My first DSLR

[LightSpeed]

Good for birding. Able to take quality pictures at long distance. Honestly I don't know much about lenses.

That is why you should not have made your incorrect comment. 200mm will work for birding if you're within 10 feet of the subject and even then you will be forced to crop , unless it's a 20 pound goose.
Birds under a pound will look like a framed turd in a punch bowl if they're not within 10 feet and preferably less than 10 feet.

 

[IanMoone]

Ok then what size lens should I have?

 

[ashtonlady]

Ok, I am someone that is coming into Digital from Film. I am getting my first DSLR for Christmas. What I was told by a good friend and photographer is find out what feels good in your hand. I looked at both Canon and Nikon, and went with Canon because the camera felt like I had a hold of it and I could reach all of the buttons easy. Go to a store and ask lots of questions, handle a lot of cameras. I am still learning about lenses so I cant help you there.

 

[gsgary]

Ok then what size lens should I have?

600mm and a 1.4x and 2x you have picked a subject that needs some of the most expensive lenses made if you want top quality i shoot sport and that is the same my top lens is a 300mmF2.8L

 

[pgriz]

Let's do a little math. Assume, that you are trying to shoot a bird that is about 3 inches high, and you want it to fill about half the frame (vertically). Let's also say that this bird is about 100 ft. away. Doing a little trig gives you an angle of about .3 degrees as seen from 100 ft. away. Using the doohicky at Angle of view of a lens, you can figure out that you need a 1400mm focal length to give you that vertical magnification. Again, assuming you are using a crop body of 1.5x, you will need a real focal length of about 930mm. If you use a 2x teleconverter, that means you need a focal length of about 470. The nearest lens that you will get in that size is probably the 500mm. Therefore, to shoot your 3" bird at 100 ft. and have it half-fill your frame (vertically), you'll need a 500mm lens, a 2x teleconverter and a crop body of 1.5x.

Now, if you can get them to come to a bird-feeder 10 ft. away from you, then a 200 mm lens will be fine.

So, how big are the birds you want to shoot, and how far away are they?

 

[sobolik]

Then how do wildlife photographers and paparazzi get such great quality images from such a long distance?

They spend a fortune in very expensive lenses and spend countless hours staking out a possible shot. The average 300mm lens is not that great.

Like: Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 APO EX Lens

$28,999.00 yes 28 - thousand

http://www.google.com/products/cata...og_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ8wIwAg#

 

[sobolik]

Would I notice the Megapixel difference between the d90 and d7000

If you crop. I take photos with a 200mm and my D90 and frequently crop out the sometimes very small sections. They still make great 4x6 prints.

The D7000 would allow me to crop smaller sections yet and still get the same quality 4x6 print.

In a round about way in the world of 4x6 prints I have a mega zoom lens equivalent at a much cheaper price than 3-30 thousand dollars for a quality long lens. (see previous post prices)

I have found over the last 30 years that long long range photos are both a pain to get and boring. I much rather get closer or forget it. But if someone wants to give it a go then explore at a cheap price with a vintage Spiratone 400mm and the proper T adapter. http://olympuszuiko.wordpress.com/2...lephoto-lenses-t-mount-spiratone-vivitar-etc/

 

[pgriz]

Some more thoughts... There are lots of 500mm lenses being offered for under $200. They are all at least f/8 in aperture, and if you use a teleconverter, then you will lose at least another stop of light. So you're shooting at f/11 at best. To avoid camera shake, you will need to be on a tripod, and have a shutter speed of at least 1/250sec. Those settings are for bright sun at ISO 100. If you're shooting your bird in the shade, you'll lose two or three stops of light. If you're in the forest, you'll lose even more. So you are now looking at using ISO 800 to get a useable image. Now you can see why the pros go for the f/4 lenses - it gives them some room to work with without having to crank up the ISO. Add image stabilization and you're at the $6-9,000 range. Quality comes at a price.

 

[IanMoone]

How do you tell how fast a lens can autofocus?

 

[sobolik]

How do you tell how fast a lens can autofocus?

By doing a web search and reading the data produced by those that have time to mess around doing it. Or buy it and find out that way.

For example:
"These lenses have magical motors built into them to focus. The main advantage is not speed, but that most of these lenses allow one to grab the focus ring and turn it even in the AF mode to get instant manual focusing, without having to mess with any switches. " "I have measured the power drain from the F100 camera to focus these lenses. They take the same power that conventional Nikon AF lenses do."
Nikkor Lens Technology

 

[Overread]

On the lens front have a look at the table in this thread here:
Juza Nature Photography Forum • View topic - Working distances for bird photography

That gives you some idea of the working distances that you need to be in order to capture photos of those birds with different focal length lenses. As you can see the longer the focal length the further away you can be from the bird. Generally speaking most bird photographers agree that "bird photography starts at 400mm".
Wildlife photography is very focal length intensive and that, sadly, makes it one of the more expensive areas of photography to get into.

Affordable long range focal length lenses are not amazingly cheap either - sigma 120-400mm (made in both nikon and canon mount versions) might be one of the cheapest 400mm capable lenses on the market otherwise you can tap into the 70-300mm lens ranges which have both budget options (Eg sigma 70-300mm APO macro) and higher, midrange priced options.

Budget is the biggest limitation and for wildlife whilst a good camera body is important I would put the bulk of your budget toward a good lens. You can all the high ISO, fast AF and such that you want in the camera body, but if you've only gota short focal length lens then you'll have to be Steve Erwin good at getting close to the wildlife to get your shots.