What Nikon-compatible lens is a good step up from 200mm for bird photography on a D7000?
Asked 12/24/2010
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I’m shooting with a Nikon D7000 and my longest lens right now is an 18-200mm. That isn’t enough reach for wildlife and especially birds. I’d like something around 400mm or longer that offers better performance than my current lens, but I don’t want the size, weight, or cost of Nikon’s big 400mm/500mm super-telephoto primes. I’ve looked at the Nikon 80-400mm VR, but I’m concerned about autofocus speed and image quality at the long end. Are there lighter, less expensive Nikon-compatible options—zoom or prime—that are better suited to bird photography?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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I own two Nikon long lenses; the 80-400 VR and the 500 f4 VR. Both lenses take excellent photographs. The problem with the 80-400 for shooting birds is the slow focus. You will be very lucky to photograph a bird in flight with it. If the birds are stationary, it will work just fine but it is not, nor was it designed to be, an action lens.
The 500 is a great bird lens. It focuses very fast and the picture quality is impeccable. Plus, and this is a big plus, you can use with teleconverters. I've used mine with both the 1.4 and 2.0 II's. The 2.0 teleconverter slows the focus to a crawl so rules out action photos but you get the equivalent of a 1,500mm lens on a DX body. the 1.4 teleconverter allows the 500 to focus just as fast as without the teleconverter.
I have also rented the 400 2.8 Nikon and it is a fantastic lens as well. Two things held me back on the 400. the first is that the lens is so fat, 2.8 you know, that it is hard for me to hand hold. The other is the price which is quite a bit higher than the 500. The 400 is probably the more versatile lens.
My smugmug account has several examples taken with both. labboy.smugmug.com
Originally by user2819. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2819
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For birds, the main limitation of the older Nikon 80-400mm VR isn’t image quality so much as autofocus speed. It can work well for perched or slow-moving birds, but it’s not a strong choice for birds in flight.
The Nikon 500mm f/4 is excellent for bird photography and works well with teleconverters, but it’s exactly the kind of large, heavy, expensive lens you’re trying to avoid.
In the middle ground, third-party lenses are the most realistic option. From the answers, two notable choices are:
- Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3: popular because it gives a lot of reach at a much lower cost, though image quality and brightness are compromises.
- Sigma 100-300mm f/4: optically strong and more affordable, but 300mm may still feel short for birds, even on a DX body.
Mirror lenses are another compact, cheap way to reach 500mm+, but they usually have fixed slow apertures, manual focus, lower contrast, and unusual bokeh, so they’re not ideal for tracking birds.
Bottom line: if you want affordable and portable, expect tradeoffs. For stationary birds, the 80-400mm is usable; for more serious bird work on a budget, a long Sigma zoom is the better fit.
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