Lense Selection: I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking...

Moondoggie Loc: Southern California

I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking picture of the animals in their natural habitat? I would appreciate any suggestions. I would be willing to spend up to about $1400 for a new telephoto lense. Thanks for your suggestions.

Tigers Nest in Bhutan
Tigers Nest in Bhutan...

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Moondoggie wrote:

I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking picture of the animals in their natural habitat? I would appreciate any suggestions. I would be willing to spend up to about $1400 for a new telephoto lense. Thanks for your suggestions.

Sigma has a small/light 100-400 out now and Tamron has one coming out soon - about $800. If you do not mind large size/weight and cost, the Nikon 200-500 would be the ultimate for you.

northsidejoe Loc: pittsburgh

Moondoggie wrote:

I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking picture of the animals in their natural habitat? I would appreciate any suggestions. I would be willing to spend up to about $1400 for a new telephoto lense. Thanks for your suggestions.

Hello and welcome to the forum saying hello from Pittsburgh nice photo thanks for sharing.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Moondoggie wrote:

I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking picture of the animals in their natural habitat? I would appreciate any suggestions. I would be willing to spend up to about $1400 for a new telephoto lense. Thanks for your suggestions.

Tamron and Sigma each have new 100-400mm lenses.
https://www.google.com/search?q=tamron+100-400mm+vs+sigma+100-400mm&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US717&oq=tamron+100-400mm+vs+sigma+100-400mm&aqs=chrome..69i57.13511j1j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

You can also go the 150-600mm route.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=15236
http://www.kruger-2-kalahari.com/tamron-vs-sigma-150-600.html
http://photo.net/equipment/150-600_lenses
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/articles/tamron-vs-sigma-150-600mm-the-7-key-differences-48183
https://photographylife.com/nikon-200-500mm-vs-tamron-150-600mm-vs-sigma-150-600mm-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLXocpM5xno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_msTFAmwWY

RonM12 Loc: Washington State

Nikon 200-500 f/5.6, have this myself, it’s in, just barely, your price range. The only downside is the weight. You won’t be disappointed with the image quality.

3dees

depends on how much weight your willing to carry. a 200-500 or 150-600 would be awesome, but they are big and heavy. with todays cameras you can crop so I would go with the Sigma or Tamron 100-400.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Moondoggie wrote:

I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking picture of the animals in their natural habitat? I would appreciate any suggestions. I would be willing to spend up to about $1400 for a new telephoto lense. Thanks for your suggestions.

I would take a Tamron 150-600 G2 and a fillable bean bag. You will have plenty of light in Africa so f6.3 will not be an issue. It will provide a good range to cover most situations and will compliment the 18-140. Away from camp most shooting will be from a vehicle.

Its light enough to hand hold for short periods and priced below your max limit.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

The unanimous advice here is you will NOT change lenses in the field. Some site dust. I note that in absence of a clean stationary surface it requires more than the normal two hands to change lenses rapidly. The animals will likely be much closer than you think. With the cropped sensor the 100-400 would be long enough and you will wish for a shorter focal length. It has been a while but I was very happy with an 18-200 on a D70s and 70-200 w/ 1.7 extender (98-340 equivalent) on a D300s. Also there were three photographers, myself, daughter, and son in law. So there was a lot of camera passing around and one was lucky enough to just look at the wonders. Sometimes keeping a log bc there is a lot to remember. I might suggest a bridge camera for the short end and the 100-400. Since a lot happens in the twilight zone at dawn and dusk a wide aperture lens would be nice but way over budget.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Moondoggie wrote:

I'm planning a three week trip to Africa in the late spring of 2018. I currently have a Nikon D5300 with an 18-140mm lense. What lense would be recommend for taking picture of the animals in their natural habitat? I would appreciate any suggestions. I would be willing to spend up to about $1400 for a new telephoto lense. Thanks for your suggestions.

I believe you will really like the Nikon 200-500 f5.6, it gets better reviews than third party glass. And it is in your price range. I bought mine and sold my 300 2.8 and 200-400 4 cause the 200-500 is that good.

whwiden

joer wrote:

I would take a Tamron 150-600 G2 and a fillable bean bag. You will have plenty of light in Africa so f6.3 will not be an issue. It will provide a good range to cover most situations and will compliment the 18-140. Away from camp most shooting will be from a vehicle.

Its light enough to hand hold for short periods and priced below your max limit.

I used that lens in Africa and can recommend it.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

check with adorama, b&h, and heh, one of them may have a long range lens at a better price.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

check with adorama, b&h, and heh, one of them may have a long range lens at a better price.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

Depending on your GAS capacity, you might consider renting unless wildlife is something you photograph regularly. I'd advise against a monster lens, you'll hate the weight, you won't be very mobile and hand holding will be a problem. Go with the Tamron, imho.