what is the best nikon lens for bird pictures

[JorgD]

7D does not AF at f8. I have one.

I posted the question mainly in response to Sar's post of the 600 f4 + 2x converter photo. Was just wondering if he had to manually focus or whether the Nikon's kindly focus for him. And I am considering switching to Nikon, so it would be nice to know.

I personally don't find the 7D's AF all that excellent. An unusually high percentage of photos seem to be slightly out of focus. I was so frustrated with it that I googled for terms like "7D focus problem" and there seems to be enough people out there to fill a small country who find the 7D can't focus reliably for nuts. My 40D never had focus issues.

Admittedly I have only taken 20,000 photos with the 7D so far because I have only had it a short time and maybe the AF circuitry needs to be run in, but I really can't praise it. On the other hand, it's light metering and white balancing is a large improvement over the 40D which makes it hard to go back to the 40D.

[Tannin]

You are thinking about buying a big prime lens and you are thinking about switching to Nikon? :shock: Have you seen their prices? Have you wondered what body would suit? (ans: none to speak of) Nikon make superb equipment, absolutely as good as it gets, but for birding Canon is still a long way in front. In any case, you already have quite possibly the best birding camera in the world today - trust me, I have owned quite a few of them - and anything else you could get would be a backwards step, with the possible (and I do mean "possible") exception of the 1D IV and the two very expensive top-of-the-range models from Nilon and Canon. If there is something wrong with your camera, get it fixed.

PS: You can google "focus problems" with any camera ever invented and get results. Try it. To fix your white balance problems, so long as you are outdoors and not under artificial lights, simply set the camera to DAYLIGHT and leave it there no matter what. Try that too - as film photographers discovered decades ago and we digital people soon forgot, it works brilliantly.

[Tannin]

Oh, sorry, I forgot to answer your original question. Sar uses Nikon pro bodies. I forget which model.

[jim]

Sar uses the D2Hs—brilliant advertising for an old pro camera.

[Sar NOP]

Does Nikon still AF at f8 or do you end up manually focusing everything when you have a 600 f4 with a 2x converter?

Yes, the AF still is usable with the Nikon aspherical 2x TC on my D2Hs. So no need to manually focus the 600 VR.
I have posted a few images of surfing shot with the combo 600 VR+TC-20EIII in this thread : http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ad.php?t=53307

[campo]

Prices quoted earlier in this thread were much higher then this genuine Australian distributor, but that said, big long glass still = big dollars!

http://www.cameras.net.au/index.php?...4468a3b943cced

[GeoffT]

As a BGOTO, try to get closer to get a larger image! Aside from that Nikon lenses are expensive. Try out different f settings with different focal lengths as tests to get your best results from your current lens, then use that optimum setting. Get the best out of what you have. If that does not meet your needs and you feel that Nikon is the answer then start saving (or find a friendly bank) for a 600mm plus tc20EIII.

[Harrier]

Have a look at what your Sigma has produced by others , try Sigma150500mm group on Flickr,l of cause lenses many times the price may be better. Use what you have got more and the more you go out the more you find and sometimes you get really lucky.

I have had some great success with it, having trouble with my image size changing when I try to post here, but will get there.