Wildlife Photography

[BrandonsBirbs]

Several on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/144717124928?epid=3017526294&hash=item21b1d01540:g:vJUAAOSwokNjIpGq&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoI2DnmfBGECuHNhqyOpAQzJgNsBld3GGdwl00yI5V/v2BcxSAq/HFMZEO6XS8UeraP/b/ylCGUvcieE8c4bplZONjuquYp9TFTcrb5cG6e6E73zVUSKuU84AVh430Gbm/PZKHDCg/2ibSx1VVfvOQrrBYCCOl9VAnVfzxiRW7BCXNLa0/D6jMJi9HH9pJF/iTO70SUW7XMlezg2d82/v/Qk=|tkp:Bk9SR6iCtoLpYA

Sorry, I was talking about the lens

 

[mdees88]

Sorry, I was talking about the lens

Oh, I see that now. I was just letting you know that's one of the most popular lenses for birding. It's going to be above your budget but it's one of the more affordable options for that size lens. It looks like they are selling for around ~$600 used on ebay.

 

[mdees88]

Been seeing some discussion around these lenses: JINTU 420-800mm f/8.3 Manual Zoom Telephoto Lens Camera Lenses https://amzn.eu/d/aKJ4aeh
I understand they're manual focus and that can be hard but they do a variety of these from 100-600 to 800-1600mm all for £100 each. Too good to be true? Reviews are pretty great but I assume manual focusing at that range is pretty hard on moving birds.

You definitely do not want a manual focus lens for wildlife quality. I wouldn't recommend any off brand lenses either. Best to stick with your camera manufacturers lenses or some name brand 3rd party options like Sigma, Tamron, Rokinon, etc.

There are applications where those manual focus lenses my work decent but wildlife photography is not one of them, in my opinion.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/22516038...xggryuqsw-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Have checked online and this seems like a pretty good camera, slight upgrade to the D3500 previously recommended. Might try and get a bid on this, comes with quite a few lenses?

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Been offered a Pentax K-3 original, 6k actuations with a 28-80mm lens, battery grip, charger and things. Looks great. According to CameraDecision it beats out the Canon and Nikon.. all for £450. Any thoughts?

 

[mdees88]

Been offered a Pentax K-3 original, 6k actuations with a 28-80mm lens, battery grip, charger and things. Looks great. According to CameraDecision it beats out the Canon and Nikon.. all for £450. Any thoughts?

I'm not familiar with pentax but the specs on that camera do look good. The one thing that is a deal breaker for me though is the fixed rear screen. I do a lot of low angle work and there's no way I can get buy without an articulating screen. That's the difference between taking a knee and setting the camera on my foot, verses laying flat on the ground. I'm lazy and I would much prefer to take a knee.

You will definitely need a longer lens than 80mm for wildlife so factor that into the decision. On the D5300, you could get by with the 200mm, but you will still be wanting a longer lens for that one too eventually.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

I'm not familiar with pentax but the specs on that camera do look good. The one thing that is a deal breaker for me though is the fixed rear screen. I do a lot of low angle work and there's no way I can get buy without an articulating screen. That's the difference between taking a knee and setting the camera on my foot, verses laying flat on the ground. I'm lazy and I would much prefer to take a knee.

You will definitely need a longer lens than 80mm for wildlife so factor that into the decision. On the D5300, you could get by with the 200mm, but you will still be wanting a longer lens for that one too eventually.

The screen is the one thing that puts me off slightly too, there is the option of a Pentax K-70 but overall it's worse for wildlife photos, better for videos it just has the articulating screen. I am not use to having one though so I am thinking it may not be an issue for me currently.

Found a good quality sigma lens for this K-3, it is 70mm-300mm. Struggling to find any larger without spending over £500 on a secondhand lens!

 

[mdees88]

The screen is the one thing that puts me off slightly too, there is the option of a Pentax K-70 but overall it's worse for wildlife photos, better for videos it just has the articulating screen. I am not use to having one though so I am thinking it may not be an issue for me currently.

Found a good quality sigma lens for this K-3, it is 70mm-300mm. Struggling to find any larger without spending over £500 on a secondhand lens!

Yeah, the screen is just personal preference. The specs on that camera look pretty good. 300mm is decent reach.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Yeah, the screen is just personal preference. The specs on that camera look pretty good. 300mm is decent reach.

It's just my Lumix (although not great quality when it does) zooms to supposedly 1200mm so I'm going to have to get used to not even being able to reach half that distance! For an older camera I think it's pretty great spec-wise. Trying to find some cheaper deals but almost sold on getting that camera now

 

[mdees88]

It's just my Lumix (although not great quality when it does) zooms to supposedly 1200mm so I'm going to have to get used to not even being able to reach half that distance! For an older camera I think it's pretty great spec-wise. Trying to find some cheaper deals but almost sold on getting that camera now

The pentax has an aps-c sensor. The 70-300 sigma is for a full frame camera (still fits on an aps-c camera). So that 300mm lens on the pentax gives you an effective 450mm of reach. That's not too bad. For reference I'm currently using 400 and 500mm lenses on my R5 which has a full frame sensor. So that fits right in between what I'm using most of the time... but it will still take some getting used to.