Small birding lens - 70-200/2.8 vs 80-400/5.6 vs 300mm/4

[diediealsomustdive]

I am thinking of getting the Tammy for the reach of 600mm FX, and my usual birding lens is 300AFS + TC14EII.

 

[alfie]

stick with your tamron.... it is a good lens already for its reach and price...
Nikon coming out with 300mm f4 VR (rumors, but pretty confirmed)...you might want to wait if you are into the 300mmf4....

the one thing you need to consider is the bokeh... longer lenses give you fantastic bokeh (if it matters to you)
you might have a D810 36MP cropping capability, but it cannot do 2 things:
1.good feather details for distant bird
2. nice bokeh (unless the background is already super clean)

the tamron at 600mm will give you much better bokeh than say 70-200 with a tc 1.4/1.7/2.0 0r 300f4 with tc1.4

the improved sharpness over shorter lenses combo can be observed mostly for birds that you can approach closer, for distant bird, tamron should yield better images...
and there are many times that you cannot approach closer in birding...
even 600mm with tc 1.4 on a DX and people are wishing they had more glass!!!

ha ha, cheers

Great advice, and very well supported too

Me and a friend rented the Sigma 120-300/2.8 and Nikon 200-400/4 recently and shot the whole day.. Must say, really good glass.. Its given me better idea of what i want and should get.

An updated 300 f4 vr with weather seal will be a perfect companion to my Tamron 150-600mm.. Prices has dropped quite a bit for the tammy, and I figured, i might as well keep keep it and shoot it to death.. haha..

Will wait for the Nikon 300/4 AFS VR/G and a Nikon D7200 for better reach

Thanks all ! Really appreciate the feedback given.

 

[boon8623]

to add on a question if TS dont mind.

mounting a lens on DX cam does not give you a longer reach right?
It is just the cam cropping the image to make u feel that you are nearer to the subject.
Is that true?

 

[zuikoku]

I've been (very happily) shooting with a tamron 150-600mm on my Nikon D810. Its great value for money and has been a great starter lens for me to go into birding.

I think I'm ready to start tuning my gear towards my style of shooting. I like that the tamron 150-600 doesn't require a tripod (monopod helps greatly) but its not weather sealed and quite heavy/bulky.

I'm now pondering between 3 lens as a lighter walk about lens as a 2nd birding lens (Will upgrade my tamron 150-600mm to a 400/2.8 once i have enough money.. hehe)
* 70-200/2.8vr2 (maybe with a 1.4tc)
* 80-400/5.6vr2
* 300mm/4 (maybe with a 1.4tc)

I recently rented the 300/4 and except for the shorter reach, the quality jump is huge ! (it is a prime after all) I understand that the reach will be shorter then my 600mm, but with a nikon d810 I have good megapixels to crop slightly to get something like below..

I will most prob rent a 80-400/5.6vr2 and borrow a 70-200/2.8vr2 to test out soon, but wanted to get some feedback from you guys.

How's sharpness at the tele-end for these lens compared to the primes? I've a 28-300, which is nice, but at the 300mm end, its pretty soft and 36MP does show it. I've read forums that say the 70-200/2.8 is a better buy as I can fit a TC on it if i want. (And its cheaper then the 80-400/5.6) Its a pity the 300/4 doesnt have much weather seal as thats one of my requirements. (It tends to rain suddently,etc)

If there's any good portable lens (less then 2kg?) for birding, I'll be more then happy to hear from your experiences ! I'm willing to compromise focal length for quality/portability.

For compromising the size, weight of your kit for smallbirds shooters, Tamron 150600 is great choice compare to prime lenses (or 80400vr2 which is quite outstanding compare to 70200)
While you want the highest quality, prime lenses should be your options (500 mm and above)

 

[diediealsomustdive]

to add on a question if TS dont mind.

mounting a lens on DX cam does not give you a longer reach right?
It is just the cam cropping the image to make u feel that you are nearer to the subject.
Is that true?

Yes. Take D800 and D7000 as examples, FX vs DX, and D800's DX crop is about 15Mp vs 16Mp for D7000. The same lens on D800 DX crop is virtually indistinguishable from that of D7000. But if you use D7100, then the DX camera has more pixels packed in, should give slightly higher res.

 

[daredevil123]

Yes. Take D800 and D7000 as examples, FX vs DX, and D800's DX crop is about 15Mp vs 16Mp for D7000. The same lens on D800 DX crop is virtually indistinguishable from that of D7000. But if you use D7100, then the DX camera has more pixels packed in, should give slightly higher res.

It is not as simple as that. There are a lot of issues with AF point and view in the Viewfinder. Even if you can technically say D800 on crop mode is the same as D7000, you have to work with a much smaller image on the viewfinder on the D800. The AF point might be bigger in relation to your subject on the viewfinder. On a D7000 viewfinder it might look fine. Will that smaller subject and larger AF point in the D800 affect the ability to track moving birds? sure it does.

 

[diediealsomustdive]

It is not as simple as that. There are a lot of issues with AF point and view in the Viewfinder. Even if you can technically say D800 on crop mode is the same as D7000, you have to work with a much smaller image on the viewfinder on the D800. The AF point might be bigger in relation to your subject on the viewfinder. On a D7000 viewfinder it might look fine. Will that smaller subject and larger AF point in the D800 affect the ability to track moving birds? sure it does.

Yes operationally not that simple, more than just crop factor to consider. But no if you just want to answer the poser's question - is DX simply a cropped FX in focal length - yes it is just that.

 

[EisMann]

Alfie,

Thanks for starting this thread.
I too, interested in birding and uograding from a bridge camera to an interchangeable type.

I can't decide to go for the reach (300mm or 600mm) or a good sensor (full frame type) taking the weight for consideration.
As I don't own a transport, mobility means a lot to me. Hence I decided to go for the M4/3 system even it has its fair share of cons.


Erictan8888,

Thanks for the sharing and analysis.

Thank You
EisMann

 

[alfie]

Alfie,

Thanks for starting this thread.
I too, interested in birding and uograding from a bridge camera to an interchangeable type.

I can't decide to go for the reach (300mm or 600mm) or a good sensor (full frame type) taking the weight for consideration.
As I don't own a transport, mobility means a lot to me. Hence I decided to go for the M4/3 system even it has its fair share of cons.


Erictan8888,

Thanks for the sharing and analysis.

Thank You
EisMann

I too have no transport, so mobility is very limited. The tamron 150-600 is decently portable without needing a full tripod (it fits in the smallest thinktank street walker, with a monopod and my D810). My only issue with the tamron 150-600mm is the lack of decent sealing, i had dust problems and had to send mine in for cleaning (free, but tamron had to send back to motherland to get it cleaned)

M4/3 system is nice upgrade from a bridge camera. The pana 100-300m with the em5/em10 is a good start with good reach. My only problem with mft is the shutter lag when i'm 'af tracking' a bird in flight. The new oly 40-150mm +tc gives really good quality too.

 

[motionstills]

I actually get very good results with Nikon 1 System, the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 VR gives a fov of 189-810mm, but most importantly it's extremely portable.

​

 

[paulng]

Where can you buy the 70-300mm Nikon 1 lens? Has it arrived in Singapore yet? Thanks

 

[daredevil123]

Where can you buy the 70-300mm Nikon 1 lens? Has it arrived in Singapore yet? Thanks

yes it is already here. You might need to make a special order to get it. But several bros here have been using it with amazing results.