Can I even afford a wildlife lens

You've gotten some good advice here.

I would just add keeping a close watch on Craigslist in your area. I've had very good experiences and found some amazing bargains. And keep on the lookout for estate sales in your area as well, there's a good chance the sellers may not know full values.

You can always save money by going with a third-party lens. I have a Tamron 300/f2.8 and a 2x tele-converter that I found on Craigslist and works great.

My experience with eBay is mixed. I bought my Nikon 70-200/f2.8 and it went very well. When I bought a used D3, the seller lied about the shutter count.

 

I purchased a used Tamron fast standard zoom lens with VR earlier this year from mpb.com via ebay and ran into compatibility issue with my 6D mk2 (known issue with the early batch after searching online) after using it for couple month. Since the lens came with 6 months warranty, so mpb gave me full refund with prepaid shipping to send the lens back.

With that experience, I will buy stuff from mpb again. (which I did, just got a Sigma f/2 full frame zoom lens from them about a month ago)

 

I've looked at the lens rental route and found it equally expensive. IE just checked a site, a Canon 600mm f/4 IS II, rents for $494 for 8 days plus shipping both ways. Found a used one online at $3900. So the rental is going to cost you roughly 15% (or more depending on what you find to buy). Buying a good quality lens new/used will have residual value if you decide to sell it. Plus with a rental you have limited time to use it - What if it's raining the whole 8 days? Not saying rental is out the picture, just saying you need to consider your costs carefully.

 

KEH, adorama, B&H, mbp -- there's a ton of reputable used photo equipment sites out there.

I haven't found KEH to ever have what I'm looking for, for a realistic price. I've had tons of good luck with adorama used stuffs.

 

Thanks guys. I am wondering if my main lens is a not so great one should I be getting a better shorter lens like a 18-135mm or something instead of buying a super telephoto. Because without my neighbors lens I really got nothing besides my 18-55mm. I don't know, what would you do if all you had was a kit lens.

 

A good, short lens will not help with nature photography unless its big, wide landscape shots that you want.

There are pretty much three options with nature photography:
Pay for reach
Improve sneaking skills and get closer
Accept what you have

But if you well and truly believe that the equipment is holding you back, bust the lock off the wallet.

 

My experience has been to go large on the lens.
I understand and suffer from the disease myself.. you know lackofundsitus.

But if you can pull it together, I would suggest something along the lines of the 35-350 or 28-300 USM. they are LARGE and heavy lenses, but they will shoot wildlife on an amazing level.

 

Thanks I will look into that.

 

Thanks.

 

I've bought probably at least half my gear from Ebay, and haven't had a bad experience yet. Just use reputable sellers. 99-100% positive feedback, at least 1000+ ratings is usually pretty trustworthy.

I bought the Tamron 150-600 G2 lens for wildlife, and although I haven't gotten to use it much yet, I could tell from my limited tests that it's really gonna step my game up!

 

99-100% positive feedback, at least 1000+ ratings is usually pretty trustworthy.


A seller like that would be _exceptionally good_, IMO.

Ken Rockwell has an article about,"how to win at eBay". I have not read it, but have seen him refer to it multiple times for probably close to 10 years.

I have bought probably 25 times from eBay, and have sold a few items(lenses mainly) from $300 to $2,000 on eBay