really starting to want a 500mm lens....

[bc_steve]

$8000-9000 is a lot to spend on a lens but man would it ever be useful!!

Mountain Goats by Steve Dinicol, on Flickr

 

[wyogirl]

yeah... I'm in the market for a sugar-daddy for that reason.... lol. :mrgreen:

 

[Derrel]

500mm? For those goats? I'm thinking 800mm or longer!

 

[robbins.photo]

500mm? For those goats? I'm thinking 800mm or longer!

Well 800 mm would be great, but be sure to get a 50 mm prime with it as well. That way you can take pictures of the burro you'll need to carry it around as well.. lol

 

[bc_steve]

500mm? For those goats? I'm thinking 800mm or longer!

Well 800 mm would be great, but be sure to get a 50 mm prime with it as well. That way you can take pictures of the burro you'll need to carry it around as well.. lol

exactly, that was about half an hour down a trail with its share of hills. Not sure I'd want to pack around anything heavier.

Then again, carrying a suitcase full of money down to the camera shop would help me to get in shape for carrying around an 800mm lens!

 

[robbins.photo]

500mm? For those goats? I'm thinking 800mm or longer!

Well 800 mm would be great, but be sure to get a 50 mm prime with it as well. That way you can take pictures of the burro you'll need to carry it around as well.. lol

exactly, that was about half an hour down a trail with its share of hills. Not sure I'd want to pack around anything heavier.

Then again, carrying a suitcase full of money down to the camera shop would help me to get in shape for carrying around an 800mm lens!

Well if you don't mind a drop in image quality you can always grab yourself something like a Canon SX50 with the 1200 mm lens. Wouldn't add much weight to your camera bag and on the off chance you ran into another situation like this you could get some closer photos, though of course not nearly as good a quality as what you'd get out of a DSLR.

 

[coastalconn]

Put the 8-9k into a jeep and drive down there

 

[robbins.photo]

Put the 8-9k into a jeep and drive down there

Ok, so am I the only one here that is old enough to remember Rat Patrol? Ya, probably no need for that dated of a reference.. Lol

 

[KmH]

For daytime shooting and to get started - Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

While you use that, save up $8000 - $9000

The Sigma 800mm f/5.6 EX DG APO HSM new is $6000 - $6500.
800mm F5.6 EX APO DG HSM | Sigma

Here is a shot I made with a Sigma 150-500 mounted on a Nikon D90 and set to 500 mm and f/6.3

 

[KmH]

Put the 8-9k into a jeep and drive down there

Ok, so am I the only one here that is old enough to remember Rat Patrol? Ya, probably no need for that dated of a reference.. Lol

No. You're not the only one.
Christopher George (Sgt. Sam Troy) was the star of the show, and wore an Australian army slouch hat, though he was an American.

 

[bc_steve]

Not sure how well the 150-500mm would have worked since the light was not great. Too bad I don't know anyone around here with one I could try out. I don't even know many people with a Nikon. Those that I do know have an 18-55 and borrow from me!

At some point I think I need to pick up a couple of months of extra work up north ... then it can be mine and I can justify the huge expense.

 

[matthewo]

The 500mm p lens can be had for around $1800, if you don't mind manual focusing. Its got great iq for an old lens.

Or of course the 500mm afs ii and vr are $5200 or $6800 respectively for a good used copy

 

[astroNikon]

on the cheap side you could get a Nikon 500mm Reflex ($250 or so), or a 1,000mm Reflex
or plop it on a Reflex-like telescope @ 2,000mm is only about $400 or so.

My coffee can (Reflex 500mm) is pretty good though fully manual and ALOT cheaper than the AF-S version.

and coastalconn (?) is using a TC on his 300mm lenses

 

[amolitor]

Get closer to the goats

 

[KmH]

LOL!
No doubt.
Improving field craft is less expensive than buying glass, but may involve a larger investment of time.