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cheers justin....I have numerous shots of birds in flight taken with a bog standard 70-300mm that I'm quite happy with.
....granted, not up to the standard of many but I think a lot owe much to Photoshop which try as I might I cannot understand.
....I'd be useing the 2.8 with a converter so 'gotta be better that what I shoot with at present I'm thinking.
....no way am I going to carry the weight of 500/600mm lenses.
....Mike
200mm, as Justin said, is too short to get decent shots of birds in flight. I have a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 non-OS version and i found it hard to get a decent up-close shot of a bird sitting on a fence about 20 feet away. The picture had to be heavily cropped, with the resulting increase in visible noise and loss of contrast. I have since purchased a 1.4 extender so hopefully this will allow me to get closer shots in the future. Birds in flight, unless they are flying very close to you, need a longer lens.
Quote: Unfortunately that is their main disadvantage and it's sods law that if you haven't got it with you, then that's when the best opportunities will arise
Justin...I suspect you live in an area of extreme natural beauty.
I envy you and in a different life I'd live somewhere similar but I would need to change my whole life and / or travel 100s of miles to even consider photography like yours.
According to the reviews many amateur photographers shoot wildlife useing a 70-200 2.8 with a converter.
...at no time did I profess to wanting award winning wildlife shots with a 300mm focal length even though I'm sure that there are many that get them.
I suspect that some of the lenses you speak of you'd be struggling to take them on a plane in your hand luggage then when you arrive you'd need to hire a car to carry your kit and get you to your chosen destination.
....all quite reasonable but not for me...I prefer to travel reasonably light.
....cheers....Mike
Quote: 200mm, as Justin said, is too short to get decent shots of birds in flight
Umberto...from looking at your pf I would say that you have as much interest in wildlife/action photography as I have in landscape/buildings, if you had interest in wildlife you'd put the converter on and get closer to the larger birds.
I've taken a great many acceptable shots useing a Nikon 70-300 VR and more recently a Nikon 24-300 VR.
....granted, not award winning shots like Justin's but quite acceptable to me.
.....I just want to get a teeny bit better before I sell my house, buy a huge lens and move to the New Forrest. 
.....Mike
Quote: Umberto...from looking at your pf I would say that you have as much interest in wildlife/action photography as I have in landscape/buildings, if you had interest in wildlife you'd put the converter on and get closer to the larger birds.
I live in the City so not a huge amount of chances to get rare birds, whether sitting still or in flight, but point taken. I had plans on going to the local nature reserve but was scuppered by my wife having to go into hospital a lot this year. I still intend on going at some point so maybe i'll get a chance to use that long lens more
What about the new Nikon 70-200mm f/4 lens due out before xmas, I know its f4 but it might be alot faster focusing. Just another option. I personally had the 70-200mm sigma and found it to short but then I photograph smaller birds, I now use the sigma 120-300mm 2.8 with 1.4 tc and 2x tc when required and rather happy for the money I got it all for, totally different ball game.
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