There are so many factors to consider when buying lenses for photographing birds. I will be 60 next year and I find that I photograph birds more as an observer and less as a hunter so my Nikon ED180 lens is great. This picture of the Black bellied Plover was done with a 180 http://birdcentral.net/blbellied2.htm .

Out of habit my main lens is still the Nikon 300. My most important adaptor are extension rings which let me focus on birds as they move closer to me. A 300mm lens will normally only focus on something 10 or more feet away. Many birds come closer than that and the extension rings allow the lens to focus closer and closer.

But again I am becoming more stationary and watching the movement of birds and figuring out how they can come to me. Even though I have a good Gitzo tripod I don't use it much because it restricts movement, so that means that I tend to use shorter lenses and use my knowledge of birds to compenesate. As one teacher explained to me, every time you half the distance between you and your subject you essentially double your lens size.

Jim Rosso
jlrosso at aol.com
http://birdcentral.net/index.htm


-----Original Message-----
From: meganlyden at msn.com
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 11:38 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Camera lenses for birds



Hi Tweeters,

The proverbial question....best camera lens for birding in the range of about $1000 - $1200? Looking at Canon 300mm F4 IS, Canon 400mm F5.6, and maybe the Sigma 50-500 mm zoom? Opinions? I like the Canons, the 400 gets closer but doesn't have IS and is slower. The 300 has IS, is faster and auto-focuses with a teleconverter. Decisions, decisions!

Megan Lyden
Bellevue, WA
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