Beginner which lens for wildlife photography

Kingo46

Kingo46

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Hi All

need some help my son (14 years old) has asked for camera for Xmas, WHAT with 4 weeks to go!! he use my D3100 as he is doing photography in school, he also has ask for a lens for wildlife photography so what is the min spec lens would he need? to use with the D3100,?? I have the 70-300MM which came with my D3100 ( I think this would be the min spec)
 
I think the 70-300 should do for now............BIG bucks for the long stuff.
 
HonTricky one. How serious is he? You don't want to end up breaking the bank only to find he's into dirt bikes or Xbox a year later. Wildlife is a lot more about getting close than having a long reach lens, but yeah... 300mm is as low as I'd go.
 
The 70-300mm the kit lens will give very average performance, the kit lenses are never great, but it will get you started if you're on a budget. It depends what you want to pay, but my recommendations would be something like the tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 VC lens would be a very good start and affordable about £240 just as good and cheaper than the Nikon version.

You could look at something like these if your happy to buy used, but the price goes up
http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/us...gma-100-300mm-f4-ex-apo-if-dg-hsm-nikon-fit-1

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/us...s/sigma-150-500mm-f5-63-dg-os-hsm-nikon-fit-1
 
deeley_s said:
HonTricky one. How serious is he? You don't want to end up breaking the bank only to find he's into dirt bikes or Xbox a year later. Wildlife is a lot more about getting close than having a long reach lens, but yeah... 300mm is as low as I'd go.
Click to expand...

thanks he's starting to get serious he's already got the Xbox things
 
pete.rush said:
The 70-300mm the kit lens will give very average performance, the kit lenses are never great, but it will get you started if you're on a budget. It depends what you want to pay, but my recommendations would be something like the tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6 VC lens would be a very good start and affordable about £240 just as good and cheaper than the Nikon version.

You could look at something like these if your happy to buy used, but the price goes up
http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/us...gma-100-300mm-f4-ex-apo-if-dg-hsm-nikon-fit-1

http://www.mpbphotographic.co.uk/us...s/sigma-150-500mm-f5-63-dg-os-hsm-nikon-fit-1
Click to expand...

thanks Peter
 
The cheap one should be avoided at all cost :);) not a great lens
 
If you have the budget MPB have a 2nd hand Nikon 80 - 400m when I checked recently, around £600.

I now buy all my cameras and lenses 2nd hand from reputable sources such as MPB and have yet to be disappointed.
 
If the budget will stretch to around £600 for a used one, the Nikkor 300mm f/4D AF-S is superbly sharp.
 
it all depends upon budget
for new I would vote for the tamron VC also.
purists would use a prime, then there are the 50-500 ish sigma (bigma) lenses.
a 70-300mm is a good start.
 
'Wildlife photography' covers a very wide field. What are your son's interests, and what opportunities does he have access to?
 
All very much depends on the type of wildlife - birds need longer focal lengths. So the Nikkor something to 300 (is there a 55-300?) or a Sigma 100-300 f4 will be perfect.

Megabucks for something used sparingly is wasteful, for one off use consider rental.
 
Kingo46 said:
whats the difference between these 2 apart from the price ;)
A> Tamron SP 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di VC USD http://www.jessops.com/online.store...4-5-6-di-vc-usd-lens-nikon-af-77949/show.html

B> Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 http://www.parkcameras.com/9114/Tam...rrer=Froogle&gclid=CM-p94Ceo8ICFdLItAodBUQAqg
Click to expand...

I have had both these lenses, the cheap £100 ish one is ok at best, i bought it as i didn't have any experience of anything that long, and didn't even know if i would get any use out of it......... i found out i did use it, a lot, so within 6 months had upgraded to the £250 Tamron with VC, and what a difference, the cheap one is very soft at the long end (which to be honest is where it's going to get used 90% of the time), the VC lens is super sharp, plus the added bonus of VC really helps

I only ended up getting rid of the VC as i went down the Prime route in the end, but you are looking upward of £700 for a 300mm f4 prime

Worth looking at second hand Tamron 70-300mm VC's though if the £250 one is out of budget, i think i sold mine for £150 in the end
 
I found that using the Tamron 70-300 VC was a good experience, however, it won't be long before he's wanting to get longer reach. The Sigma stuff is cheap used, and I often found that anything to the 400-500 range acceptable for keeping up with the pack. The longer you go the deeper your pocket needs to be. You can be very clever with wildlife stuff though. I shot Kingfishers with the Tamron 70-300 once, but I spent money on a chair hide instead of a big lens. Helped with loads of things. Set it up in the back garden next to a bird feeder and fill your boots with shots all day long.
 
most of us have assumed that this is about long lens photography ... course if he's interested in insects or plants a decent macro like the tamron 90 or the sigma 105 or 150 might be a better option.
 
thanks everyone for your comments he is doing GCSE photography in school, he likes being out doors, so he said he would like to try wildlife photography which will done at RSPB sites, local area's and when we go out for days out, ie Lakes its going to be after Xmas now for the lens, think I'll go for the mid prince range to see if he keeps it up, (the good thing if he doesn't I'll keep the lens for myself :) )
 
Save up for a 300mm f/2.8 & add when you can a 2x extention as most f/2.8 300mm can take one but check first.
Here is one but finishes this Monday 22nd at 8:07 pm
It's £102 at the moment but the delivery is steep at £39.99!
But expect it to go up as this new is way higher than the current bid.

The one I've linked to is a 120-300mm f/2.8 right through the range & I have had the Canon version for the past 9 + years with no issues & use a 2x with it.
This of course then gives a 240-600mm f/5.6 which is still very fast & for me has been an excellent way to cover a vast zoom range with only the one lens.
 
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