Which lens combination to use for bird photography
Oct 29, 2019 04:21:56 #
hobbit123
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
I have a D850 and would like opinions on what combination of lens/teleconverter/image area I should use to get the best result. My longest lens is a Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8. Today I took some test shots of a street lamp outside the house, first with the lens only @ 200mm using the FX image area. Then I shot the same scene using the DX crop image area. And finally I shot it again using DX crop and a TC-200 teleconverter. I cropped the resultant images so that the lamp was the same size and was surprised that I couldn't pick between any of the images. Or is that what I should have expected? Should I have shot using the FX image area and the teleconverter to improve things?
Oct 29, 2019 05:51:38 #
For birding you need reach. Try shooting the streetlight way way down the street to see what you like best. Then get a longer lens 😊
Oct 29, 2019 05:53:29 #
hobbit123
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
MrBumps2U wrote:
For birding you need reach. Try shooting the streetlight way way down the street to see what you like best. Then get a longer lens 😊
Thanks. That's really helpful
Oct 29, 2019 05:58:17 #
hobbit123
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
Reach is good but even the 200mm produces acceptable results (IMHO)...
Oct 29, 2019 06:11:41 #
Oct 29, 2019 06:12:30 #
hobbit123
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
35B wrote:
dx crop and TC-200 teleconverter? Who makes a 200 teleconverter?
Nikon
Oct 29, 2019 06:21:20 #
I have the Nikon 1.4x with the Nikkor 80-400 mm lens, on my D7100. This produces acceptable results, with patience and practice. Good luck - Strix.
Oct 29, 2019 06:25:21 #
...the results are what you should expect from the camera...not only is it a great FX camera it is a great DX camera too...it’s the D850 and the D500 all in one camera...in the future people will speak fondly of the D850 as one of Nikons best...!
Oct 29, 2019 06:26:21 #
hobbit123
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
Strix wrote:
I have the Nikon 1.4x with the Nikkor 80-400 mm lens, on my D7100. This produces acceptable results, with patience and practice. Good luck - Strix.
Thanks for the reply. I'm not really questioning whether the converter works, it's more about whether I should be using DX or FX mode on the D850 and whether that makes any difference at all to the quality of the image. In my simplistic view they should both be exactly the same. So in fact I don't understand what the perceived benefit is of a DX image mode...
Oct 29, 2019 06:56:34 #
when reach is the issue, I use a 200mm or a 80-200mm fx lens with a 2xtc on a dx body.sometimes I pull out the 500mm af mirror fx lens.works really well for me.
Oct 29, 2019 07:36:08 #
Oct 29, 2019 07:59:32 #
hobbit123
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
mborn wrote:
Nikon. 200-500 great lens for bird photography
I’m sure it is but I don’t have one ...
Oct 29, 2019 08:01:01 #
The Nikon 200-500 is likely the best bang for the buck and is currently on sale. Quicker to focus than my 150-600 G2 and works quite well on the D500/D850. The 70-200, even with TC is not long enough to suit me.
Oct 29, 2019 08:07:31 #
hobbit123 wrote:
Reach is good but even the 200mm produces acceptable results (IMHO)...
Do you see the outlining around the bird? Probably over-sharpening. The body is not the issue you here; the lens is. Based upon my experience and disappointments, I recommend having at least the 150-600 for birds in the wild. Almost all my birds are at greater than 400. Sure, you could stick with the shorter lens, with or without the converter, but excessive cropping will eventually catch up with you.
Oct 29, 2019 08:38:53 #
Using crop mode in camera is the same as cropping in post. It doesn't give you any extra reach. The same lens at the same focal length projects the same size image circle no matter which mode, you are just capturing less of it and saving fewer overall pixels.
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