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Which Prime lens for Bird Photography?


manorjim 15 5 United Kingdom
17 Nov 2012 5:26PM
hello
i am looking for a prime lense for birding,got a chance of a Nikon 300mm 2.8 AF ED lens,will this lense be ok on a d7000 body,also do you think the lack of vr will affect it.
cheers jim
arhb 15 3.4k 68 United Kingdom
17 Nov 2012 5:46PM
If they're anywhere near as good as the Canon version, should be ok on cropped sensor or full frame, and work well with 1.4 and 2x tele converters.
Probably worth investing in a good solid tripod and head also.
icphoto 21 2.7k England
17 Nov 2012 6:18PM
Used on a tripod the lack of VR will make no difference - if you had it you would have to switch it off anyway. For some birds 300mm may not be enough, however coupled with a Nikon tele converter you should have enough pulling power.
KNS 13 106 2 United Kingdom
17 Nov 2012 8:45PM
Yes it will be fine on a D7000. VR is overated, if you have sufficient shutter speed you won't need it anyway. The D7000 is reasonably good on high(er) ISO to get you to those higher speeds....

As someone says above get the Teleconverters. A 1.4 and 2x TC will make it a 420 f4 and 600 f5.6 respectively.... All 300 2.8's weigh a proverbial tonne....just somethng to be aware of.....
User_Removed 13 4.6k 1 Scotland
19 Nov 2012 3:58PM

Quote:Used on a tripod the lack of VR will make no difference - if you had it you would have to switch it off anyway. For some birds 300mm may not be enough, however coupled with a Nikon tele converter you should have enough pulling power.


as above.
20 Nov 2012 3:45PM
Bird Photography is not easy to do, I think 300mm is bit short, best around 400mm to 500mm, need fast lens with VR or IS are best advisable.
mikehit 13 8.0k 13 United Kingdom
20 Nov 2012 3:48PM
Quite a few keen birders I know use the 300mm f2.8 (or f4 if they cannot afford it) with no IS. I agree with the above: the shutter speed you need to freeze the wings often means that you are in non-IS territory anyway.
LenShepherd 15 4.6k United Kingdom
1 Dec 2012 8:22PM
If the 300 is an AF-1 version rather than a later AF-S version - use caution.
The AF-1 was last made 16 years ago and many spare parts, especially the AF motor, are no longer available. It was a good lens - but generally cannot be repaired. Allow for this in the price you pay
Turning to VR, VR lenses are probably outside the OP's price range, but I own and use a 300 f2.8 VR and disagree all the VR feedback.
Nikon make the point VR helps steady the subject in the frame, helping get good AF lock on. I agree VR does not help reduce subject movement much faster than 1/500 shutter speed - but this is an academic arguement if AF misses a moving subject because VR was not being used.
The 300 f2.8 VR has tripod mode VR Smile
Tripod mode VR can help a lot at slower shutter speeds, and with a converter - 560-840mm equivalent angle of view on a D7000. VR can sometimes make the difference between sharp and unsharp; or head and wing feathers within the depth of field - this may need f11 or smaller - with a tight crop of a medium or small bird.
23 Jan 2013 8:00PM
Hi Have a look my album gallery which I took by 17-35 F2.8 all hand held no VR on this model. cheers
Nick_w Plus
15 4.4k 100 England
23 Jan 2013 8:03PM
David how relevant is a 17-35 for bird photography, why are you flooding the forums with links to the images?
25 Jan 2013 11:28AM
also get a good monopod , i believe you can check out zoomin expert zone , they have a pretty good discussion on same

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