughly the same reach as the 300-800, and the used deal I got with Nikkor made it about the same price as the Sigmonster.

Now I have the task of sorting what to keep and what to sell!

Edit to add, my reasoning was that in the UK I'm likely to be shooting small brown birds without a lot of light, so I wanted bright above all else. If f4/f5.6 is as different as f5.6/f8 (which I guess it should be) then that will make a huge difference to the number of non-blurred shots I can get. I hope :-)