Gear Dilemma

[DennisT]

Virtually all my bird and wildlife pics have been with either the Sony a700 or a900 coupled with Sigma "Bigma" (50-500 f4 - 6.3).
Trouble is the slow speed of the Bigma @ 500mm (f6.3) coupled with the tendency of Sony to be noisy above iso 800. I also would like more reach than 500mm but Sony does not offer a lens in that category and the fact that Sony has not licensed Sigma there are no bigger (longer) lenses available from that source in alpha mount. I am keen to move to a long prime (app 600mm) to improve speed and IQ.

I kind of like the idea of the NIkon 700 fx with Nikkor 600mm prime and 1.4 TC that is af/mf.

My research indicates that the Nikon is the most noise friendly and, here in RSA anyway, the 600mm is the longest lens available (Canon do a 800mm but hey - Rockefeller I aint).

Would value some feed back here bearing in mind that the outfit will be used pretty much exclusively for wildlife and birds in situations where getting close is rare.

[CaraRose]

Are you looking to switch brands then?

If you want to stay with Sony you could look at pairing a 300 2.8 with a 2x TC to get 600mm 5.6.

I'm a Canon shooter, so I can't help you much with Nikon.

[cozmocha]

For birding and wanting to go Nikon I'd look at the d7000. More reach, good iso, and af. Never used one but know a few that do. I'm happy with my Canon 7d. As for a nikon lens the 200-400 is very popular and works well with extenders.

[Eric D]

For birding and wanting to go Nikon I'd look at the d7000. More reach, good iso, and af. Never used one but know a few that do. I'm happy with my Canon 7d. As for a nikon lens the 200-400 is very popular and works well with extenders.

Dittto on what Kurt said. I have a Nikon D300 & D7000 and the 200-400mm F4, Ed, IF, Vr Nikkor lens and it is an awesome lens (I use mine all the time). Works well with a 1.4x t.c (550mm @ F5.6)

I would personally never use a 1.7 or 2.0x converter for 2 reasons, you loose fstops, focus can be slower.

I prefer that lens to any of my primes due to the fact you can zoom in and out, I don't know how many times I clip a wing or something when I was over glassed and couldn't zoom out!

My 2 cents!