Hi we recently had a large bush fire just north of my home town of Orbost in Victoria Australia, it was 590k or 370miles in its perimeter, these photos where taken a couple of weeks after the fires where eliminated, and the rd re-opened, however all side rds, and tracks are still closed, and will be for some considerable time. these photos where taken this morning 3/4/14. while we where having some glorious RAIN, and don't we need it,
fortunately there was minimum property damage, and also no fatalities , except for the poor wild life who always suffer during times like these,

after the bush fire, all side rds closed

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another view

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rest area re opened

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another view


burnt to a cinder, well almost


Mother Nature fightd back

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and again


Beauty out of the Ashes

Thanks for your posative reply, all replies i have recieved have been good, and from peoples who are using the lens at this moment, The Hog is realy good for advice, love the site, cheers Colin

Thanks for your reply, I have had quite a few replies to my question, and all have been very positive, sounds like a good lens, maybe not the best, but one that is in my price bracket, and a big improvement to my 55x250 canon kit lens, cheers Colin,

Happy Sailor, well there isn't much wrong with that photo, I would be chuffed if it was mine, thanks for your input, I think I would enjoy having the extra reach more than anything, as out here you can not always get that close to your subject, and to also have a quicker A/F would really help, Cheers Colin,

Thanks for your reply, I thought it would be faster, but was not sure, and thanks for the tip to buy from Sigma and to send them my camera so as they can Tune it in with the lens, would not have thought of that, Colin

G/day all from Aus, can those of you that own, or have owned the 150x500 sigma lens, tell me do you think of it ,is it ok for bird photography, on my canon 600d, I am still using the kit lens 55x250, its alright, but apart from not having enough reach, it is rather slow to focus in A/F. is the sigma a faster lens,? I know it wont be real fast , but would be happy with anything a bit faster, the price I can get the 150x500 here in AUS, is not to bad, I realize it wont be as good as the very much more expensive Canon lenses, but they are well and truly out of my price bracket, thank you for any help, Colin

Hi Australian fuel prices vary around the country but her is an example,

diesel , 1.65AUD ,= 1.49USD OR 0.89GBP.

PETROL 1.47AUD , = 1.32USD OR 0.80GBP

SO MULTIPLY by 4.54 - gallons imperial

.89 x 4.54 =4.04GBP= diesel, .80x4.54 =3.63GBP petrol

now we winge about our prices, glad im not in the UK, WE did a 5mth trip around Aus did 21oook hate to think what our fuel bill would have been, back home in the UK, oh and that was towing a caravan,

Hi from Australia, first of all, quote your prices in litres, not gallons, as a US gallon is considerably smaller than a imperial gallon, ie on imperial gallon = 4.54ltr, so if you give your price in $ per ltr, we can then work out the comparison
after all a ltr is the same size all around the world.

Yes Tiny Tim even though we have the frogmouth around here, they are not at all easy to find.the trouble with them is like many wild animals, they blend into there environment so well, still I am pleased with my photos. it was quite funny really ,that while I was taking the photos, he opened his eyes just to check me out, then went back to sleep, obviously quite happy I was of no danger to him.
not like many of the small birds we have here, who can not sit still for 3 seconds, finally ,yes I was LUCKY, think we all need that when photographing wild life.

WAIT till you see the TWO LEGGED SPIECIES ,

HA HA HA.

I have the 600d and have had it for nearly two yrs, and I find it tops, also the 18x55 kit lens is good, however the 55x250,is a little slow on auto focus, I believe the STM quality is however much faster,
the quality of the 55x250 is however quite good, and as a new comer to DSL photography, a very good one to lrarn the ropes.
once you find out what you really like to photograph, the way to go is to update your lenses to what you require.as I am trying to get some small bird photos, that's why I would like a faster lens, but if that is not your requirement, you will find it real good,

Tawny frogmouth taken with the 55x250


panorama taken with the same lens

THANKS Gawler, please have a look at my post again, as I have posted another photo which I couldn't post in the first instance, the frogmouth wasn't at all worried about me being there, just wanted to catch up on his sleep ready for another nights flying, he only half opened his eyes to check me out, then sleep took over, Aint Nature great,

Thankyou CliffC, Glad you like, please have another look at my post,as I have included another shot, which I couldn't post in the first instance, G/DAY from the LAND DOWN UNDER

Hello all. went for a walk just out of town down on the Snowy River[ remember the movie man from snowy river]
well as you will see its very dry here, hence all the bush fires, however today I was in luck, got these shots of a Tawny Frogmouth, catching up on some sleep, '
hope you like.

Snowy River 10k out of Orbost Victoria Australia

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Tawny Frogmouth

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aint i just so nice

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a little closer

Well thanks for the info, I wasn't expecting as much info from Hog members as I got, but WOW, there certainly is a lot of knowledgeable people out there.
I Know what lens I would like, but as usual for most of us, what we want,and can afford are two different things,so it looks like the 70x300 canon lens at the moment is the winner,it will give me a little more zoom then my 55x250, plus better AF, and by the looks of it a generally better photograph, thank you for your time and knowledge, colin