Nikon 5100 and telephotos

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Lguzmani2004

New member
Hello everyone

I just got a d5100, I would like to buy a 500 mm lens but nikons ' lens are out my pocket, So i need to go to the sigma 50-500 or 150- 500 or tamro len 200-500, I know i can not use the af in d5100 and tamron but i already had a tripod and a monopod, sigma lens are heavier and AF works.
My main concern is low light, sunrise/set, and i think those aperture of f5.6/ 6 may be do not help, But may be because the high iso some good combination can be done.
I heard tamron have better optic and is lighter, i am tending toward it.

I need your opinion and advice, and if any other good lens I do not know the brand that can fit me. Just to finish most of bird pict will be small birds and problably in woody area

thanks you all in advance, ill be waiting your emails
 
P

pedroj

Senior Member
Hi and welcome...Both the Tamron and Sigma are F6.3 at the long end....Both would be slow in low low light situations...

Have a look at Nikons AF-S 300mm F4....
 
Pierro

Pierro

Senior Member
Small birds and 300mm dont work well together, although it can be done, its not ideal as its very difficult to get close enough to small birds to make them big enough in the viewfinder. 300mm will be fine for almost everything else... large birds, animals etc. You will find that all your choices you mention will be best for good light due to their slow apertures which start at f6.3 ...even then, those 500 zooms prefer to be at f8 for best IQ. The 300mm gets you faster shutter speeds being f4, but the quality of the Nik 300 f4 will mean you cant shoot at f4 and not have to stop down. It depends on what you value most
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
If you have a budget that does not fall into the Nikon price bracket, may i suggest the used market. If you are in North America, you can go to B&H or Henrys for a great selection of used lenses. If you are outside of the USA, you can still buy from B&H (not sure if Henrys ships international) but be prepared to pay customs - it won't be that much on used equipment. Here are a few examples: Used Sigma Zoom Telephoto 170-500mm f/5-6.3 APO 733306 B&H Photo

Used Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di LD IF Autofocus AF08N700 B&H

In regards to what lens to get, i think that is really up to you. You can pay less for manual focus lenses, but are you comfortable with that? You can pay more for image stabilisation. But do you really need it on a good tripod? NO. Invest in a cable release or remote as well, it will cut down on camera shake. Good luck
 
M

madcapmagishion

Banned
If I were buying a previously owned Nikon, I would use either KEH, B&H or Adorama. All are excellent and reputable dealers, but then that's just me. All do ship internationally though. This isn't saying that Henrys isn't as good, but I have never used/heard of Henrys, so I can't endorse them.
 
AC016

AC016

Senior Member
madcapmagishion said:
If I were buying a previously owned Nikon, I would use either KEH, B&H or Adorama. All are excellent and reputable dealers, but then that's just me. All do ship internationally though. This isn't saying that Henrys isn't as good, but I have never used/heard of Henrys, so I can't endorse them.
Click to expand...

I guess you could say that Henry's is kind of like Canada's B&H. I have never tried them either. I have ordered from B&H and their used lens rating system is spot on. The only thing that concerned me, is that neither them nor Purolator knew where my lens was for a few days, lol. Anyhow, it came in a big box stuffed with those "s" shaped foamies. So, very well packaged. Good shopping experience :)
 
L

Lguzmani2004

New member
Thanks to all repliers

I thought on the issue regarding no VR, so I got a IR and shutter cable.

Regarding to best picture quality between both lens at 500 mm, any of you have any experience with them and nikon d5100?
I have browsed the web. there is little information comparing both of them regarding to lens quality and imagen quality at 500 mm. The information is mostly regarding the AF motor quality
 
C

cbg

Senior Member
I have the Sigma 150-500, OS HSM and have used it with a D5000, but not the 5100. I've been using it for about 15 months or so, and as has been said, it really does need light to focus well. It can be a little soft wide open at 500mm, does very well at f8 backed off a little from 500mm. It can be handheld, and I do handhold it a lot when I shooting birds in flight, but at about 4.5 lbs it does get heavy. Take a look at my flickr stream for some examples shot with it.

Flickr: cgilyeat's Photostream

Colin
 
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