67skylark27 Loc: Fort Atkinson, WI

I get great results on my D7200 with a Tamron G2 150-600. I also have the
1.4x teleconverter but mainly use it in really bright sun only and not for really
fast action. If given the time I will shoot my subject with both, and pretty
much like the quality without the tele. Getting closer is the best option!!!

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abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

This is why I recommend the 150-600. I have the Sigma C but between any of the current Sigma or Tamron production, you cannot go wrong. Thanks for posting.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

The issue will be the number and sensitivity of pixels on the subject. Given your test, I would expect it to be a wash. However, your test was also not very useful for BIF. The subject was stationary and a set distance. BIF is more about focus acquisition while filing the frame and shutter speed. You are not going to find out about that shooting a street lamp.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

True. Another factor is how steady your hand is. If it is not, use a tripod.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I have the Nikon 200-500 and it's great for wildlife. I use a sidekick on my bullhead and a sturdy tripod or can hand-hold it. A tripod works well for the larger birds that fly slower, while the smaller birds may require hand holding as you follow the bird. Also, if you can find one, the new Nikon PF 500mm lens is wonderful. Much lighter than the other high-end fixed lenses and very easy to hand hold. It all depends on what you want for your images.

Reconvic Loc: clermont Fl

The D850 is the D500 and a D850. The 850 crops at 20 mps which is the same as the D500. There is NO advantage using the D850 in crop mode, just the opposite. When you put it in crop mode you are narrowing you DOF (more difficult to shoot BIF) and very often I get the opportunity when shooting birds to not crop and take advantage of the whole banana (45 megapixels). In crop mode the D850 GIVES YOU NO EXTRA REACH! You do the same thing in PP that is narrowing your depth of field and cropping comes in at 20 mps. I've had the Sigma 600C, rented the nikkor 500, and now have upgraded to the Tamron 600 G2. The Tammy gets consistently sharper images than the others but some will disagree. Most have never shot birds/BIFs. (you're sure as heck aren't going to be using a tripod unless you're at the bird feeder)

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Not at all true. I have shot thousands of BIF's, most on a tripod. The question is what birds. Tripods are great for raptors. Otherwise, leave the tripod at home.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

If money is no object, the 600mmF4 FL is the way to go. You are not going to find a sharper lens.

If you are looking for value, look no further than the Sigma 150-600 S or the Tamron 150-600 G2 - these are built quite well, have weather sealing, and cost $1800 and $1200 respectively.

You can get a 200-500 Nikkor, which is still a very good lens, but if you want longer than 500mm, you'd have to use a 1.4xTC and there goes the image quality and the reason you purchased a D850.

I had an older 600mmF4 which was my main lens for shooting birds. It was heavy, which meant the tripod and head was a constant companion. I started using a Sigma Sport in 2017 and found it every bit as sharp as my 600mmF4, a little more than half the weight, which meant I could use it hand-held, and much easier to grab and go with. When shooting it is attached to my Black Rapid sling strap by it's tripod socket.

FWIW, I borrowed the 200-500 from NPS, and found it sharp and crisp, but I found the Sigma to be closer in quality to my 600mmF4 than the Nikkor, and I enjoyed the extra 100mm. The fact the Nikkor is not sealed against the envirnment was a non-starter for me. It is not unusual for me to go out in light drizzle, to the seashore for shore birds, and other environments that are inhospitable to an unsealed lens.

I've since shot a bit with a friend's Tamron G2 and found it every bit as good as the Sigma and virtually indistinguishable from shots taken with the 600mm F4.

This was taken this past August with the Sigma Sport at 600mm, F7.1 1/800 sec, NIkon D810.

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WDCash Loc: Milford, Delaware, USA

Nice image and thanks for the thoughts re the 150 -600s.
Just curious how far out this bird was? I find it amost common fot bif imagea to be over 100 sand sometimes 200+' out. The same.often applies to other birda that are not flying.
Going to 600 is very attractive to me vs my older sigma 400.

hobbit123 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

Many thanks for answering the question. That's exactly what I suspected.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

However the DX, APS-C to us Canonistas will often put more pixels on the subject resulting in finer detail. At least if you get close enough that the subject fills the frame. My short birding lenses is a 100-400L (often with 1.4x) and my long one is the Tamron 150-600 G2. I can't afford a "real" long/fast lens that will use the 2.0x converter. I would love one of those extra long, fast L lenses.

With birds there is no such thing as too long a lenses, unless at feeders or a blind where you can get close.

On the other hand most of my birds are small, finches, sparrows, jays, mockers, towhees, hummers etc. When I go to the nearby park with the man made river, rapids, ponds etc for water birds I can some times get by with a 300.

hobbit123 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

I'm using the Vivid profile. I checked the sharpening settings in the camera and it was set to +4. Does that indicate the previous owner has bumped it up or is that a characteristic of the Vivid profile. In other words, in a brand new camera, is the sharpening setting set to four or is it set to zero? I could ask the same question of any of the other settings(Contrast, Brightness, Saturation, Hue (which in my camera are all set to zero)

bleirer

I don't shoot Nikon, but saw this in your online manual, scroll to the part that shows how to set the picture controls back to default. Looks like you push the trash icon then OK: https://onlinemanual.nikonimglib.com/d850/en/18_menu_guide_03_15.html

hobbit123 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

Many thanks, that should have been obvious but it wasn't I've now reset it to default.