Best budget lens for dolphins at Chanonry Point. (1 Viewer)

We've booked a cottage at Inverness next june and I'm planning to visit Chanonry Point a couple of times to photograph the Dolphins. I've got a Canon 450 D, Canon 400 5.6, 18-55 kit lens and a Tamron 90mm f2.8 Macro lens plus a Kenko 1.5 tele.

I've heard the 400mm may be a bit long for the dolphins so what lens would you recommend for someone on a tight budget?

Would the Tammy 90 + 1.5 tele do the job or would that be too short?

I'd love to have money for the 70-200 F2.8 or even the 70-200 F4 but I've just had a £1200 pay cut at work and the wife would have my danglies on a hook if I went and ordered one of them:eek!:.

When I was there last year in the summer one passed so close to the point that a wide angle lens would have been ideal, he/she was barely ten feet offshore! But you had to be exceptionally quick to capture it on camera.

As Geoff says,I guess it all depends how close they get !
I went several years ago and the only sighting was a long way off and my 500mm was useless. I think I might be going back in April/May, I don't know if they are still around then.
When I went to Sri Lanka earlier this year I went on a Dolphin watching boat trip and they were very close. My 300mm had too much reach, however, the biggest problem is finding them in the view finder when your field of vision is limited. The action is so quick and their appearance so unpredictable it can be very difficult to attempt to get them fully in the frame if indeed it's possible at all. A smaller lens might be better it it allows room to crop later but if the dolphins are too far away it will be useless.Being on dry land at least allows you to move back on the beach so provided there aren't crowds of people in your way the 400mm might be fine.
In an ideal situation a zoom is definitely the best option and you need a fast focussing set up too.
A couple of efforts from Sri Lanka, uncropped with the 300mm on the 1.3 crop 1D left little room for manoeuvre on this one, in fact 3 /4 shots in the sequence had body parts missing !
My wife had the FX 5d with the lens at 200mm for the one showing the boats. I would imagine the nearest boat is about 50 feet away to give you an idea.The Spinner Dolphins in the picture are possibly smaller than the Bottlenose ones I think.
Her pictures were better than mine so we went again and this time I had the smaller set up. Guess what few dolphins and all distant.
The luck of the draw as is always the case with wildlife. All you can do is try to be ready if the opportunity is there.

Shaggy2070 said:

I'd love to have money for the 70-200 F2.8 or even the 70-200 F4 but I've just had a £1200 pay cut at work and the wife would have my danglies on a hook if I went and ordered one of them:eek!:.

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How about renting one of these for the week? If it's for a one-off, might be worth it & at least you may get to keep one of your danglies :king:

Richard

Richard G said:

How about renting one of these for the week? If it's for a one-off, might be worth it & at least you may get to keep one of your danglies :king:

Richard

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If you don't keep your danglies, you won't need a wife so get rid of her and keep your danglies and buy a new lens!!!!!

Canon 55-250mm IS or 70-300mm USM IS. Maybe the 3rd party 70-300mm's too but don't know how the latest models they compare these days.

I use the Canon 100-400mm IS which is great for stuff like this. If the dolphins come close or you need to cover a wide area, you just zoom back out to 100mm. It was at this very site though I found out my camera & lens are not waterproof. To get nearer to the dolphins I edged out onto the rocky jetty which was a little more slippery than I anticipated. Yes, me and my equipment ended up submerged in the Moray Firth. Not a good outcome!

400mm wasn't enough on that occasion then James ! Hope all ended well though.

I was up there in July and it does get busy at low water there must have been 100 people there that day and the dolphins were very playful.They were coming to within 10-15ft at times but there was also action a long way off.I met a couple and he was using a 300mm 2.8 and got some good shots but his wife had a standard lens and got some better ones. It's about timing too I suppose as you can't see them under water until they break the surface so you have to be quick. there was about 8-10 dolphins there the day I went. Think it was July 20th and by the way take a warm coat as it was 30:c in aviemore but it was blowing a hoolie and cold up at fortrose the same day.

Thanks Bryan, If I don't get hold of a Zoom before then I'll try the 400mm one day and the Tammy 90 with and without 1.5 tc the next and just see what happens.

I think I might be heading that way in April, anybody know if they are around at that time of year ? Is it a seasonal thing or all year round ? Thanks Dave

Around April

We some them really well at end of April

Dolphins are present all year but congregate in the firth for the salmons heading upstream to spawn. Peak times are during the summer to autumn. As for lenses anything from 50 to 300 is adequate. A low cost kit zoom would be okay.

Go for a zoom, 100-400 is best option, they can be really close within 15 metres and they are big !

Pigeon_Pete said:

Go for a zoom, 100-400 is best option, they can be really close within 15 metres and they are big !

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I already have a 400mm 5.6 and can't afford to get a 100-400 to go with it so I'm thinking about one of the "Budget" zooms, maybe a Canon 55-250 or one of the Canon/Sigma 70-300mm lenses.