tight budget lens for birds

I am still new to photography but I think I would like taking pics of birds. I was wondering what would be a good lens on a tight photography budget?

How tight?

If u can afford. 300 f4 L or 400 5.6L. Prices have dropped on ver 1 of 100-400. Good lens that I have seen listed for under $1000

Sigma 50-500 is a little less. Or sigma 150-500 even less but not by much. I started birding with this lens. Downside can get heavy


An be prepared, photographing birds becomes a disease. You will soon find yourself driving Hours to search and photograph a rare bird. Have fun

randy

Thank you so much for your recommendations!

I am into macro and I find myself going to crazy places to find bugs..so I can only guess how crazy I will be with birds

I started out with a 70-200mm lens...too short. I then went with a 400mm f/5.6...still too short. I now have a 500mm f/4L using an extender and I still wish I had more reach. Are you sure you want to do this?

Duane N wrote in post #17364535
I started out with a 70-200mm lens...too short. I then went with a 400mm f/5.6...still too short. I now have a 500mm f/4L using an extender and I still wish I had more reach. Are you sure you want to do this?

This is the truth! You can seemingly never have too much reach.

haha maybe not!

ptcanon3ti wrote in post #17364542
This is the truth! You can seemingly never have too much reach.

400mm too short? On a crop or FF? Makes a big difference.

400 on a crop equates roughly to a 600 on a FF. The former is easy to handhold; the latter requires a tripod. The format definitely makes a difference.

I have spent many hours with my 7D and 100-400mm doing bird photography. It is very suitable, but yes, often a bit short. But it depends. There are also many times when it is just right, or even too wide.

Basically, it depends.

On a budget anything over a 400 5.6L is going to be pricey. What kinda budget are we looking at Jessi?

Jessi if you look back in for sale section looks like some decent prices on used 400 5.6L and 300 4L. May be worth a look. Don't know the folks that are selling.

I'm running a 7D and 400mm/F5.6 lens. That lens was running around $1200 new when I bought mine back in July. That and the 300mm/F4 were the only birding lenses I could afford from Canon so I grabbed the 400mm.

Well I was hoping to stay around 300...but looks like that is prob not realistic.

Used 400 5.6 is a great choice to enter into this addiction.

Should pair well with your T4i. Even though I have the 500 F4 as well, I love how fast the 400 focuses for BIF targets and is very easy to follow the flight path hand held. Not so much with my 500, at least not yet until I build some more arm strength....

mamaof2 wrote in post #17366410
Well I was hoping to stay around 300...but looks like that is prob not realistic.

It will limited you to a 55-250. Just don't get the cheap 70-300. Very poor lens.

Reach is important when shooting birds. But if you just want to test the waters why not go with 55-250. You can shot a lot of yard birds with that lens. Will force you to learn to be patient to get your pic.
Plus your not in too deep should you decide birds are not for you. (But they will pull you in and take control so be warned)

Other option of course is save your coin for 400 5.6L

I can concur, the 400mm 5.6 is a great lens for birding - and so light!
I pair it up with my 70D, quick focus and nice and sharp!

mamaof2 wrote in post #17363726
I am still new to photography but I think I would like taking pics of birds. I was wondering what would be a good lens on a tight photography budget?

Heya,

You can get by with 200mm on APS-C, if you pay a lot of attention to your subjects and focus on making it so that you can get closer to them, or bring them closer to you. Example, large birds in public water ways, you're likely to get closer to them than in the stark wild as they're used to contact. Small birds can be attracted to feeders and bait stations where you can setup and hang out and wait for them to come to you. Things like that.

Seek out places near you where you can go that have routine populations of difference species and research them. See how close you can get.

55-250 STM would be a good start if you are willing to really work at getting close to your subjects.

If this is not possible, keep saving, and hunt down a used Sigma 150-500mm, in the $600~750 range.

Very best,