Best zoom wildlife lens for Nikon D850: I shoot at 600mm 90% of the time and want more. The D850 crops well and the Sigma 150-600 contemporary has served me well but I know there are...

Reconvic Loc: clermont Fl

I shoot at 600mm 90% of the time and want more. The D850 crops well and the Sigma 150-600 contemporary has served me well but I know there are better lenses for the wildlife (birds and birds in flight)photos I take. An F4 is too cumbersome. A teleconverter with a D850? I humbly ask you what do you think is the best lens for me and my buddy the D850?

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Reconvic wrote:

I shoot at 600mm 90% of the time and want more. The D850 crops well and the Sigma 150-600 contemporary has served me well but I know there are better lenses for the wildlife (birds and birds in flight)photos I take. An F4 is too cumbersome. A teleconverter with a D850? I humbly ask you what do you think is the best lens for me and my buddy the D850?

What is your budget?

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Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR Lens

Reconvic Loc: clermont Fl

PixelStan77 wrote:

What is your budget?

(21)
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR Lens

whew!!...I didn't think that money would be an issue but 16,000 ??? nopee.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Hint...the longest focal length is never quite enough.

vandy

Yeah whoa, the price of admission on those big fast prime lenses is way over the top for me also. I have the Nikkor 200-500 and I think I am going to go with the 1.4 teleconverter and practice shooting with that before I go to Costa Rica next year. I just can not justify $12,000.00 to $16,000.00 for a big lens, wish I could but oh well.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

vandy wrote:

Yeah whoa, the price of admission on those big fast prime lenses is way over the top for me also. I have the Nikkor 200-500 and I think I am going to go with the 1.4 teleconverter and practice shooting with that before I go to Costa Rice next year. I just can not justify $12,000.00 to $16,000.00 for a big lens, wish I could but oh well.

I went with the 1.4 and it's not bad, but in my quest for more clarity, I rarely use it unless it's for bigger wildlife. Same goes for the 150-600 G2.

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

forget the rest get the best 200-500 Nikon
Done the Tamron and sigma just do the job right

Bill_de Loc: US

PixelStan77 wrote:

What is your budget?

(21)
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR Lens

The 800, even with a 1.25 teleconverter does a nice job. But the field of view is so narrow I find it almost impossible to track birds in flight. I'm pretty bad to start with doing that.

I think Gene opted for a Sigma Sport over his Nikon 600. Hopefully he will post here.

https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-586240-1.html

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chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Reconvic wrote:

I shoot at 600mm 90% of the time and want more. The D850 crops well and the Sigma 150-600 contemporary has served me well but I know there are better lenses for the wildlife (birds and birds in flight)photos I take. An F4 is too cumbersome. A teleconverter with a D850? I humbly ask you what do you think is the best lens for me and my buddy the D850?

The choices in the 600+ range are pretty limited, unless you spend five figures for a prime or prime +TC OR less than that with a teleconverter and the 200-500, Sigma/Tamron 150-600 Sport/G2, or the 500mm PF prime + TC (which was not highly rated for IQ but is "reasonable" for a prime). You have to balance cost/weight/IQ/ maximum F-stop....really no way around that.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Reconvic wrote:

I shoot at 600mm 90% of the time and want more. The D850 crops well and the Sigma 150-600 contemporary has served me well but I know there are better lenses for the wildlife (birds and birds in flight)photos I take. An F4 is too cumbersome. A teleconverter with a D850? I humbly ask you what do you think is the best lens for me and my buddy the D850?

If I had an 850 - for longer range, I would look at the 500 pf with 1.4 TC - especially in good light. If you MUST have a zoom, the Sigma 150-600 S or the Tammy G2. I would not like a 1.4 TC with a 6.3 lens for the AF impediment. With either of these zooms, maximize your IQ and crop your way past 600 and use well applied pixel enlargement software for larger printings.

I just went with a Sony A99. I got a 300 2.8 with 1.4X TC - that's 420mm f4. From there I use 1.1-2X Clear Image Zoom to get me to 840mm f4 - but I try to keep the CIZ to a max of 1.7X = 714mm. So, actually I have a 420-840 f4 zoom with a relatively small/light 300 2.8.
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Reconvic Loc: clermont Fl

imagemeister wrote:

If I had an 850 - for longer range, I would look a... (show quote)

thank you ...you answered my question perfectly...which of the 2 zooms would you prefer if you were primarily shooting 600?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Reconvic wrote:

thank you ...you answered my question perfectly...which of the 2 zooms would you prefer if you were primarily shooting 600?

Tamron for the lighter weight - I have used 6+ lb. lenses, they are no fun.
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Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

Have a Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 G2, and after tuning, I am getting good results with it, but like the Op, I keep wondering if there is a sharper lens out there for birding that I can afford. After a lot of research I have found the only thing I might be able to afford that is really better than the G2 is the Sigma 500mm f4 for $6000 new. It's 100mm less reach, but if you use a 1.4x teleconverter you can get out to 700mm at f5.6, which will still let AF work on both my D850 and D500, which claims f8 AF ability. I'm trying to figure out how to justify it, then afford it. Also wondering if a better lens will do it or maybe I should look into a wildlife workshop.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Strodav wrote:

Have a Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 G2, and after tunin... (show quote)

All these "affordable" big zoom lenses are optically within a nat's hair of each other - YOUR management and shooting technique is a much larger factor in your results ! IMO, the focus abilities are the second largest factor especially if you are tracking moving subjects.
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Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

imagemeister wrote:

All these "affordable" big zoom lenses are optically within a nat's hair of each other - YOUR management and shooting technique is a much larger factor in your results ! IMO, the focus abilities are the second largest factor especially if you are tracking moving subjects.
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Agree shooting technique is a large factor in keep rate, but I have seen the resolution chart comparisons of the Tamron G2, Sigma Sport and Sigma 500mm f4 all taken at 500mm, same distance, f stop, ... . The 500mm f4 prime is noticeably sharper than both the G2 and Sport. Not surprising as well built primes are known to be sharper than zooms. I am assuming it will translate to sharper images if I do my thing and the f4 aperture should allow me to separate my subject from the background better than my f5-f6.3 lens. As far as focus goes, the D850 and D500 are lauded for their advanced AF capability. That's one of the reasons pros like Steve Perry use them.

I guess I'm struggling with what is sharp. For example, are these sharp images? Could the 500mm made them better? Maybe the OP is struggling with the same questions and a new lens may not be the answer to improving our images.

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