Grateful for the wisdom here before spending. What pitfalls am I going to find?
Thinking of buying a Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 Sports DH DN l mount lens as seeing the fantastic range of wildlife captures here. This would be a significant purchase for me and I’d rather have an idea where my regrets are likely to stem from before pushing the go button.
Now I understand that I have very little knowledge on how to actually take wildlife pictures other than little brown birds are quick and little and bigger wildlife prefers places and times when people are not there so one or two gaps that I’m going to need some help with. I’m guessing that you experienced birders will know when and where to be to narrow the failure rate and knowledge more important than kit - but starting somewhere is starting.
I have an alarm clock and time so thinking that a longer reach lens is possibly the next item needed. I have a fairly decent tripod and head that should comfortably hold the lens and camera - looking on YouTube there are claims that this lens can be hand held but very happy to use a tripod.
I understand that even at 600mm little brown birds will continue to be very small unless really close but have no real concept of how close would be close enough. I understand that I could further extend with a teleconvertor - but that is also going to have a down side.
Grateful for your thoughts.
Hi, hope you're finding all the replies useful, even if they all get a little overwhelming at times. So having said that, I'm about to jump in with another one
I started with the Sigma 150-600 contemporary, and it was a great lens for me, but it was heavy, and as I approached my 60's it seemed to be heavier and heavier by the day.
Personally I would think about where you are heading for your photos. If you plan to visit 'hide' locations or places where you will set up and wait for your shots, or you're physically strong enough to lug the weight around then the Sigma could be a great lens for you too.
However if you are planning on walking around enjoying open areas, doing mainly hand held photo's that may require you twisting and bending at some ridiculous angles whilst lying on the ground, or pointing at the sky for prolonged periods to get your shots, then the weight will (IMO) eventually get to you and you'll start to think about lighter, more agile systems.
Whichever you choose it is almost inevitable that you will want to upgrade or change your system at some point in the future, as nearly all the photographers I meet have. So think about the camera system and where you can upgrade too, can you do it and keep the same lenses, will you need to change your whole system in the future which may incur a loss of time and money when selling, can you recoup the majority of the cost of the upgrade? These are just a few thoughts, hope they help.