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look at getting either:

Canon 400mm f5.6 L (non IS)
Canon 300mm f4 L IS
Canon 100-400 L IS

If you are looking for pred. shooting birds go for 400 f5.6 as it is very fast AF.

300mm f4 with 1.4x tele converter is also a good combo, and you have the added benefit of IS where 400mm has non.

Canon 100-400 IS L is an amazing lens!! very versitile and image quality is very very good!!! not as good as primes but exceptional in its own right. (my father has had one for over a year)

personally Sigma and Tamron are not up to standard with Canon and it will be worth your while to wait a while and buy a canon lens.

Tamron 200-500 is coming on in age. Sigma...in my own opinion are doggie doo..I had the 70-300 APO DG, which was.....kak....to say the leased.

Which lens for Birding shots?

How about the mother of all known lenses to mankind, namely the SIGMA AF – MF ZOOM LENS APO 50 -500mm F4-6.3 EX DG!

And if you still need a bit more zoom, why not add the Pz-AF 2X TELEPLUS MC7?

This topic has got me turning my cents over and giving my SO grey hair. And I don't her with grey hair. Think I'll to just suffer in silence untill get a lens. My preferred option would be the Canon 100-400mm.

The 100-400 L will be a very good choice. I bought it 7 years ago, and still haven't had one single moment of regret. The only thing it did teach me is that I really need a 4.5 kilo 600 mm f/4 for a lot of my shots. And that that same lens would wreck my back badly, even the 1600 grams of 100-400 weighs down after a few kilometers.
(Hint: you can hook the tripod ring into your back pocket, that works like a charm.)

So suffer for a while longer, borrow or hire a lens if you must, but get the more expensive one. You won't regret it.

Great choice - you won't regret it!



I came to the same conclusion... Once you HAVE that great lens you always wanted, you start realising there is an ever BETTER lens you could really do with! The problem is that lens will not only break your back - but your bank account as well!

So I go the 300mm f4 (would have got the 400mm if not the 300mm) I didnt want to get the 100-400 as much because my father has it, and its pointless having to of the same lens.

I have no regrets in getting this lens. i love it. ANd I have not even put it through its paces yet. I still have to take it to kruger. My father and I went to Northern Farms on Sunday, but it was so overcast and not good lighting at all of the lens to work propoerly.

Cant wait to get into Kruger with my new lens.

if my @00 f2.8 is anything to go by, this 300mm f4 will be amazing!!

I have just caught up on this thread.

I bought the 100 - 400 IS Canon lens which I use with a 450 body. When the shutter speed is too low you can also increase the ISO to 400 or so without sacrificing too much sharpness.

Also late with a reply!

Folks often tend to knock the Bigma (Sigma 50-500), but it can take stunning pics. Here is my gallery of birds of southern Africa, and more than 99% of the birds in this gallery were taken with the Bigma:
http://bigal-sa.smugmug.com/Birds/Photo ... 0178_a6DZp

The advantage of the zoom range of the Bigma is you can take a picture of a giraffe, then zoom in to take a pic of the oxpeckers cleaning his ears

I wouldn't go with the Tamron 200-500, the quality is not on par with the Bigma. Here, 100% crops with Bigma on left and Tamron on right (clickable):


If zooming is not an issue, I would definitely go with the Canon 400 f/5.6.

I agree with that 100%

Here's a useful like that might help: http://mikeatkinson.net/Tutorial-3-Equipment.htm

Mike Atkinson is one of the top bird photographers in the world and under the "Ideal Starter Kit" section of that article he says "Make no mistake, if you're spending around £1200 on a bird photography lens and you don't buy the Canon 400mm f/5.6, you will regret it!"

So the opinions and advice has had me thinking.

It all had to come to a head and ultimately so I took the plunge. In the end my 'weapon' of choice is the Canon 100-400 lens.

My KNP fix is but only 2 weeks away and I can't wait to put the lens through it's paces. That & dunking Ouma rusks at first light whilst scanning for a naughty cat and then also the birds as the day unfolds. I hope the Carmine Bee-eaters are around and also plenty of other birds of all colour and size.

I am sure you are going to enjoy your lens Riaanf and have a wonderful time in KNP. I hope you see many Carmine Bee-eaters although I will be

Thanks for all the excellent information from the experts. I have a lot to process at the moment - thinking of a DSLR sometime (maybe my birthday - what a present that will be!)