New lens for a Canon 400D

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purpledragon

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sam
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Hi All :help:

I'm new and was wondering if I could get some advice about lenses. I enjoy doing wildlife photography (very basic stuff) but would like to get a better lens. At the moment I'm using a Sigma 70-300mm APO DG. I would like to go up to 500mm but was wondering which was better Sigma 170-500mm or if I can get the money together Sigma 150-500mm or Tamron 200-500mm. Any advice please?
 
Depending on your budget I would get a 70-200mm f2.8 and a 2x/1.4x extender.
 
Sorry to hijack this thread but is it better to get extenders rather than invest in a new lens, i have been looking at a 500 but money is proving an issue!

What sort of thing is it that needs to be looked at when buying extenders?
 
gillybean214 said:
Sorry to hijack this thread but is it better to get extenders rather than invest in a new lens, i have been looking at a 500 but money is proving an issue!

What sort of thing is it that needs to be looked at when buying extenders?
Click to expand...

It is cheaper as extenders can be bought for around £150. However you lose a f stop when you use one. Say you had a lens that was f2.8 and you used a extender then it would become f4. On some lens you lose the auto focus. Not many though. If you want that extra reach then its worth it.
 
There is invariably some IQ loss with extenders, they also work better on primes than zooms. As you state wildlife is your intrest the Sigmas are probably the best way to get to 500mm. The 150-500 is a better lens than the 170-500 so I would go for that if you can afford it, and no matter what the lens it is never long enough, wildlife has this instinct to be just that bit too far away :lol:
 
Andy said:
It is cheaper as extenders can be bought for around £150. However you lose a f stop when you use one. Say you had a lens that was f2.8 and you used a extender then it would become f4. On some lens you lose the auto focus. Not many though. If you want that extra reach then its worth it.
Click to expand...

As in most things in life you do not get something for nothing and using an extender will bring its own downsides, loss of light and loss of Image Quality being the main ones and if the maximum aperture is taken above f5.6 you will lose Autofocus on Prosumer/Consumer cameras and above f8 on Pro models.

Also as the magnification ratio rises the downsides also rise.

!.4x Extender, 1 stop loss of light marginal Image Quality loss
2x Extender 2 stops loss of light, much more Image Quality loss
3x Converter (Don't even bother)

The other thing about some extenders is they will only fit specific lenses so it is worth checking up on what will fit and what won't.
 
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