Looking to purchase a new lense for bird photography

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06Honda

Senior Member
I currently use the Nikon AF-S 80-400 F/4.5-5.6G ED VR, pretty solid lense but would like slighty more reach and a lighter weight. I have been looking at two lense and would like any opinions or users views on them, see below. I do not use a tripod, handheld only. The body will be a Nikon D7500.

(1) Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300 F4E PF ED VR with a teleconverter

or

(2) Nikon AF-S 500 F5.6 E PF ED VR
 
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hark

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
06Honda said:
I currently use the Nikon AF-S 80-400 F/4.5-5.6G ED VR, pretty solid lense but would like slighty more reach and a lighter weight. I have been looking at two lense and would like any opinions or users views on them, see below. I do not use a tripod, handheld only. The body will be a Nikon D7500.

(1) Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300 F4E PF ED VR with a teleconverter

or

(2) Nikon AF-S 500 F5.6 E PF ED VR
Click to expand...

I have the first option as well as a 1.4x TC. It's a stellar lens and VERY light. But it's the lens that developed focusing issues. I purchased it preowned - it started developing issues after coupling it with a refurbished Nikon 1.7x TC. Nikon 'repaired' the lens, but it still has issues. However, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. The 300mm coupled with the 1.4x TC will give you a comparable focal length of 420mm.

BUT ... if you are considering the 500mm f/5.6 PF, that's the one you should get. It too is light - and it's insanely sharp. In fact, it's lighter than the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRii. So either one should work well handheld.
 
Clovishound

Clovishound

Senior Member
Personally, I would look to getting the lens in the focal length you want, rather than try and make a shorter lens do the task with a converter. The only exception to that would be if you would be using the extender occasionally, and the lens by itself most of the time. I suspect a 500mm lens will perform better than a 300mm and a 1.7x extender. Also some camera functions are not usable with some lens combined with some extenders. Here is a chart from Nikon on what works and what doesn't.

https://cdn-5.nikon-cdn.com/Assets/Common-Assets/Images/Teleconverter-Compatibility/en_US_Comp_chart.html
 
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