Which one?

[she63]

Unfortunately budget is a factor but would still like the best for my money. Looking to spend hopefully no more than $1000. I love using a macro lens and/or I would love to try taking close-ups of birds. Any suggestions please?

[ving]

g'day she63. unfortunately macro and bird shots for the most part are 2 different things. for $1000 you can get a decent macro lens though but we need to know what sort of camera you have... the cheap fave is usually the tamron 90mm f2.8.

as for birds you need a lens of at least 400mm. in your price range you might be able to pick up a sigma 120-400mm if you shop around.

[bigdazzler]

as ving says .... chalk and cheese really. The Tamron 90 macro has a stellar reputation and is very affordable. Birds on the other hand, you might need to sell a kidney.

[she63]

Thanks for the advice. If I had to choose I would get more use out of a zoom lens. At present I only have a Canon compact digital camera. So my next step I was thinking of was either a Canon EOS 450D twin lens (with 75-300) or Nikon equivalent?

[mercho]

Thanks for the advice. If I had to choose I would get more use out of a zoom lens. At present I only have a Canon compact digital camera. So my next step I was thinking of was either a Canon EOS 450D twin lens (with 75-300) or Nikon equivalent?

From personal experience stay away from the twin lens kits. If i were you I would find a nice second hand body (40D or 450D or the like) and grab a couple of decent lenses.

If you were after Macro you could pick up a second hand Canon 100mm 2.8, and one of the tamron 17-50s and you would have a pretty good starting out kit

The reason I say this is I first got a 400D twin lens kit and soon found myself upgrading very quickly, the kit lenses are sh!t...

In saying that, I don;t know what your budget or what you want to shoot, so don't take this advice as rock solid

[she63]

Thanks Brad. Good advice. I'll definately do some more research.

[kiwi]

Yip, Id buy second hand lenses too, Id probably though lean towards a new body for the warranty

Nikon D90, 50 1.8, ext tubes, 70-300 and youre set to go

[she63]

Thanks Darren. Is Nikon made in Thailand? Can you please elaborate on your lens recommendations ie. is 50 1.8 a macro?

[kiwi]

Heaven I think...,

Just kidding, I really have no idea where an Australian bought nikon is made, not do i care

The 50 is not a micro but with extension tubes it fan focus a lot closer so can take macro

Without the tubes it's the best bang for buck lens you can buy for indoor and outdoor portraits etc




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[smallfooties]

I can't advice you much... but i have a sigma 105mm f2.8 and i find that it is a good macro lens. Although, i could be ignorant here as i have never tried the tamron or the tokina equivalent.
However, i have found with the sigma i could do more than just macro shots.
Are you looking for a DSLR as well? I was using a canon 400D for about 3 years and then my friend was looking for a cheap DSLR and i was looking to switch to Nikon so i sold the 400D and bought a D200. I have found that the D200 feels better in my hands and I am enjoying using it more than i did the 400D - kinda felt like i was holding a toy camera really.
But the 400D served me well as a first L plate camera.
I think the price drop of the XXXD is much faster than the XXD for the canons.... So i suggest getting a XXD... also it'll probably stay with you longer than the XXXD canons... My friend had her 400D for about 5 years and it totally died one day...

[bigdazzler]

Heaven I think...

of course, wherelse

[feral1]

Hi Sue, the 400d camera is a good camera.
If you want a good birding lens you cant go past the 100-400 or the 400 L Canon lenses.
If on a budget as you stated, I would look at the after market brands, eg: Sigma. this is what I use at the moment 150-500mm Siggy.
300mm is the bare minimum you want for birding, 400mm is a good length anything above is great.
Macro lenes are a harder choice in my opinion, but once again money is where it will show.
Canon 100mm macro is excellent, but can be a bit of a pain when trying to get other shots due to the focal length.
Tammy 90mm is another good macro sharp and good colour.

With Macro lenses, depending on the subject you have to decide how close you want to be to a certain subject, be it a fobia, or alergies etc. so if you feel you need to be further away even look at the 180mm macros.

enough babble for now.

Peter

[Chayelle]

Yip, Id buy second hand lenses too, Id probably though lean towards a new body for the warranty

Nikon D90, 50 1.8, ext tubes, 70-300 and youre set to go

The Nikon 70-300vr lens is a good choice to get started with bird photos.
If this is a direction you really want to go you might end up with longer
lenses. The ability to zoom gives you lots of use options other than just
birds and makes a great, fairly lightweight, walk-around long lens.

If you know you want to shoot birds, the nikon 300 f4 afs with 1.4 TC does a
very nice job of sharp IQ...
You can also use this lens with extension tubes for closeup shots of bugs...

You might find that both/either of these lenses would be ones you would use for a
very long time...

[mocha2204]

Where could I buy 2nd hand lenses besides ebay?

Thanks

[mikec]

Where could I buy 2nd hand lenses besides ebay?

Thanks

Have a look in the classified section here, normally some good buys going in there.

But otherwise ebay isn't too bad, I just feel it's usually a little over priced. Also try your local camera store, some sell 2nd hand gear too.

[RamblinR]

I think you are going to have to decide which way you want to go initially. Macro or bird shooting.
A secondhand camera and a tamron 90mm should come in just under the money.

[RRRoger]

You can get good used at http://www.keh.com/

I recommend starting with a D90 + Nikkor 18-200 lens.
It has some macro capability and is very good for walk-about.

Then add a Sigma 150-500 for the birds to what ever camera you get.
It is very sharp at 500mm even with a good teleplus.