hello newbie here

Dusmith1 · Oct 8, 2016

I am new to digital cameras .
I am wanting to shoot wildlife Eagles hawks.
I have a Canon T6I
2 lenses Both Image stabilizing
A EFS 18-55 macro 0.25m/0.8ft
A EFS 55-250 macro 0.85m/2.8ft
With what I have what am I missing to do this right? I would also like to shoot flowers and insects

zombiesniper · Oct 8, 2016

Welcome to TPF.
I'll tell you the same thing I tell my friends......RUN! Run as far away as you can from wildlife photography. It will kill your wallet.

All kidding aside wildlife photography starts at 300mm and is still a difficult task somedays at 500mm. In the Canon line up the 400mm F5.6 is the best bang for the buck lens. Sharp and reasonably priced and that's hard to find in telephoto lenses.

Dusmith1 · Oct 8, 2016

Would something like this be worth looking at
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Sigma-APO-400...3Aa1f2ec191570a2a58220db6dfffe5622%7Ciid%3A17

zombiesniper · Oct 8, 2016

Dusmith1 said:
Would something like this be worth looking at
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Sigma-APO-400mm-f-5-6-AF-Lens-for-Canon-/162108518880?hash=item25be6bb1e0:g:h5gAAOSwepJXVim6&_trkparms=pageci%3A34aa8fc8-8cf8-11e6-b132-005056b68964%7Cparentrq%3Aa1f2ec191570a2a58220db6dfffe5622%7Ciid%3A17

That would be a great purchase at that price but you need to go in knowing what you're getting.

That is an auto focus designed in the 80's and has plastic focus gears that could and have stripped on people in the past. Add to this that older Sigma lenses are hit and mis wether they will work on a modern DSLR and Sigma no longer supports upgrades to this lens.
Having said all of that it is a good lens if it works. If you can afford to gamble or test one to make sure it works, go for it.

Dusmith1 · Oct 8, 2016

Do you think I would be better off spending up to $300 for now since after spend what I have so far on everything I only have the $300 till the first of the year to spend on my hobby the rest needs to go to support my family.
So far I have the 2 lenses a boom Mic a travel lite tripod a second body that is a Rebel Xt with a 18-55 lens.
My wife is cool but has gave me a budget I can spend each year . I sometimes go a bit overboard off the bat lol

zombiesniper · Oct 8, 2016

I would just go shoot with what you have.
With your current gear you should easily be able to shoot some very nice pictures. It's more important to learn what you + your gear are capable of so that when you are able to, you can make that next informed purchase.

Dusmith1 · Oct 9, 2016

zombiesniper said:
I would just go shoot with what you have.
With your current gear you should easily be able to shoot some very nice pictures. It's more important to learn what you + your gear are capable of so that when you are able to, you can make that next informed purchase.

I went out to shoot some shots of Eagles today and seemed just shy on my largest lens had a man tell me I needed to add a 2.0 converter to my setup.......what is this and what will it do for me and my kit

zombiesniper · Oct 9, 2016

A 2X teleconverter is like putting a 2x magnifying glass on your lens. The downside is you will also loose 2 stops of light. With your setup you would loose autofocus if you put one on because the T6I cannot autofocus with a lens that has a minimum aperture of F8 or more.

zombiesniper · Oct 9, 2016

Here's a good video explaining teleconverters.

Dusmith1 · Oct 9, 2016

Ok so for me at this point it would be pointless but if I had the pro L then maybe

zombiesniper · Oct 9, 2016

Yes. I think with your current setup a TC (even if you could get the camera to focus) would degrade the image enough not to be useful.

Dusmith1 · Oct 9, 2016

Yep will just learn what I have and what I can do with it for now then I was told there is a local shop that I can do layaway they will be about 75 to 100 more then what I would pay at B&H but paying on a lens as I can I will pay more

Dusmith1 · Oct 12, 2016

Dusmith1 said:
I am new to digital cameras .
I am wanting to shoot wildlife Eagles hawks.
I have a Canon T6I
2 lenses Both Image stabilizing
A EFS 18-55 macro 0.25m/0.8ft
A EFS 55-250 macro 0.85m/2.8ft
With what I have what am I missing to do this right? I would also like to shoot flowers and insects

Hi all I would like some more of your input I have run across many things talking about the 2 lenes I have so take a look and let me know what you think
Canon
THIS REVIEW COVERS

Intended Use «

» Weight and Dimensions «

» Handling and Build Quality «

PAGE 2
» Image Quality «

PAGE 3
» Sample Pictures «

» Conclusion «

» Further Information «

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Note: this lens has a predecessor - the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

The EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is a very popular lens. Both as a separate buy and in the twin kit edition together with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II that Canon ship with some of their cameras. It does make a lot of sense to combine the two because together they give you an effective focal range of 29 mm to400 mm which covers just about everything except for the ultra wide angle.

[paste:font size="5"]Intended Use
Wildlife & Sports
At 400 mm effective focal length the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II is ideal for even smaller wildlife (like birds). And if you'd like to add a little context to the image just zoom out to a minimum of 88 mm. But wildlife and sports photography also require low f-stops to achieve fast shutter speeds. The EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II offers f/4 at the wide end but only f/5.6 at the tele end which is a little slow. At least the excellent image stabilizer helps with slower shutter speeds but of course that can't prevent blur from subject movement.

Portrait
At the wide end the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II has just the right focal length for nice portrait shots. Again the aperture rating is not excellent but certainly sufficient for this purpose and the large zoom range will even allow closeups from far away.

Is there any truth to this?

zombiesniper · Oct 12, 2016

What is posted is very misleading.
On an APS-C camera your field of view would be equivalent to a 400mm lens on a full frame camera but you're magnification is still only 250mm.
There is no shortcutting magnification. Either you have it or you don't.
I know it's not what you wanted hear.

Like I said before. Shoot what you have. Learn from it then if there is something lacking, make an informed decision based on your experience.