Whoooooaa, what to do. I would prefer the faster 400mm @ f/2.8. It also doubles as a decent lens for bird photography, however its about the minimum you would really want to use for that type (a 500mm f/4 or 600mm f/4 L-series lens, preferably with a 1.4x TC, or a 300mm f/2.8 with a 2x TC, is far preferable for birds as you need all the reach you can get, but the 100-400 will definitely do if you can't afford to drop seven to ten grand on a lens. It also makes it far more portable. And as bird photographers, we are mainly interested in the telephoto end than the wide end of the zoom lens. On a more positive note: If you’re using a DX camera, the lens’s effective focal length becomes 300mm to 700mm. If you need reach this is the lens for you unless you need super reach an 800mm f/5.6 but I find that lens a bit too much. 1. Aperture Priority @ f/8, ISO 400, Shutter Speed: 1/640, Matrix Metering, Jpeg 'Fine' Original Format . Freezing action and motion takes fast shutter speeds, so be mindful of keeping the lens as wide open as possible, and dialing up the ISO, when necessary, to keep super-short shutter speeds, especially early and late in the day. The reach that a telephoto lens can offer is crucial for a lot of sports, wildlife or other ‘action’ photography. Let’s say you spent pretty much all of your camera budget on a shiny new $1,400 Sony a6500 mirrorless camera, yet you want a super telephoto lens for getting way up close to … Sigma's 50-500 mm Super Telephoto Zoom Lens At Huntington Beach Pier, California. The degree of magnification you get is the diagonal measurement of the sensor/film divided by the focal length, so a 50mm lens with 35mm film is roughly how your eyes see the scene i.e 1X magnification, a 500mm will give you a 10X magnification … Here are six tips to help you perfect the technique of maximizing sharpness with a telephoto lens. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens Want a long reach with a Nikon lens? Maybe I should go for the smaller faster 400mm lens and get a 1.4x extender too? I'm just learning to shoot with it, but I love it for the money I paid for it ($500 used). There is a standard rule which says that the shutter speed should be equal to or faster than the focal length of the lens you’re using. It’s cheap, sure, but can the Opteka 500mm deliver image quality beyond it’s price point? This lens is great for sports and wildlife shooting, including capturing birds in flight. The Tamron 500mm f/8 SP BBAR MC macro is the first mirror lens that found its way to the testing lab. Mirror lenses are rather strange beings. But if you are asking how far you can get a good photograph then it depends on your target and atmospheric conditions. The 400 and 600mm lenses are about the same price. However, it is that same reach that can introduce the problems that prevent people getting sharp results. This is the amount of space you have to work in. Compared to the 200-500mm f/5.6: the 500mm f/5.6E has more contrast and higher acuity in the center by a modest amount, but it has far more contrast and acuity as … If you are considering the purchase of the Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens or the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens, you are likely a discerning photographer pursuing sports action or wildlife. The extra stop of an f/4 lens would definitely be appreciated, but the light weight of this lens might get you places you would want to carry the 6.8 lbs f/4 500mm. A herring gull in flight, captured wide open at F6.3 at 500mm to allow for the fastest possible shutter speed. I decided to create this video so you can clearly see the capabilities of the 55-300mm Lens that I had attached to my Nikon D3100. Because you can achieve far tighter compositions—and completely fill the frame with your subject. This one is a great option. So, should I go for the 500mm lens? For a Nikon lens, the 200-500mm is competitively priced, although it's still rather more than the Sigma C-line and Tamron 150-600mm lenses. The combination of a D4S + 600mm f/4 and D750 + 200-500mm f/5.6E is a very powerful one: The pro DSLR/prime combo will give you the reach you need in those situations you can ‘control’, and if you have the time you can add a 1.4 TC as well, giving you 800mm f/5.6 in exceptional cases (again, if you always need 800mm then perhaps better to sell your house and buy one…). The teleconverter adds some reach, but does slightly degrade the photos and make the lens slower. The MTF chart on the left (Modulation Transfer Function – you find some more infomration on how to read the chart here) compares the Nikon 500mm f/4E FL ED (left chart) with the older version (the one I have) 500mm f/4G ED VR (right chart).In MTF charts, the closer and flatter the lines are the better (in simple terms). For bird and wildlife photographers, this can be a huge benefit. A 50mm lens will have angle of view of 45° or so (less with an APS sized sensor), a 500mm lenses angle of view will be around 5°. Why? Wildlife Photography with Canon 500mm f4 L IS II Lens. NIKON D750 + 200-500mm f/5.6 @ 500mm, ISO 1400, 1/1000, f/8.0 Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E VR vs Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Sport The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Sport is a beast of a lens, but once you factor in its cost and compare it to the Nikon 200-500mm VR with the teleconverter, the two get fairly close in price range. With APS-C DSLR Camera Body I used Canon 7D with the Canon 500mm when I got this lens initially. This versatile telephoto zoom lens is popular among everyone from wedding and portrait photographers to those who shoot sports and wildlife. It can see to infinity. This combination gave me an effective focal length of 800mm, with the 1.6x crop factor of the 7D. You do have to watch you light levels and there for ISO because at wide open, it just f/5.6. It's the lens I use for bird shots (and other far way things). 1/1600 at ISO 320 on the Sony A850. This review is … While lens working distance matters little to most of my shooting, there are situations where knowing the distance in front of the lens matters. A sub-$125 lens than claims 500mm and 1000mm reach seems far-fetched, and yet Opteka offers just that in a lens with a fixed f/6.3 aperture. A comparitively low cost way to try this out would be to buy a used 35mm film SLR and something like a 500mm lens, 2x adaptor, some fast film and … Nikon D750, Nikon 200-500mm, TC-14E Teleconverter, at 700mm. This lens comes in at 109 ounces (about 3 kg), which is not at all bad for a monster telephoto like this one. I receive quite a few emails from our readers, asking about telephoto lenses and focal lengths, specifically whether a focal length of a lens is going to be sufficient for bird and wildlife photography. Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this great video review takes a look at the Canon RF 100-500mm … The Nikon Nikkor AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR was released in 2015 and is the first budget super telephoto lens from Nikon reaching 500mm focal length. I know that the 600mm lens is quite big and heavy, but the 400mm lens is the same weight, just smaller. The Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E Is Heavy, But Not Too Heavy 1. This is a great telephoto lens for Nikon users who like to get up close to the action. So what makes the 400mm such a delight to use - Spooky Sharp, fast focus, flexible and a faster aperture. By lens working distance, I am referring to the distance from the end of the lens (or the end of the lens hood if in place) to the subject. At about half the price of AF-S 80-400mm, this lens zooms 100mm more. With a focal length range of 200-500mm this lens offers a lot of versatility and reaches longer than either of our top three lenses. The 500mm allows you to photograph people without worrying about “social interaction.” You can simply prop up a monopod behind a tree, and be patient for “the decisive moment.” As Robert Capa said, “If your photos aren’t good enough, your lens isn’t … It also enables more pixels to be placed on a distant subject (sometimes described as "pixels on the duck") than can be obtained from using a 300mm lens. Sometimes, I want to add a 1.4 TC to it, just for that extra reach, but 1) I've been told it degrades the image too dramatically, given that the lens is kind of slow, and 2) I don't have the money to buy it right now, anyway. Although I have already done a focal length comparison from 12mm to 500mm focal length before, I decided to do it once again for telephoto lenses. The Nikon 500mm f/4 is a very sharp lens. The first part of the video was shot on a Samyang 8mm Fisheye lens to give you an idea of eye level and distance. Now, this tree could have been photographed with my 16-35, or even my 70-200 – but to be able to shoot it at 400mm with my 100-400 lens yields far different and unique results. This fantastic video takes a look at one such lens, the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM. This makes it easy to handhold (much easier than the older and heavier Nikon 500mm f/4G). ... spray it flat black and be creative on how you fold it/attach to the end of lens as wide and far out from lens as can to avoid light scatter on lens. Selection of the best shutter speed is one of the most important tasks when doing wildlife photography. When I'm shooting with a 500mm lens, ... place your left hand on top of the lens, as far out as you can comfortably reach. While the 200-500mm may lack the full zoom range and weather-sealing that comes with the higher-end and higher-priced versions from Sigma and Tamron, it manages to deliver a constant maximum aperture of f/5.6 at all focal lengths.This is important for both auto-focus acquisition (especially in lower light), as well as the ability of the lens to play well with teleconverters. Choose the correct shutter speed. So what makes the 500mm lenses a delight to use - lighter with excellent sharpness and weather protection. Opteka 500mm / 1000mm Lens Overview. In other words, a telephoto lens with a focal length of 500mm provides greater reach than a telephoto lens with a focal length of 300mm. While there are other uses for these lenses, these are by far the most commonly photographed subjects with these focal lengths. This new lens is sharp right from f/5.6, and it still has punch out into the corners on the 45mp cameras. It gives me the additional reach at the cost of dynamic range and higher ISO restrictions. A common question amongst people who are planning to buy a new DSLR telephoto lens, is how far can it zoom? 4. EF 500mm f4L IS USM EF 500mm f4.5L USM EF 600mm f4L USM EF 600mm f4L IS USM EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM EF 1200mm f5.6L USM TS-E 17mm f4L TS-E 24mm f3.5L TS-E 45mm f2.8 TS-E 90mm f2.8 (For all TS-E lenses, Extenders are reported to fit, but the lenses do not offer AF or IS.) Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 ED VR. The use of the Fresnel lens has enabled a lens with a long reach without the penalty of excessive weight. Without the TC, this lens is a superstar on my camera and one that I’m so glad I decided to add to my kit. Hand-held Nikon D1 super-telephoto shot using Sigma's 50-500 mm lens @ 500 mm. People who are planning to buy a new DSLR telephoto lens, the Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L is.. Open, it just f/5.6 - Spooky sharp, fast focus, flexible and a faster aperture long without! 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