Wildlife lens help for Nikon.

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Hi,

I'm currently travelling full time at the moment around Europe in a campervan and am working on a lot of photography using a Nikon d810 with sigma 24-105 lens. Its perfect for landscapes and general travel work, but for wildlife such as birds, its just not working.

I had a great shot yesterday from a cliff face in Scotland of a seal fighting with seagulls over a fish. They looked like dots in the photo, very frustrating.

I can't really afford a really expensive set up such as a Nikon 500mm especially if i were to also think of purchasing a d500 body specifically for wildlife shooting, but have had suggested a Nikon 300mm f4 and use it with a TC 1.4x.

There is also the new Nikon 200-500mm which seems to be getting good reviews and could be a little more versatile, which again I could use with a TC.

Initially, i would use the lens with the d810, but i envisage getting something like the d500 specifically for wildlife at some point in the future.

Any suggestions very much appreciated, i'm not sure which way to go with it.
 
Hi,

I'm currently travelling full time at the moment around Europe in a campervan and am working on a lot of photography using a Nikon d810 with sigma 24-105 lens. Its perfect for landscapes and general travel work, but for wildlife such as birds, its just not working.

I had a great shot yesterday from a cliff face in Scotland of a seal fighting with seagulls over a fish. They looked like dots in the photo, very frustrating.

I can't really afford a really expensive set up such as a Nikon 500mm especially if i were to also think of purchasing a d500 body specifically for wildlife shooting, but have had suggested a Nikon 300mm f4 and use it with a TC 1.4x.

There is also the new Nikon 200-500mm which seems to be getting good reviews and could be a little more versatile, which again I could use with a TC.

Initially, i would use the lens with the d810, but i envisage getting something like the d500 specifically for wildlife at some point in the future.

Any suggestions very much appreciated, i'm not sure which way to go with it.

Using DX format camera won't fix anything for you. You can do exactly the same thing by cropping your full frame image in post process. Perhaps you can pick up one of the many long zooms. There are several that go out to 400 or 500mm. They are slow but will perform well with the right technique.
 
For wildlife a lot of folks seem to like both the Tamron 150-600mm and the Sigma 150-600mm offerings. Both seem to have excellent reviews.

The purchase of a D500 might not be a bad investment depending on how much wildlife you'll be shooting. It's high frame rate of 10 frames per second could be a huge advantage in this regard, not to mention it's top of the line AF system.
 
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I have the 200-500mm. It's a solid lens, and at brand new prices can't be beat for the price. It's not the absolute sharpest lens, and I despise the zoom ring, but it's light and reaches really far. AF is fantastic. Works with all TCs, and there are a bunch of options when you consider the variables there, especially when considering DX and FX. Can you stand using a prime lens at that length? If you need zoom, go with either the Nikon 200-500mm or the Sigma 150-600 Sports. The Sigma is sharper, overall a better lens, but also more expensive and heavier. I'd take the Nikon over the regular Sigma 150-600 Contemporary and the Tamron lens too. IMO, lens quality is truly inline with price here.

A D810 is a bit tougher to use as sports or wildlife, frame rate isn't great, and your technique needs to be especially good. Make sure you factor in a monopod in all this, you'll need it.

FWIW, I shoot with a D7200, and it's great. You don't necessarily need a D500 to shoot wildlife. Extra frame rate helps, but a lot of tests are showing the D7200 on par or above in terms of DR and overall image quality. I can't say for sure, I haven't gotten my hands on a D500. Anyway, all I'm saying is you could always just pick up a D7200, which is much cheaper, and then grab a Sigma 150-600 Sports and have a nice setup with a lot of reach and flexibility. That's what I'd do. They were even including a 1.4x TC for free for a while with that lens, not sure if they still are. If you want primes, the 300mm PF is pretty much it unless you look at older or used lenses.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll investigate a bit more, and try out some lenses before committing .


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