wildlife- which camera and lens?

jimmerjamma · Jun 4, 2015

I currently have a nikon d700 and I am using a nikkor af-s vr 70-200mm 2.8g lens. I want to upgrade the quality of my photos though. First I am not getting close enough to my subjects with this lens, and second, when I crop the photo a bit in Aperature, my photos are too blurry for my liking. I want to get full framed shots with high definition and get up close and personal. I was looking at getting the TC 20 E III which would give me 140-400mm zoom on my lens but I am thinking my image quality still wouldn't be as crisp and I would lose two stops of light. Do I need a new camera body or a better lens? I am staying in Alaska for a month and I want to get the best photos i can possibly get. I've been looking at the d800 because I read I can get amazing detail, and it isn't horribly expensive, but maybe it isn't the best camera for shooting moving subjects? My budget is around $3,000.00+/- to improve this.

I really need help!

jaomul · Jun 4, 2015

You have a great camera and great lens. Its hard to suggest definetively here but in your shoes i'd rent a few telephoto lenses and see how they go.

Are your shots blurry because you are cropping in to far or missed focus. Better wildlife guys/girls will probably chime in later but its good to try before yoy buy

BillM · Jun 4, 2015

With that budget you could get a D7200 and a Tamron or Sigma 150-600.

raventepes · Jun 4, 2015

I agree with Bill completely. You could even buy the D7100 and save some money. Honestly, (I own and use a D7100) the upgrades in the D7200 weren't worth me upgrading.

jimmerjamma · Jun 4, 2015

jaomul said:
You have a great camera and great lens. Its hard to suggest definetively here but in your shoes i'd rent a few telephoto lenses and see how they go.

Are your shots blurry because you are cropping in to far or missed focus. Better wildlife guys/girls will probably chime in later but its good to try before yoy buy

My shots are blurry because I had to crop in too far :/

jimmerjamma · Jun 4, 2015

If I went with the Nikon d7200+tamron 150-600mm route, If I still needed to crop the images a bit, would I still have enough resolution to do 24x36 prints if I needed? I wish I were more techy to understand all this!

KmH · Jun 4, 2015

The TC 20 E III will make your photos look worse.
Sharpness has a lot to do with photographer skill too.

You need 'reach' (magnfication) which comes with longer focal lengths, and you probably will want to use a portable blind.

Serious wildlife photographers often use f/4 600 mm prime lenses that cost about $10,000.
Nikon 600mm f/4.0G ED VR II AF-S SWM Super Telephoto Lens for Nikon FX and DX Format Digital SLR

Serious wildlife photographers also work on their field craft and use blinds so they can get as close as possible to their subjects.
Tamron and Sigma make slower, much less expensive zoom lenses that can zoom out to 500 or 600 mm.

With the release of the Tamron 150-600 mm the Sigma 150-500 mm has come down in price by about $350.
Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras
Tamron AFA011N700 SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD Zoom Lens for Nikon(Full-Frame) Cameras

Here is a photo I made using the Sigma 150-500 mm lens @500 mm and f/6.3, mounted on a Nikon D90.

Dave442 · Jun 4, 2015

My sister still uses her D700 and for your budget I would recommend glass first. If you have the newer VRII version it is supposed to give slightly better results with the TC, and one of the cheaper ways to get to 400mm.

But the other two options I would look based on your budget at are the new 300mm f/4 PF (and TC, that you could also use with the 70-200) or the Sigma 150-600 Sport. The TC14 is supposed to work very well with the 300mm f/4, of course if you put the TC20 on then you are at f/8 and the D700 is going to have trouble with autofocus.

I have also seen some good results from the new version of the 80-400mm mounted on the D800, but more for BIF in controlled conditions. But as you have the 70-200 the 80-400 would not be my first recomendation.

How much are you cropping in now, will 400mm or even 600mm be enough so you no longer have to crop?

jimmerjamma · Jun 4, 2015

Thank you for the feedback! I am having to crop quite a bit and I am losing a lot of my quality. I really like this photo but I lost a lot of pixels on the crop. Would it be wise to invest in a lens first? I don't necessarily mind having another camera body.

This photo was shot at ISO 400 f/3.5 1/400 200mm

Microbois · Jun 4, 2015

How about a Nikon D750 with the Sigma 150-600m?

Didereaux · Jun 6, 2015

For wildlife (not in some dam zoo)...Whatever camera(preferably a crop) you can afford and the Sigma 150-600mm. Tested the lens on R/C planes to see how it would perform against flying birds and such.

Canon 7D slow continuous AWB F/9 ISO 320 1/4000 sunny 335mm(500mm equiv). Handheld fast moving object.

The following shots(first 3) are straight out of the camera RAW converted to jpg in LR5 (reduced in JpegMini) NO adj were made to the pics.

Using Back button focus and AI servo mode, partial metering slow continuous shutter rate.

I am pleased with this first outing. This plane was flying much faster than the average bird, the AI servo focus stayed on with errors only when I let the subject get to far away from center. Was quite impressed with both focus speed and IS of this lens.

Some examples the last 2 are lens, sharpness, and exp corrected using LR5. This lens definitely plays on the same field as my Canon L series 100-400mm

the planes are at full speed (the 1st is at 165mm(~250mm) the other sooc are at 335mm(~500mm)

the following are cropped and adj

the 'pilot'...

jimmerjamma · Jun 27, 2015

Well I went with the tamron 150-600mm and stuck with my d700 at first but after a few outings I saw how much I would benefit with more resolution. I went ahead and got a Nikon D750 and I am very very happy with it. It is still taking some getting use to but I am enjoying learning the new buttons and playing with the video. I tell you what, sometimes it's nice to just upgrade and enjoy new things. I happy that I am able to get nice crops if need be and still have plenty of pixels! I bought a 1.4x Tele convertor too for the extra reach when I need it.