Help me in choosing telephoto lens

[manju100]

i am newbee here and new to photography tooo. i hope my question is not stupid.

I have nikon d90 with kit lens. i am very much interested in bird/wildlife photography and also macro photography. i want to buy good lens also balance my wallet.

the option i got

Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro 1:2 @ 200$
Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Zoom @ 400$

Also i want to know what is Magnification i have seen many photo lens of 70-300mm with magnification 1:2, 1:1, 1:4X like that...

can any one suggest which lens i should buy, will sigma help me for both telephoto/macro photography in one lens? if yes will the picture be sharp?

Do i need to consider the magnification ratio also while buying telephoto lens?

advise me, thanks in advance.

 

[KmH]

Unless you have excellent fieldcraft, 300 mm won't get you enough image scale for birds and wildlife. Of course you can crop heavily to get the image scale, but that means throwing pixels away.

You might look at Sigma's 50-500mm, or 150-500 mm lenses, though they cost more than double the cost of the lenses you have listed.

Nikon's AF-S 70-300 mm VR is one of their best current lens values.

You won't find just one lens that will do both Macro and birds/wildlife, well.

 

[MSnowy]

Unless you have excellent fieldcraft, 300 mm won't get you enough image scale for birds and wildlife. Of course you can crop heavily to get the image scale, but that means throwing pixels away.

Nikon's AF-S 70-300 mm VR is one of their best current lens values.
.

I agree. I took this with the Nikon's AF-S 70-300 mm VR on my D60, focal length 220 sign is about 4ft x 8ft at 100 yards

 

[Robin Usagani]

You do have crop sensor so that would certainly help!

 

[Derrel]

The 70-300 G with VR would be about the best tele-zoom one can buy for that amount of money.

 

[KmH]

Unless you have excellent fieldcraft, 300 mm won't get you enough image scale for birds and wildlife. Of course you can crop heavily to get the image scale, but that means throwing pixels away.

Nikon's AF-S 70-300 mm VR is one of their best current lens values.
.

I agree. I took this with the Nikon's AF-S 70-300 mm VR on my D60, focal length 220 sign is about 4ft x 8ft at 100 yards

And judging from the pixel dimensions has been cropped about 100%.

 

[manju100]

thanks Derrel,KmH for the advise

 

[djacobox372]

Asking for a zoom lens that can also do macro is like asking for a sports car that can also tow a ski-boat.

For macro, I'd suggest an older manual focus lens, either 105mm f4 ais micro nikkor, or the 105mm f2.8 ais micro nikkor. Couple one of those with a cheap extension tube and you'll get 1:1 or better.

You'll lose autofocus and metering with this setup, but that's not all that important for macro work.

 

[Neil S.]

Get this imo...

Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF Autofocus Lens 597306 - B&H

You may find it a bit heavy for a walk around lens though

The tripod you would need for this beast....OMG!!!

 

[dwa]

i am newbee here and new to photography tooo. i hope my question is not stupid.

I have nikon d90 with kit lens. i am very much interested in bird/wildlife photography and also macro photography. i want to buy good lens also balance my wallet.

the option i got

Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro 1:2 @ 200$
Nikkor AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Zoom @ 400$

Also i want to know what is Magnification i have seen many photo lens of 70-300mm with magnification 1:2, 1:1, 1:4X like that...

can any one suggest which lens i should buy, will sigma help me for both telephoto/macro photography in one lens? if yes will the picture be sharp?

Do i need to consider the magnification ratio also while buying telephoto lens?

advise me, thanks in advance.

The Nikkor will make you a decent telephoto but the Sigma will not be very good at macro or telephoto but is fine if that is all you can afford. I suggest buying a good dedicated telephoto and then perhaps add the macro lens later (or vice versa).