Affordable long zoom lens

FW_Leighton

FW_Leighton

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Steven
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Hi, I was sitting in a hide watching birds at a local reservoir last week. I had with me my Nikon D5000 and Tamron 55-300mm but I found myself wanting to get closer to the birds. I spoke to a guy who had a Sigma 150-600mm lens with him. I looked up the Sigma and the Tamron but they are way out of my budget.

I've been thinking about this ever since and have been watching eBay for long zooms and the most affordable option for my budget seems to be a bridge zoom. I've got a couple of older cameras to watch (Panasonic Lumix FZ72 and Canon Powershot HS50) but I've just realised I have another option in that I also have a Panasonic video camera HC-V500. I didn't have this with me at the time.

The video camera spec chart suggests that the HC-V500 has a 35mm equivalent focal length of between 1345-1547mm depending on whether shooting is set to 16:9, 4:3 or 3:2. This is even greater than the 1200mm of the FZ72. Perhaps I'm not interpreting the charts correctly though?

Now I'm thinking perhaps I should not make any hasty purchase. However, the FZ72 is appealing because it will include everything I love about my travel compact, Panasonic Lumix TZ40, such as the creative filters, 3D, panorama. It also has an electronic viewfinder, which will be better than the HC-V500 and the TZ40 in bright high contrast conditions.

Anyone able to offer me some advice?
 
MOD EDIT : If you're advertising, do it in the classifieds section
 
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Depends on your budget
MPB have a few sigma 150-500s in Nikon fit for £420-£450, alternatively see if you can pick up and older sigma 50-500 , they should be pretty cheap now
 
I don't have much money to play with, so I want to make the most of anything I buy and want to avoid having equipment I don't use.

I'm talking myself into sticking with what I have, I think, at the moment.
 
You'll notice a drop in performance between your DSLR and a bridge camera as the bridge camera has a much smaller sensor. I have a Panasonic FZ80, which has a 20 -1200mm zoom. I have it as a backup for when my 100-400mm doesn't get close enough. It's useful for ID shots and so on but I don't get shots that I want to put on my wall often, particularly when shooting in low light.
 
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Thanks for that. I probably won't be shooting wildlife every weekend, so I probably am looking for more of a backup camera.
 
i have mentioned this before but what about a camcorder? yes I know everyone is shouting them down but I am happy with mine as a backup for stills and video
This is the Panasonic HC-X900M which possibly can be got fairly cheaply second hand as now out of production

you may not need this amount of zoom but to give some idea if you watch all of it


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zocBr0JOGUk


Stills from same camcorder

Ja9Ri34.jpg
 
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Yes, I am thinking along similar lines. I have a Panasonic HC-V500 already, I think I'll take that to the reservoir and see what shots I can get before deciding. Thanks for sharing your shots.
 
I've looked on Flickr's camera finder and the photos that look sharp from the F72 don't seem to be at the long end, looking at the exif data. Think I need to live with my existing equipment for a while longer.
 
Thanks. I think I will save some pennies and instead focus for now on improving my shots and techniques with my existing lenses.
 
I have so much to learn about photography, I don't think buying an expensive lens is right for me at the moment. Maybe in a few years when I'm a better photographer!
 
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