Super Telephoto

[ColourfulThoughts]

Hey everyone, I am loving seeing all the amazing pictures on here. I am a second year photographer, I started taking pictures at my brothers football games after our mother passed away and I got her camera. Now I am starting to branch out and take some different styles of pictures and one thing I have had my eyes on is a Super Telephoto lens. I love taking pictures of the birds that I have around here, there are some amazing raptors flying around but it can be pretty hard to get a nice picture of them since they fly so high.

The camera I am using is a Nikon D90 so obviously I need something that fits on to that. I was thinking that a 400mm might be a good lens to look at. Does this seems little overkill for nature photography or am I on the right track? Right now my largest lens is a 90mm so this will be a huge jump but I think it is a good one. Any thoughts on this? Should I be looking for something that is a little smaller at first or take the leap and learn as I go? Thanks in advance everyone!

I have done a lot of research into what lens I should start off with and I can't thank you all enough for the help. I found a 400m lens that was at an amazing price on https://www.for-sale.ie/canon-400-mm-lens. I wanted to start with a 300 and work my way up but at the price I could not resist it. I am going to take a small trip this weekend and test it out, after I will post the results for all to see

[Stagecoach]

One of the things you will need to consider is budget, there can be a significant difference when looking at the 300/400/500mm range.

[Black Pearl]

Typically the longer the better.

Depending on budget a used Sigma 150-500 or a new(er) 150-600mm from them or Tamron might be a useful lens to have. Certainly the range of image you can shoot with them is larger.

[Manfred M]

We own a couple of D90 camera (and my wife uses hers, but my daughter has "borrowed" mine. We also have a Nikkor D 80-400mm and a Sigma 150-500mm that we have used for wildlife photography.

A bit of a warning; when it comes to equipment, the bird and sports photographers tend to have the longest focal length (i.e. most expensive lenses) available.

In general, a full-frame equivalent of 400mm is often considered the minimum focal length for this type of work, which means, anything longer than 270mm on your D90 would be the absolute minimum to be considered. The main reason for me mentioning this is that once you get beyond 300mm focal length, there tends to be a significant price jump in lens costs. Longer focal lengths will definitely get you closer, and that is something that is definitely desirable.

The D90 is several generations old (came out in 2009) and does not have the cleanest images as you increase the ISO setting, so that may limit you.

Another consideration is the longer the focal length, the more difficult it is to aim and focus a lens when you hand hold, so that is going to be another consideration.

If costs are an issue, you can look at the used lens market, but if you do, I would be aware of a few things to watch out for. The 80-400 D Nikkor is fairly inexpensive and the used market price dropped when the G version came out. The main issue with the D version is that it has a screw-type autofocus, which is supported by the D90, but not by other entry level or mid-range Nikon cameras. Focus is relatively slow compared to more modern lenses. Early versions of the Sigma 150-500mm lens had reliability issues, so this is another lens to stay away from, unless you are getting a more recent version.

[LePetomane]

Speaking as a rank amateur from a financial standpoint, one thing to keep in mind is that a lens like that is very specialized. If you have the option of renting before you buy I would jump on it.

[Bobobird]

Read up everything you can find out about bird photography BEFORE you even consider the subject.

Lets put this another way - you will get a 400 (or the Sigma/Tamron telezooms). You will be happy with that for a short while and then start to find the camera to be under-spec'd. Then you might upgrade to a D500. You will be more happy with that for a while and then start finding the lens limiting. That would lead you into heavy prime lens territory. Assuming you get a 500 or 600 prime, then you will start to find the D500 wanting. By then you might have become quite good at it. Why not full-frame cameras you ask. You will then get a D850 (hey it does almost as well as the D5 does'nt it? and I can crop). But ultimately you will get a D5. That is not even the end of it - along the way you will get teleconverters, tripods, other stuff...

This is how every bird photographer I know started (myself included) and the equipment we ended up with. Are we totally happy? Nope!. Now we look at lens for specific types of shooting situations and terrain conditions. We will also start getting sick of our local birds and go off to other places and countries for this or that.

Don't be discouraged but unlike many of us you at least know before you even start about what the journey involves.

Welcome to the club. You will be embarking on a really great journey.

[ColourfulThoughts]

Thanks for all of the responses everyone. After reading through all of them I have a couple notes, mainly that I will not be upgrading the camera body for a while. This camera has special meaning to me and I want to use it as much as I can. I think I will start looking at used lens's first and see what I can find, I would rather buy a couple now and see how I like them plus save some money buying used then buy a new one every six months. I am going to take a look tomorrow and start with a 300, then see what happens. Thanks again guys, wish me luck.