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Birding and wildlife lens

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    Birding and wildlife lens

    While dove hunting last fall, not may doves flying I noticed some smaller birds feeding on the ground down a fencerow. So I moved my setup, leaving my shotgun and taking my birding backpack. I found several different types of small yellow birds, that I couldn't even tell were yellow until I put binoculars on them. I never could get them Identified, couldn't find in my books. Couldn't get enough detail out of my 300 mm telephoto with the pics later. I am looking at purchasing a 600mm telephoto sometime this summer, seems like lots of birders are using this size. Looking at Nikon, Sigma, and Tamron. Budget around $1k. any input at which brand, or others in my price range

    Camera is Nikon D5600

    #2
    You can buy the first generation Sigma or Tamron for 1K or under. I have a Tamron generation 2 on my D500. You may be able to find a used gen 2 for that. I may be selling this one later this summer.

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      #3
      Some shots with this Tamron.



      [IMG]Bald eagle by Bill Morris, on Flickr[/IMG]

      [IMG]Chipping sparrow pair by Bill Morris, on Flickr[/IMG]

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        #4
        It looks like when you go to the next level the prices go up 3 to 5 times or more. I was asking if any of the lenses I mentioned was any better or worse than the other. I had a sigma 200mm zoom on a Nikon film camera in the early 90's, that I really liked.

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          #5
          Originally posted by double bogey View Post
          It looks like when you go to the next level the prices go up 3 to 5 times or more. I was asking if any of the lenses I mentioned was any better or worse than the other. I had a sigma 200mm zoom on a Nikon film camera in the early 90's, that I really liked.
          Any of those brands should be fine as long as you get a good copy which is the norm, not the exception. Most bird photogs use either 500 or 600 mm. Some use 400 if they can get close enough.

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            #6
            Those Tamron 150-600s are really nice, fast focus and awesome image quality, I rented a G1 a while back and the only downside was it was a dust vacuum, if you are going to be using it in the field I really recommend saving up a bit more and going with the G2 for the extra weather sealing

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              #7
              Originally posted by Jspradley View Post
              Those Tamron 150-600s are really nice, fast focus and awesome image quality, I rented a G1 a while back and the only downside was it was a dust vacuum, if you are going to be using it in the field I really recommend saving up a bit more and going with the G2 for the extra weather sealing
              I agree with you!

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                #8
                I've got the Sigma 150-600mm Sport for the weather sealing, and it takes some pretty spectacular photos with my Canon. Only downside is the weight. I've considered selling it a couple of times to put some money towards a high end Canon piece that I could use with a teleconverter, but I haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

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                  #9
                  Here's some samples with that Sigma. Pretty much all of the elk and bison shots are with the Sigma and the Canon 5D Mark III. I've heard the contemporary version of this lens (which you can find for well under 1k) is just about as good image quality wise but it only lacks the weather sealing. The sport lens that I have is usually around the 1200 range if it's used.

                  Some of my favorite photos from various landscape photography and wildlife photography shoots.

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