Lense

[elwoodsusanm]

Am I asking the impossible or is there a lense that Can zoom in a long way and also give me macro at the zoom distance? Perhaps for birds, butterflies etc! I have Nikon D80:) and making painfully slow progress:o

[Danudin]

Sue, I regularly use my Sigma 70=300mm lense which has what I would consider to be a pseudo macro lens, for both long distance, animal (Bird) shots and moon shots but by extending it and flicking a small slide to macro, I have tajen some very good close ups of insects, smal birds and flowers that others have said have good "Bokeh" and fine clarity.
I bought the lens on ebay for a very reasonable price (Don't quote me but sub $Aust400 when we had near parity). I love this lense and am confident that I can reply on it in most circumstances.

This shot was yaken with the lens I mentioned and I thinl it shows the quality to advantage/

http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/files/2/0/9/8/8/delicate_flower_01.jpg

Happy searching
Ron

[nu2scene]

You probably can find a lens that can zoom through a large focal length span, and maybe do 'pseudo-macro'. But I think you'll be frustrated when you use it. You'll get something that 'kind of' works. But it won't do what you want it to, at either.

A real macro lens is 1:1. You'll never get that from anything from BUT a real macro lens. So you'll never get as close as you want.

Then on top of that, a macro lens is usually a very slow focuser. So you'll never get the lens to focus on birds fast enough to shot it. The bird will be long since gone, by the time your lens hunts back and forth focusing.

[elwoodsusanm]

You probably can find a lens that can zoom through a large focal length span, and maybe do 'pseudo-macro'. But I think you'll be frustrated when you use it. You'll get something that 'kind of' works. But it won't do what you want it to, at either.

A real macro lens is 1:1. You'll never get that from anything from BUT a real macro lens. So you'll never get as close as you want.

Then on top of that, a macro lens is usually a very slow focuser. So you'll never get the lens to focus on birds fast enough to shot it. The bird will be long since gone, by the time your lens hunts back and forth focusing.

So what lense would you use to get close-ups without frightening off the birds etc?:confused:
Sue

[athegn]

"So what lense would you use to get close-ups without frightening off the birds etc?"

I think you are confusing Macro(closeup) with making far off subjects appear larger. Macro is where you are very close to your subject e.g. an inch or two and want to see tiny details. See this thread for a definition of Macro:-

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Macro_01.htm

You need a telephoto lens and a lot of patience to get "closeups" of birds.

[elwoodsusanm]

"So what lense would you use to get close-ups without frightening off the birds etc?"

I think you are confusing Macro(closeup) with making far off subjects appear larger. Macro is where you are very close to your subject e.g. an inch or two and want to see tiny details. See this thread for a definition of Macro:-

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Optical/Macro_01.htm

You need a telephoto lens and a lot of patience to get "closeups" of birds.
You could be right, not very good at expressing myself:o I want to get close-ups of birds etc but obviously I will be at a distance! Also I want very good detail. I don't want to pay the earth either:eek:
Sue:)

[nu2scene]

Yes, I think you're confusing two different things.

Macro is taking pictures of something close up, so that it fills the frame. Like when some people take close up shots of flowers, or coins or insects, things like that. A macro lens lets you do that. If you try doing macro with a regular lens, you'll only be able to get to a certain distance from the subject. Once you get closer than that point, your lens will no longer be able to focus. You won't be able to focus because you've gotten closer to the subject than what the lens is capable of focusing. The macro lens lets you continue to get closer to the subject, and lets you fill the frame with a bigger image.

Now the other side of the spectrum is shooting things from far off. Like birds in flight or animals at the zoo or kids on stage, you need a lens with a longer focal length. How long of a focal length? That depends on how far you want to be from the subject. The further you want to be from the subject, and still get a decent size, you need a longer focal length. For birding you will probably need something over 200mm.

[athegn]

" I don't want to pay the earth either"

This may not be easy. Birding tends to be expensive. Long telephotos with large apertures and the quality for the required detail do not come cheap.

Google for Digi Scoping. I found this website:-

http://www.birdphotography.org/content.php

[Whiplash-GT]

Sue, I regularly use my Sigma 70=300mm lense which has what I would consider to be a pseudo macro lens, for both long distance, animal (Bird) shots and moon shots but by extending it and flicking a small slide to macro, I have tajen some very good close ups of insects, smal birds and flowers that others have said have good "Bokeh" and fine clarity.
I bought the lens on ebay for a very reasonable price (Don't quote me but sub $Aust400 when we had near parity). I love this lense and am confident that I can reply on it in most circumstances.

This shot was yaken with the lens I mentioned and I thinl it shows the quality to advantage/

http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/files/2/0/9/8/8/delicate_flower_01.jpg

Happy searching
Ron

i use the 70-300 APO Sigma..
does a decent job
for the amount of usage it gets i couldn't warrant dropping the spendies on a true macro

[Danudin]

Honestly Sue, take a look at the photo in the link and the one I have linked here, this second one was taken at about 200 feet across a stream and didn't disturb either the tortise or the ducks.

http://www.elementsvillage.com/gallery/files/2/0/9/8/8/passing_parade.jpg

Birds on the wing are a case of luck to some degree but with digital you can keep on snapping and just discard the flops.

I thought I had made a mistake when I bought the lens, but I DIDN'T it is one of the most used lens I own take a look at my gallery and some of the threads I started, as most of the photos included have been taken with the 70-300mm Sigma lens - IT IS GREAT and for the price an absolute bargain, I would love a 600 or 800mm lens but who has 5 -10,000 dollars Australian or US to throw around - Not Me!

[ljameso1]

You can get away with a lens in the 200-300mm range on birds that are somewhat habituated or working with a blind. For anything else I reach for my 100-400 IS usually set at 400 and sometimes with a teleconverter as well. Cheap and wild bird close-ups don't usually go in the same sentence. The smaller the bird the bigger the lens needed. This was taken with the zoom I mentioned at 400mm, on a digital camera with a 1.6 factor and a 1.4 teleconverter. I still had to crop in as this shy bird would not allow closer approach.