Wildlife Lens HELP!

[Bondy]

Hey Guys really getting into wildlife photography, and I'm trying to find a lens for this within a price limit of around £600 the lens I want is £1299 but it's out of my price range. There's so much choice out there and conflicting views I don't know which way to turn. I do have a 300mm lens but it hunts for focus so much I'm having to switch to MF and losing my moment to get the shot. Please check out my DA page most of my best photos are on there, and were all shot with the sigma. I'm a complete novice been doing this since January and It's taking over all my other hobbys lol

Powerage76 on deviantART

Dream Lens
Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5/5.6L

Current gear

Canon 450D
Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6 DG Macro

[inkista]

Sigma 120-400 HSM OS, maybe? Here's one side-by-side with the 100-400L.

The only caveat is that the lensrentals guy say they've had a higher number than average of failures with both the 120-400OS and the 150-500OS.

[Aegea]

I'm not sure how prices are in the UK, but you might be able to find a used Canon 300mm f/4L (non-IS) in that price range - they seem to go for less than $1000 in the US. With a 1.4x teleconverter that would give you an excellent 420mm f/5.6.

[sk66]

You could find a used Sigma 50-500 for that. I would also consider a fast lens (70-200 f/2.8) and a 2x converter. Or really, save your money and get a 1.4/2x converter for now (you'll need good light).
I absolutely LOVE my SigMonster...except the weight.

[inkista]

Uh, guys. Grabbing prices off jessops.com:

The 300 f/4L is £1199.00
Sigma 120-400 is £599.00
Sigma 150-500 is £899.00

So, I'm guessing the Bigma's also above the OP's budget.

[sk66]

"used Bigma"...(forget the SigMonster unless getting a converter for now and saving up...)

[Aegea]

Wow, I didn't realize prices are so high in the UK.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by sk66

"used Bigma"...(forget the SigMonster unless getting a converter for now and saving up...)

The Bigma, new, is also close to £1000. Even if you can find a good used price, I don't think it's going to dip as low as £600.

Aegea: yeah, the UK really gets shafted on the prices. I only realized this because I read dpreview a lot, and they're UK-based. Japan and the US tend to have the best prices, and everybody else pays a premium. A straight currency conversion is not going to get you the going prices on stuff. This is why you'll see equipment on eBay going for the same or even a little more than street--UK buyers are happy to pay US prices if they can.

[Bondy]

Thanks for the suggestions everybody gonna check those out didn't think about convertors.

[inkista]

Be careful with converters: most of them are going to lose you autofocus.

A 1.4x tc adds a stop to your len's maximum aperture. A 2x tc adds two stops.

So, for example, if you were shooting with an f/4 lens, with a 1.4x tc added, it becomes an f/5.6 lens, and with a 2x tc, it becomes an f/8 lens.

Most Canon dSLR bodies stop trying to autofocus when the lens's maximum aperture hits f/8. This is why the Canon teleconverters only work with f/2.8 L lenses for the most part. You can fool the camera body by taping over the tc pins, or using a non-reporting TC that the camera doesn't sense is on the mount.

But. These tricks won't actually get you back full functioning autofocus. The AF system needs "light" to see by, and the maximum aperture determines how much it gets. The smaller the effect maximum aperture, the less light there is. With a tc, AF performance is going to take a hit, no question, as well as the sharpness and overall image quality. Using a tc is cheaper, but it is not equivalent to having a longer lens.