Ideal LENS for Bird photography

[svilas25]

Dear Friends,

Now,this is to request you for your advise on updating my existing gear of Photography.

I own

Nikon D7000 DSLR with Nikon DX AF-S VR Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED Lens,
Nikon ED AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Lens,

I feel that my Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR lens does not give required magnification for long distance Bird photography.

I am confused with regards to purchase of Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D VR after reading various reviews on Internet.

I sincerely request for your advise on above matter.

Thanking you with regards.

Vilas Sali, Mumbai-INDIA
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[RichardTaylor]

Hi Vilas.
This is in response to to your email & PM's.
I am a Canon shooter so I have no first hand experience with Nikon lenses.
However I do have a flickr contact who shoots birds with Nikon.
You can see his profile, including equipment, here:

Flickr: beachwalker2008

He uses everything from the 80-400 to 300mm primes with tele convertors.

I shoot a lot of motor sport and some of my friends use Nikon.
If they want reach (over 200mm) they are always using Nikon primes usually 300 or 400mm at the very least, and up to 600mm. I don't see them using TC's on the primes.

[OsmosisStudios]

For one, dont double post. Minor thing, but having 2 threads gets confusing. See here.

As for lenses: If you're serious about birding, you'll want as much focal length as you can get: That usually means splashing out big money on super telephotos. 400mm will likely be a minimum, but more is recommended. Sigma make a 150-500 that is good, but slow (f/6.3 at 500mm). Tamron also make similar lenses. If you want to stay OEM Nikon though, you're looking at maybe a 200-400 f/4 or going with primes. The 200-400 f/4 can take a 1.4 TC though, which would give you 280-560 f/5.6, which is better. Add to that your D7000's crop factor, and you end up with a pretty decent setup.

[svilas25]

Thanks a lot!