Which lens will fit my needs the best.

[steve_m]

I am going to an area that has lots of Bald Eagles. They are usually way high up in the trees, hills and more than 100 yards away if they are flying over the Mississippi river.


The only tripod I have is a Bogen 3021 and a 486 Manfrotto ball head.


I want to be able to take pictures hand held to catch them in-flight. So, I'm thinking I'll need IS.


What lens would work the best for this situation? I don't have experience shooting with large lenses.


I am planning on renting a lens so price isn't much of a consideration.

[Sean Setters]

What camera will you be using? One with a full frame or a crop sensor? A crop sensor will give you quite a bit more reach with whatever you choose.


I think the 500mm f/4 L IS would be perfect, but to rent that one for a week will run you about $300.


A 300mm f/2.8 L IS combined with a 1.4x Extender will run you about $235 for the same week, and do very much the same thing. Of course, you could add the 1.4x extender to the 500mm lens, but you'd have to bump up the ISO).


If you were to put either one of these on a 1.6 crop sensor, you'd have quite a bit of reach.....bird photographers will tell you they never regretted having more reach, but for a vacation, what's it worth?


Check out Bryan's "Wildlife Lens Recommendations" to help make your decision.

[Sayantan20023]

Hi Steve,


The Canon 70-200mm f4L IS, is a good lens for your needs (shooting hand-held). It is considered a "light" lens and has good tele range.


Regards,


Sayantan Mukherjee

[Sean Setters]

With all due respect Sayantan, I don't think 200mm is going to give him enough reach to do what he wants. He said the eagles will be about 100 yards away. I would only use a 70-200 lens if that was the only thing I could get my hands on (and I have a crop sensor body). You simply need as much reach as you can get your hands on when photographing birds at any real distance.

[steve_m]

Thanks for the comments. Both of you.


I have been to this place before and I know 200mm is not enough reach. Last time I was there I had a EF 75-300mm. The image quality was terrible at long distance and believe it or not, 300mm was still not enough reach.


I have a 24-105 L and it works great for lots of shots but just doesn't have what I need for this trip.


I'm using a 1.6 crop body (XTi).

[Madison]

IS is useful for longer exposure of static subjects and will NOT freeze action. Small shutter speeds do that.


So you are mistaken if you think IS will make capturing in-flight moments more stable. It will not.





I'd say you need longer tele. Which is expensive. So my advice is: rent a few and try them. Then make your decision.


You're spending a lot of money you see. Renting can be quite affordable and you have first hand experience with them before you make a decision. These lenses tend to be expensive so renting is a good way of making damn sure you get what you need.

[Bill M.]

How about the 100-400 as a possible contender? I don't do that much bird shooting, other than in my own back yard but the 100-400 works well for me in good light. With the Xti you will get a 640mm 5.6 lens with pretty good optics, better than the 75-300 that you used in the past.


I would agree with Sean to use the 500 f4 to give you nice reach and better IQ, but if your thinking of using the lens hand-held at all, the 100-400 is much easier to deal with for any length of time. Also the flexibility of having a zoom will allow you to track the birds in flight a little easier, unless you are just shooting them while they are perched somewhere.


Good luck!

[Madison]

Is the 100-400 fast enough to capture things like in-flight?

[Bill M.]

It's not bad if you have good light but sometimes you have to bump up your ISO anyway to get a fast enough shutter speed--then again, I don't tend to capture too many in-flight pictures anyway--I like it much better when they are nice and perched

[Sean Setters]

In order to adequately capture birds in flight (even with IS) with a large zoom, you might want to invest in a monopod with a decent ballhead on top. That might give you enough stability and ease of movement while not being cumbersome. Just something to keep in mind...