Cameralabs.com says that the Nikon 200-500: "Optically... outperforms the competing 150-600mm zooms from Sigma and Tamron at every focal length (except at 500mm)." Yeah well, for wildlife the 500mm is fairly important. I'd imagine I'd be plenty happy with both lenses tho. Just wish there were more info out about the G2.
Upgrading tele for wildlife, need suggestions
- Thread starter snj979s
- Start date
I would say that the biggest difference between all these lenses is copy variation. I've seen samples from the G1 Tamron that look superb or ones that make the lens seem like it's a dud. My copy was a decently sharp one, but my biggest advice would be to try before you buy or at least make sure you can swap for a different one.
I don't have any experience with the G2 Tamron, but I have shot the G1, 200-500 Nikon and 150-600 Contemporary Sigma. Out of those the Tamron had the fastest AF, Nikon was the sharpest one and Sigma had the dock option going for it
The Sport version of the Sigma is by far the heaviest so it puts a limit to handholding (the above ones I had no issues with).
I don't have any experience with the G2 Tamron, but I have shot the G1, 200-500 Nikon and 150-600 Contemporary Sigma. Out of those the Tamron had the fastest AF, Nikon was the sharpest one and Sigma had the dock option going for it
The Sport version of the Sigma is by far the heaviest so it puts a limit to handholding (the above ones I had no issues with).
Good luck with it. If it's anything like mine, you'll love it.
Fortkentdad
Senior Member
Coming to the party late, but great choice.
I went long lens hunting last year. Had an old 200-400 Tamron and wanted better. Looked at the Tammy, Siggy and Nikon. Bought the 200-500 after trying all three on my D610. Now also have a D7100 and my 200-500 pretty much lives on the D7100.
I also have a Kenko 300 1.4 TC and it works fine on either camera, but I can hear the focusing mechanism working in the D7100 - no similar sound out of the D610. Been told not to worry about it. Both cameras manage well with the TC. Yes you lose a stop of light. And A.F. is slowed, in some situations - or so I'm told. It does add a nice bit of reach to the 200-500 on both cameras. But it isn't necessary. With your mega pixels you can just crop-a-lot.
I did find that for hiking I like my big lens on a monopod with a gimbal head. Went for the Jobu Design BWG Micro Gimbal. It does need a good ballhead as it is a ballhead adaptor not true gimbal but works very nicely on top of my monopod. For quick walks and grab and shoots, hand held is fine. And a good strap (attached to the lens not the camera) will make hiking nicer.
I intend to get a d7200 to use with it at some point. But my d800 will work in a pinch. ;-) Great info btw, looking at some Gimbal-ish options now but I'm broke atm. Wife is already mad enough. haha
First impressions after shooting for 30min and looking at the images on pc. Wow! The VR is the best I've ever experienced and I'm surprised as to how helpful it is before I press the shutter. Sharpness is a substantial improvement over my 70-300 and the range is a bit beyond the bird spook range verses being in the I nearly always spook them range. lol. The lens hood snaps in to place fine, not sure why people complain about this. Autofocus works great imo on d800, with focus limiter it's still a fair amount faster than all the general purpose zooms I've used. Of course I haven't owned a bright 70-200 either. The focus is spot on after a few tests so I'm not really worried about my copy. My only problem is I don't have anything to put it in when attached to the camera. It's a big boy. I can hand hold fine but will take my monopod on adventures. First one starts while it's still dark tomorrow morning!
After shooting with the 200-500 more extensively a couple more thoughts. I missed a few shots because I was messing with my monopod. I'm going to have to refine my approach to adjust. It's too heavy to hold for long periods so I will switch to monopod after 15min or so when there's a pause in the action. But this lens simply opens major doors for me when shooting wildlife. I can crop significantly without loss of quality plus have double the reach. That's not just a small advantage, that's huge.
RocketCowboy
Senior Member
I'm getting one of these! Sounds exactly what I need. Question now is what monopod....I guess there's a thread somewhere
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Lots of monopod threads, and some on specific deals that came up at the time.
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