I've been (very happily) shooting with a tamron 150-600mm on my Nikon D810. Its great value for money and has been a great starter lens for me to go into birding.
I think I'm ready to start tuning my gear towards my style of shooting. I like that the tamron 150-600 doesn't require a tripod (monopod helps greatly) but its not weather sealed and quite heavy/bulky.
I'm now pondering between 3 lens as a lighter walk about lens as a 2nd birding lens (Will upgrade my tamron 150-600mm to a 400/2.8 once i have enough money.. hehe)
* 70-200/2.8vr2 (maybe with a 1.4tc)
* 80-400/5.6vr2
* 300mm/4 (maybe with a 1.4tc)
I recently rented the 300/4 and except for the shorter reach, the quality jump is huge ! (it is a prime after all) I understand that the reach will be shorter then my 600mm, but with a nikon d810 I have good megapixels to crop slightly to get something like below..
I will most prob rent a 80-400/5.6vr2 and borrow a 70-200/2.8vr2 to test out soon, but wanted to get some feedback from you guys.
How's sharpness at the tele-end for these lens compared to the primes? I've a 28-300, which is nice, but at the 300mm end, its pretty soft and 36MP does show it. I've read forums that say the 70-200/2.8 is a better buy as I can fit a TC on it if i want. (And its cheaper then the 80-400/5.6) Its a pity the 300/4 doesnt have much weather seal as thats one of my requirements. (It tends to rain suddently,etc)
If there's any good portable lens (less then 2kg?) for birding, I'll be more then happy to hear from your experiences ! I'm willing to compromise focal length for quality/portability.
I think I'm ready to start tuning my gear towards my style of shooting. I like that the tamron 150-600 doesn't require a tripod (monopod helps greatly) but its not weather sealed and quite heavy/bulky.
I'm now pondering between 3 lens as a lighter walk about lens as a 2nd birding lens (Will upgrade my tamron 150-600mm to a 400/2.8 once i have enough money.. hehe)
* 70-200/2.8vr2 (maybe with a 1.4tc)
* 80-400/5.6vr2
* 300mm/4 (maybe with a 1.4tc)
I recently rented the 300/4 and except for the shorter reach, the quality jump is huge ! (it is a prime after all) I understand that the reach will be shorter then my 600mm, but with a nikon d810 I have good megapixels to crop slightly to get something like below..
I will most prob rent a 80-400/5.6vr2 and borrow a 70-200/2.8vr2 to test out soon, but wanted to get some feedback from you guys.
How's sharpness at the tele-end for these lens compared to the primes? I've a 28-300, which is nice, but at the 300mm end, its pretty soft and 36MP does show it. I've read forums that say the 70-200/2.8 is a better buy as I can fit a TC on it if i want. (And its cheaper then the 80-400/5.6) Its a pity the 300/4 doesnt have much weather seal as thats one of my requirements. (It tends to rain suddently,etc)
If there's any good portable lens (less then 2kg?) for birding, I'll be more then happy to hear from your experiences ! I'm willing to compromise focal length for quality/portability.