Telephoto lens for Nikon D7000 for use on moving boat in poor light: I am looking to buy a telephoto lens (not necessarily a zoom lens) for bird photography to use with a Nikon D7000.

James Lord

I am looking to buy a telephoto lens (not necessarily a zoom lens) for bird photography to use with a Nikon D7000. I have an old Nikkor 80-200 1:2.8 at the moment that has served me well for the last 20 years but am looking for a new (or second-hand/refurbished) lens with image stabilisation more suited to taking photos of birds from a moving boat in poor light. Ideally it should not be a great cannon of a lens but reasonably easy to swing and support. Any suggestions?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

James Lord wrote:

I am looking to buy a telephoto lens (not necessarily a zoom lens) for bird photography to use with a Nikon D7000. I have an old Nikkor 80-200 1:2.8 at the moment that has served me well for the last 20 years but am looking for a new (or second-hand/refurbished) lens with image stabilisation more suited to taking photos of birds from a moving boat in poor light. Ideally it should not be a great cannon of a lens but reasonably easy to swing and support. Any suggestions?

Very hard to beat the Nikon 200-500mm F5.6 VR lens for your purpose. $1399 new and used for about $1000 or so. GREAT stabilization!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

James Lord wrote:

I am looking to buy a telephoto lens (not necessarily a zoom lens) for bird photography to use with a Nikon D7000. I have an old Nikkor 80-200 1:2.8 at the moment that has served me well for the last 20 years but am looking for a new (or second-hand/refurbished) lens with image stabilisation more suited to taking photos of birds from a moving boat in poor light. Ideally it should not be a great cannon of a lens but reasonably easy to swing and support. Any suggestions?

Nikon 300 f4 PF...small/light/fast

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Rent a D7500 or D500. A whole lot faster than the D7000. The increased iso available will help as much as a fast lens.

James Lord

Thanks for the suggestion. Seems a pretty heavy piece of kit to swing around on a boat but maybe the stabilisation is enough to counteract that. Have you used one off-shore?

James Lord

MT Shooter wrote:

Very hard to beat the Nikon 200-500mm F5.6 VR lens for your purpose. $1399 new and used for about $1000 or so. GREAT stabilization!

Thanks for the suggestion. Seems a pretty heavy piece of kit to swing around on a boat but maybe the stabilisation is enough to counteract that. Have you used one off-shore?

James Lord

SteveR wrote:

Rent a D7500 or D500. A whole lot faster than the D7000. The increased iso available will help as much as a fast lens.

Would be nice to upgrade the camera body I admit but I really need new glass to get more reach

James Lord

imagemeister wrote:

Nikon 300 f4 PF...small/light/fast

Yes, looks perfect. Thanks

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

VR is vibration reduction and will not compensate for your boats movements. Having owned the D7000 ..16mp with AA filter ..forget it and go for a D500..buy grey if you want to save money.- As for the lens only you can say if 300mm is enough.

CO

The Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD is an excellent lens and weighs about 1100 grams. It's a little bit lighter than your current lens.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

Yes OC I have one but is 6.3 low light ? It great on the D850 ,not so hot on the D7200 .I hate to think what it would be like on the D7000.
If you do buy it forget dock its a total brain pain ...oh sh... there is no fine focus adjust on the D7000

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

James Lord wrote:

I am looking to buy a telephoto lens (not necessarily a zoom lens) for bird photography to use with a Nikon D7000. I have an old Nikkor 80-200 1:2.8 at the moment that has served me well for the last 20 years but am looking for a new (or second-hand/refurbished) lens with image stabilisation more suited to taking photos of birds from a moving boat in poor light. Ideally it should not be a great cannon of a lens but reasonably easy to swing and support. Any suggestions?

No lens can help you on a moving boat in poor light because even if you own a VR lens, you must shoot fast enough to counter the movement of the boat.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Look at Nikon's 70-300 or its 80-400. I used the 70+300 exclusively whenever I went out with the intent of finding dragon flies. As far as I'm concern, its focus was fast and it gave sharp images. Had not trouble with cloudy, over-cast days

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Look at the Tamron 18-400 easy to hold. Also use auto ISO.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

The N 80-400 is now not rated as very sharp compared to modern lenses
The T 18-400 at 400 will not be very good compared to a T100-400 or N 200-500

Read your DXO the sharpness and Field figures don't lie