advice on telephoto zoom

[daredevil123]

Thanks everyone for your continued advice! My hands have a history of being slightly shaky, so for sure I will need IS/OS/VC, so the 400mm f5.6L, old Tamron 70-300 and 200-500 are out for me. I will look into the Sigma 150-500 or Tamron 150-600, they seem to create a smooth eventual upgrade path for me such that after enough saving and upgrading, I'll end up with a final 3 lens set of 15-85/17-55 + 70-200 f4L + 150-500/600 + 100mm macro - not much overlap.

I'll look into renting these lenses to try out

One thing to note about IS/OS/VC/VR. More than often, when you are shooting fast birds, you need very fast shutter speed to freeze action. That shutter speed usually will be enough to counter handshake. The problem with handholding for long tele lenses usually is not to combat blur pictures due to handshake, but minute handshake will give you problems in tracking moving birds and keeping them in frame, especially birds in flight. In the end, having a good support solution is a lot more important.

 

[illumnae]

Been doing some research and am looking at the Sirui P236 Monopod and T1204X Tripod with probably the G20 Ballhead. 10kg max weight should be enough right? The Tamron 150-600 is about 2kg, plus camera body about 1kg max even with a 5d3 (thinking of long term as I don't want yo have to buy a new one next time). Don't really want the 2 in 1 N series.

Do I have to buy both now or can I buy one first and if so, which one?

 

[Turbonetics]

Been doing some research and am looking at the Sirui P236 Monopod and T1204X Tripod with probably the G20 Ballhead. 10kg max weight should be enough right? The Tamron 150-600 is about 2kg, plus camera body about 1kg max even with a 5d3 (thinking of long term as I don't want yo have to buy a new one next time). Don't really want the 2 in 1 N series.

Do I have to buy both now or can I buy one first and if so, which one?

do u shoot landscape? if yes,then get a tripod first,u don't need to get both at the same time.
its actually better to use tripod over monopod so u don't really have to get a monopod but its personal preference after some experience in the field. I have the Sirui N2204 tripod it is a very stable tripod suitable for many applications and it can last u for very long time unless u change to super-tele lens,but even iam using super-tele lens most of the time now,i still keep my N series for lighter application like landscapes...etc

 

[rhino123]

Been doing some research and am looking at the Sirui P236 Monopod and T1204X Tripod with probably the G20 Ballhead. 10kg max weight should be enough right? The Tamron 150-600 is about 2kg, plus camera body about 1kg max even with a 5d3 (thinking of long term as I don't want yo have to buy a new one next time). Don't really want the 2 in 1 N series.

Do I have to buy both now or can I buy one first and if so, which one?

Er... don't really calculate that way. First off... you need to have the maximum weight of your camera+lens+accessories, then multiply the entire setup by a factor of 3 (if I remember correctly) to see if the tripodhead is able to tahang the whole setup. The main reason for this was that, your camera will not be just point to one single direction, but there are different angles at which you might mount or point your camera+lens.

 

[illumnae]

do u shoot landscape? if yes,then get a tripod first,u don't need to get both at the same time.
its actually better to use tripod over monopod so u don't really have to get a monopod but its personal preference after some experience in the field. I have the Sirui N2204 tripod it is a very stable tripod suitable for many applications and it can last u for very long time unless u change to super-tele lens,but even iam using super-tele lens most of the time now,i still keep my N series for lighter application like landscapes...etc

I don't really shoot landscape. Current practice is just to walk around a park (e.g. Botanical Gardens, Hort Park, Labrador Park, Sungei Buloh etc) with my wife and we snap pictures of whatever wildlife we see. Just casual nature shooting la. Our most recent trip to Hort Park majority of the "wildlife" we saw was birds, I guess that's why I mentioned "birding" in my earlier posts. Actually it's really just casual animal shooting. Landscape shooting (e.g. a particularly beautiful sunrise or scene) would be a bonus, but likely to be few and far between. I've actually been walking around mostly with my friend's 55-250mm IS lens attached to my camera, sometimes switching to my 100mm macro lens to take an insect that we spot, or a particularly beautiful flower. My 18-55 has not been taken out of the bag at all. Still need alot of practice of course, but with some major cropping, we managed to produce some decent shots for web view (we don't intend to print large) for layman eyes only haha (very very very far from the quality of bro DD's "newbie" shots for example).

Er... don't really calculate that way. First off... you need to have the maximum weight of your camera+lens+accessories, then multiply the entire setup by a factor of 3 (if I remember correctly) to see if the tripodhead is able to tahang the whole setup. The main reason for this was that, your camera will not be just point to one single direction, but there are different angles at which you might mount or point your camera+lens.

Oh ok sorry for doing it wrongly! I'll go re-calculate the max weight of the camera + lens + flash + head and multiply it by 3. I think the T2204X should be ok instead? It carries up to 15kg max (which means my gear can't weigh beyond 5kg), which is the heaviest that the TX series carries - the only tripod that carries heavier is the M series at 18kg. For monopod 15kg I'll need to look at the P424 instead as the 326 only carries max 10kg (which means my max weight is 3.3 kg). G20 ballhead is pretty safe - it carries up to 20kg max

 

[daredevil123]

Been doing some research and am looking at the Sirui P236 Monopod and T1204X Tripod with probably the G20 Ballhead. 10kg max weight should be enough right? The Tamron 150-600 is about 2kg, plus camera body about 1kg max even with a 5d3 (thinking of long term as I don't want yo have to buy a new one next time). Don't really want the 2 in 1 N series.

Do I have to buy both now or can I buy one first and if so, which one?

Please understand that stability required for wide angle and long teles are very different. You do not only have to look at max weight rating, you also need to look at stiffness. Even with the much much larger Sirui M-3204 I am seeing a lot of shake at 600mm when the mirror flaps. I ended up buying a Sirui R4203 and with that one, zero shake at all.

For monopod get the P326. It is enough.

Remember in the end it is how vibrations are handled. Max weight rating matter less.

 

[illumnae]

Please understand that stability required for wide angle and long teles are very different. You do not only have to look at max weight rating, you also need to look at stiffness. Even with the much much larger Sirui M-3204 I am seeing a lot of shake at 600mm when the mirror flaps. I ended up buying a Sirui R4203 and with that one, zero shake at all.

For monopod get the P326. It is enough.

Remember in the end it is how vibrations are handled. Max weight rating matter less.

Got it! Thanks Wow the R4203 is quite pricey! Would it be required even for the ~2kg Tamron 150-600? I don't think I will be getting the long telephoto primes anytime soon. Maybe I'll just get the P326 for now and save up longer for the R4203

P.S. would the P324 with less sections be more stable than the P326 with 6 sections?? It's longer too when fully extended

 

[daredevil123]

Got it! Thanks Wow the R4203 is quite pricey! Would it be required even for the ~2kg Tamron 150-600? I don't think I will be getting the long telephoto primes anytime soon. Maybe I'll just get the P326 for now and save up longer for the R4203

P.S. would the P324 with less sections be more stable than the P326 with 6 sections?? It's longer too when fully extended

It is not pricey if you see the Gitzo equivalent.

Like I said, it is not about weight of gear anymore. It is about stability due the long focal length. Simply because any movement is multiplied many times over due to the magnification.

Yes, usually less sections means more strength and more stability.

 

[gundamseed84]

To TS, I suggest choose one thing at a time. I think eventually if you get a super telephoto you will probably need extra support in the form of tripod or monopod.

I think you first settle your lens, test it out with your current tripod or monopod and see if there's a need to upgrade your support system. If yes then do homework on it, if not then just go out and shoot more.

 

[Turbonetics]

Please understand that stability required for wide angle and long teles are very different. You do not only have to look at max weight rating, you also need to look at stiffness. Even with the much much larger Sirui M-3204 I am seeing a lot of shake at 600mm when the mirror flaps. I ended up buying a Sirui R4203 and with that one, zero shake at all.

For monopod get the P326. It is enough.

Remember in the end it is how vibrations are handled. Max weight rating matter less.

i think mainly due to centre column vs non-centre column.
the latter is definitely more stable.

 

[Turbonetics]

Got it! Thanks Wow the R4203 is quite pricey! Would it be required even for the ~2kg Tamron 150-600? I don't think I will be getting the long telephoto primes anytime soon. Maybe I'll just get the P326 for now and save up longer for the R4203

P.S. would the P324 with less sections be more stable than the P326 with 6 sections?? It's longer too when fully extended

I do have the P324,it is very solid but i seldom use it..usually i use monopod at places where no space for tripod like spectators seats.as for the stability on tripod/monopod,i think its hard to understand fully just by reading..u have to go through them and understand yourself(one man's meat is another man's poison) so iam not going to elaborate on this..just get whatever u can afford first or use your current one if u have and see what's limiting u for a change..these are steps u have to take in the photography process..its a matter u make a big round or a small round(this depends on some feedbacks we gave u).

 

[illumnae]

I think this weekend I will drop by TK to try out. For now maybe use my foc tripod from Challenger first and buy the monopods since current gear is light. My wife wants a monopod too as she's using a super zoom bridge and her pictures get very affected by handshake when she zooms in close. After I save up enough to get the 150-600 Tamrom, it may be time to upgrade the tripod too. Only troublesome thing is that I'm using the shoulder strap on my camera that screws into the tripod hole. Will have to switch around when using pods

 

[gundamseed84]

I think this weekend I will drop by TK to try out. For now maybe use my foc tripod from Challenger first and buy the monopods since current gear is light. My wife wants a monopod too as she's using a super zoom bridge and her pictures get very affected by handshake when she zooms in close. After I save up enough to get the 150-600 Tamrom, it may be time to upgrade the tripod too. Only troublesome thing is that I'm using the shoulder strap on my camera that screws into the tripod hole. Will have to switch around when using pods

you will probably just carry the monopod or tripod together with your gear attached to it while shooting. So you only need to change to and fro before you start and after you end.

 

[daredevil123]

i think mainly due to centre column vs non-centre column.
the latter is definitely more stable.

Yup. The "systematic" design is much much more stable.

 

[illumnae]

No time to drop by funan this weekend anyone knows where have stock of the tamron 150-600? After reading reviews over the past few days very tempted to splurge on it. Or will the price drop significantly in a few months after it is no longer new?