Bajillionith Lens Questions (Bird Related)

[pedalpics]

There is just so much info out there its hard sorting thru everything so I thought I would pile it on more. Really want to get a new lens for bird photography since that is one of my favorite things to do. Right now I am shooting with my starter lens Nikon 55-300 and dont totally hate it but think I could do better. Dont have a huge budget and so dont want to just kinda upgrade from the 55-300 if the gains aren't enough to warrant the price. Dont think I really need more then 400mm have been pretty happy shooting with the 300 so far.

Have a D7100
Budget is about $1500.

Have been watching some Tokina 300mm f/2.8 go on ebay for around $1500 little nervous about buying a lens on ebay but I really love the other Tokina lens's I have.

Also was looking at Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 not super excited about what I read about this one either.

Nikon 300mm f/4 is high on the list but doesn't have VR and dont know if I should just keep holding my breath hoping they release a new one in this decade. Tend to lean towards this but it just seems old and outdated.

Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6 just worried that it wont be huge improvements over my current lens.


Plus I am probably missing more to do research on.


Borrowed a Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 but was not super happy with the shots.
The older Nikon 80-400 is around my budget but sounds like the focusing is pretty slow and might not be a great bird lens. The new version seems like a very good lens just on the pricey side for me.
Maybe I should wait and see if a new 300f/4 comes out before I can afford to buy the new 80-400 Nikon?

Thanks
[h=1][/h]

 

[SCraig]

Tamron 100-600 (not yet available for Nikon)
Sigma 150-500 (I have one and it works very well)
Sigma 55-500 (haven't used it but have heard good reports)

 

[sm4him]

You may have just gotten your hands on a not-sharp copy of that Sigma 150-500 lens. I use it almost exclusively for my bird shots, as does SCraig here on the forum, and mine does quite nicely. You're welcome to look at my flickr feed--all the bird photos you see there (within the last year anyway) are with that lens.

That said, if I were buying the lens RIGHT NOW, and had $1500, I might be tempted to wait just a few more weeks and see if they finally release the Tamron 150-600 lens in the Nikon mount.

Otherwise, out of the choices you've mentioned, I'd probably go with the Tokina 300 f/2.8, but I really don't know much about it in terms of quality of that particular lens. I just know if I were going to use a 300mm lens on birds, I'd want it to be the fastest 300mm lens possible.
I would NOT get the 28-300 unless birds are only a small part of what you plan to shoot with it. Even with my 150-500, I'd say 90% of the time, I'm between 400-500mm. And at least half the time…that's not enough.

EDIT: AAANNNDD, Scott beat me to it. Well, now you can see some of HIS pics with the Sigma as well. The Sigma does take some experimenting with to get to where you can use it to its best, but it's a great lens for the price.

And yeah, that Sigma 50-500 is a good choice too.

 

[480sparky]

.....Sigma 55-500 (haven't used it but have heard good reports)

Little first-hand experience with this, but a friend has one and swears by it.

 

[baturn]

Another recommendation from a happy Sigma 150 - 500 owner.

 

[SCraig]

... Borrowed a Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 but was not super happy with the shots.

Personally I'd never consider anything shorter than 500mm for birds. You have to keep in mind that you're shooting with a high-resolution camera that will NOT tolerate any mistakes on your part. You MUST do your part or you won't get good results with a long lens.

I noticed when I went from a D90 (12mp) to a D7000 (16mp) that some of the sloppiness I had developed with the D90 equated to lack of sharpness on the D7000. I worked on my technique some and sure enough the sharpness came back again. When I went from a D7000 (16mp) to a D7100 (24mp), sure enough the lack of sharpness was there again. I worked on my technique once again and the sharpness came back once again. Lesson learned: High resolution is perfectly capable of recording the slightest imperfection in a lens or technique.

Most of the Sigma 150-500 lenses are excellent lens however Sigma's quality control can be hit or miss. I've seen too many experienced people report problems with them to completely chalk it up to user error. Sigma's support is pretty good from what I've heard and if you have problems they will probably take care of it.

Mine works perfectly and I'm happy as I can be with it. It doesn't like dim light, such as cloudy days, but when there is abundant sunlight and I can get down to about f/8 it works like a charm. From one end of the zoom range to the other it does everything I want. I might consider the Tamron 100-600 later this year for the slightly longer reach, but I'll have to read some reviews on it first.

Little first-hand experience with this, but a friend has one and swears by it.

I'd agree with that. I haven't used one myself, as I mentioned, nor do I have a friend who has one, but I have seen a lot of shots here from experienced people who have had nothing but praise for it.

 

[pedalpics]

Thanks guys. Gonna have to look into the Sigma some more and that Tamron. Looking all all you pics being over 300mm sure does seem nice.

 

[TheLost]

Check out some of the early reviews on the Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD.. For $1k it sure looks like a winner.

Myself and a few others have it on pre-order... Once they start shipping im sure we'll have some better (um.. Nikon version) reviews

 

[pedalpics]

Yeah have been reading a bunch about the Tamron today and its got me a little excited.

 

[JacaRanda]

Check out some of the early reviews on the Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD.. For $1k it sure looks like a winner.

Myself and a few others have it on pre-order... Once they start shipping im sure we'll have some better (um.. Nikon version) reviews

Ah yes. You Nikonians will be able to take advantage of the high iso low noise! Cranking the iso up on my 60D can at times really really suck.