Telephoto Lens for Wildlife Photography

What would be a good quality telephoto lens for wildlife photography? It does not have to be Nikkor. Of course I would like pictures to be sharp with good color. My first subject will be a visit to a Zoo. Birding has also entered my mind but I have not decided.


The camera is the Nikon D750 which is FX full-frame.

you are looking at a tamron 150-600 or the sigma, both sit at about $1000, sigma has a sport lens which i believe is about $2000, there are a couple of threads on here where people have posted theirs shots with each lens so you can have a look for yourself.

Okay thanks, but what about prime lens. They are supposed to be sharper?

300mm f4 is $1350 300mm f2.8 is almost $6k

I'm deciding between one of the 150-600mm lenses or a 300mm f4 prime with a x1.4 teleconvertor (420mm). Anything longer than a 300mm prime or a 300 2.8 is out of my price range.
I shoot on DX so 420mm may well just be long enough, I'm not sure it would be if I was shooting full frame like you.
The 150-600's will need to be shot from F8-11 most likely and below 600mm for best results. As you will be able to crank the ISO up on the D750 a lot more than I can, that narrow aperture may be less of a stumbling block.

Vibration reduction is a nice feature the 150-600's have. Of the 300mm f4's only the new PF version has VR and that's quite a bit more expensive than the older D version.

There are others on here who can give you more first hand advice than me but those are my thoughts.

Scrayen said:

Okay thanks, but what about prime lens. They are supposed to be sharper?

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yes they are.

Here is my recommendation.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR Lens 2173 B&H Photo Video

One of the 150-600 would be a good choice unless you can run to the Nikon 500mm,although you have the D750 avoid any secondhand lenses with out focus motors they are slow to focus compared with the built in motor lenses.
A good place to start is Flckr groups,there are groups for most lenses and you can see what a lens will do at different focal lengths,here is a start with the Tamron 150-600 group.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2482865@N25/

Scrayen said:

What would be a good quality telephoto lens for wildlife photography? It does not have to be Nikkor. Of course I would like pictures to be sharp with good color. My first subject will be a visit to a Zoo. Birding has also entered my mind but I have not decided.


The camera is the Nikon D750 which is FX full-frame.

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As mentioned the cheapest option is the Tamron or Sigma 150-600mm. They'll both lose some sharpness at the longest end but up to 400mm they're pretty decent.

For primes it gets expensive pretty fast. You'll need at least 300mm which is already a bit short for birding.

There's the older and new Nikon 300mm f/4 which cost around 1.5k and 2k and after that the price only goes up (a lot). You can combine them with teleconverters but they do impact image quality. The more they increase focal length, the more the impact on image quality.

My 300mm f/4 Nikkor with 1.4 teleconverter is sharper than my Tamron 150-600 at longer focal lengths. BUT, the Tamron has vibration control which can be important in certain situations, and the zoom range can also be very helpful. Wildlife do not always pose in the proper position for the lens you happen to have on your camera body.

I use the 300 plus teleconverter almost all the time for birding, currently. I was quite happy to have the Tamron with vibration control for taking slower shutter speed shots of owls in dark tree hollows earlier in the year, though.

Anyway, you can probably find a used Nikon 300mm f/4 and older teleconverter for about the same price as the new Tamron or Sigma 150-600. Any of these should serve you well.

Woodyg3 said:

My 300mm f/4 Nikkor with 1.4 teleconverter is sharper than my Tamron 150-600 at longer focal lengths. BUT, the Tamron has vibration control which can be important in certain situations, and the zoom range can also be very helpful. Wildlife do not always pose in the proper position for the lens you happen to have on your camera body.

I use the 300 plus teleconverter almost all the time for birding, currently. I was quite happy to have the Tamron with vibration control for taking slower shutter speed shots of owls in dark tree hollows earlier in the year, though.

Anyway, you can probably find a used Nikon 300mm f/4 and older teleconverter for about the same price as the new Tamron or Sigma 150-600. Any of these should serve you well.

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For the price difference it should be. How much did that set up set you back Woody?

I got the 300mm f/4 for about $1200. It was gray market because there were no USA models to be found anywhere at the time. Now you can find them used for $800 or so. The TC was also used, the older models are the only ones that work correctly on the older 300mm lens anyway. I got it for $150 or so. The new 300mm f/4 is a lot lighter, has VR, and costs a good deal more.

Woodyg3 said:

I got the 300mm f/4 for about $1200. It was gray market because there were no USA models to be found anywhere at the time. Now you can find them used for $800 or so. The TC was also used, the older models are the only ones that work correctly on the older 300mm lens anyway. I got it for $150 or so. The new 300mm f/4 is a lot lighter, has VR, and costs a good deal more.

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That's the set up I'm looking to going to after I get the D7100 body first nothing wrong with my D5100 but fiddling with menus sucks

Everyone has said what needs to be said I think but I'll throw in my observations as well since I have been doing a lot of wildlife shooting lately with the same body as the OP.

I was happy with the IQ of the Tamron 150-600 even at 600mm. The biggest problem I had was the insane amount of AF microadjust was needed at 600mm. I had to fumble to dial back the fine tune every time I needed to shoot at less than 600mm. Tamron did offer to calibrate the lens for me but in the long run I felt like the Sigma with the USB dock was the best option. The ability to fine tune the AF at different focal lengths myself was a big selling point.

Since you're full frame, primes that really have a good reach are exorbitently expensive. I don't feel like a 300 + 1.4TC gives enough reach. Even with 600mm I felt myself wanting more, so I set that as my personal prime shooting range.

If you're not snapping wildlife professionally I think the Tam/Sig 150-600 options are absolutely the best option for the price on an FX body.

Sent from my HTC One M8 using Tapatalk

Hi,

as written before, the zoom like the Tamron and Sigma 150-600 isn't a real match for primes...
But I can't afford 6 to 10 times the price of the Sigma C or Tamron 150-600 for a prime lens.
That is out of proportions. I sure hope the picture quaity is much better...

I'm satisfied about the picture quality of my Sigma.
I really like the possibility of the AF fine tuning of the Sigma with its docking station.
AF fine tuning at 16 (!!) places.
_DSC3057 by Ad v.d. Biggelaar, on Flickr

_DSC3078 by Ad v.d. Biggelaar, on Flickr

_DSC3430 by Ad v.d. Biggelaar, on Flickr

_DSC3925 by Ad v.d. Biggelaar, on Flickr

I don't use the Sigma every day.
The 24-120 f4 VR lens is my walk around and I use my 70-200 f4 VR regularly.

Ad B

The Nikon 400 f2.8, 600 f4, and 800 f4 are all very heavy and tripod lenses really, so not great for trekking. The 500 f4 is handholdable, just.

Hi,

yeah, nice but...
800 mm f5.6 € 17000,-... 600 mm f4 € 9000,-, the new one € 13000,-, 400 mm f2.8 € 12500,-
Handholdable 500 mm f4 € 7300,- the new one € 11000,-

I did € 1280,- for my Sigma 150-600 Contemporary including USB dock.
If I could spent the difference on holidays...? I would have a very, very nice life...
And I'm not complaining about my life as it is...
In two days I'm leaving for 4 weeks holiday trip through Italy, Austria, Czech Republic and Berlin... nthego:

Ad B

Wow, this is good information from everyone. I knew I could count on this forum. It's looking like the Tamron 150-600 might be good but I will check Flickr as suggested. Thanks to everyone!