I am asking a question that might have been asked many times in the past. However, I like to hear some advice for my situation so.
Basically I am looking to invest some money on my photography for some possibilities of shooting wildlife. It's just a hobby and I haven't done much wildlife in the past. In team of subjects, I don't really know. What can I find easily here (UK)? I am going to do a puffin trip next month. I would love to shoot birds and all kind of animals I can find. Also have a plan to go to Spain for a wildlife trip in Summer.
My budget is quite limited though. I am willing to spend about £1000 for this.
My kit. My camera body is 5D III. My longest tele lens is 70-200f2.8 IS II. Although I said it is a hobby, I want to get best possible results and best possible range. What are my options?
Here is few options I can think of to start with. You guys can advise me new options and also comment on what I have thought.
a new 7D + 2x Extender (or 1.4 Extender). It would give me 448mm with 1.4Extender or 640mm with 2x. 7D would give me 1.6x but I am not sure about it. If I just use my 5DIII and crop it as 1.6x, would it be the same? 5DIII has 23MP so 23MP/1.6x = 14.4MP. 7D is 18MP so I will lose about 4MP? Does it work like that? I don't really know I am guessing.
I heard about greatness of Sigma 50-500. The range sounds amazing. I don't mind having f6.3 as this is a tele photo lens I should get a nice bokeh at f6.3. But how's the quality? I normally try to avoid using non-canon equipments as much as I can. (apart from battery grid btw)
Canon 400mm f5.6 ? that would cost me 1k but I can just buy 2x Extender with my 70-200. I can get 400f5.6, and still have IS on it. But which can give me better quality and AF speed?
Any other lens or options that I should consider?
Answer
The 70-200 F2.8L IS II works fine with a 2.0x teleconverter. That's my standard birding and critter lens these days. It's sharper than a 300F4+1.4x (my previous go to lens), and MUCH sharper than a canon 100-400 @ 400mm (my initial birding len). All are acceptable, the 70-200+2.0x is incredibly sharp and I'm really impressed with that lens combo. I use that on the 7D
If you want to look at images of the 7D/70-200/2x combo, try some of these:
http://www.chuqui.com/2013/04/house-wren/ -- which is actually a weak image, heavily backlit and processed, massive crop. and still not bad for a blog posting.
http://www.chuqui.com/2013/01/canon-70-200-f2-8l-is-vs-is-ii-plus-bonus-on-600mm-f8-option/ some of my test shots when I was evaluating this combo, including some 100% pixel peeping views, so you can see the sharpness difference.
Sigma 50-500: haven't tested it. Folks I know who have say its' usable, but slow AF and it softens at 500mm. Whether it's too soft is something you'll have to test and see for yourself. I've seen some nice images come out of it online.
Canon 400: buy the 2.0x instead. Or the 300+1.4x. The 300 has slightly faster AF, and cna be used with or without teleconverter, so you have a bit more flexibility for about the same price. But that 70-200 is a killer lens. the 400 won't get you better images.
The 7d+70-200+2.0x is (IMHO) the best overall bird/critter lens for canon these days. I recommend the 100-400 as the entry level because it's half the cost, but you already own the 70-200 so the big hunk of money is already spent. Before you consider going longer than 400mm, work with that combo and how figure out how much you can crop -- it's a lot cheaper to buy a good modern body with enough megapixels you can crop than it is to buy a 600mm bazooka to get that extra distance. This combo has convinced me not to buy a 500mm, since I can crop effectively into that distance.
Rent a 7d. Rent a 2.0X tele III. Try it out. You'll probably end up buying that as your upgrade.
Another opinion: it's what Art Morris uses. If it's good enough for him...
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