Photography lens advice

#1

Hey,

I know there are a couple of photographers around so I’m looking for some advice.

I’m considering buying a telephoto lens to photograph wildlife on holidays. I have a Sony A7 that’s a few years old with 35mm prime and 28-70mm lenses. This leaves a lot to be desired for anything at distance. Through a fair bit of research I think my best bet is a Sigma 100-400mm lens. But at £900 new I’m really asking myself if it’s worth it? Should I make do with what I’ve got? I’ve never really used a telephoto lens but know that I’ll probably want to use a tripod most of the time with something like this.

I find myself typically shooting with the 35mm prime and with only one camera body there’s a real chance it just ends up collecting dust rather than me changing lens regularly.

#2

If you’re unsure if it will get used you could start by renting something similar and see how you like it?

Wex at least have the Sony version available - https://rental.wexphotovideo.com/hire-sony-fe-100-400mm-f45-56-oss-g-master-lens-8217 and there are other places that may rent the Sigma version.

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#3

I don’t have much wildlife photography experience but I have shot on a A7RIII with the GM 100-400mm which was really nice. The sigma art lenses at least are well reviewed and what have used of them they are quite nice.

The tight shot below of Tate St Ives across the bay was about 400m away at 400mm, F/8, 5 secs, ISO100 at twilight

This will be entirely dependant on the type of shot that you wat to get, static/moving. It will be a massive change to shooting 35mm. Tripod will be a must basically at anything over 200mm and a sturdy one at that. Otherwise your looking at 1/400 shutter speed and faster to get a clean shot. The sony cameras are pretty good ISO wise so should get away with a bit of a bump. It will be heavy as well so make sure to consider this if you are walking around a lot with it rather than in a hide.

Not quite the same sort of thing but if by a long shot have a canon FD to sony mount adapter you can have a play with a 500mm reflex lens I have.

#4

Or get a used one at a fraction of the cost and get an adapter. A 300mm prime might be good depending on what kind of wildlife. But for zooms see e.g.:

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/canon-ef-75-300mm-f-4-5-6-iii/sku-2500764?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UK|Google|Buy|Pmax|New|Pmax|All|All|UK&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvb-zBhCmARIsAAfUI2s1MOZJae7ACZNKJWXNBz9LoEw4-r6VpVDgZrElDTwFvBpjVJ-flWsaAt9gEALw_wcB

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#5

A really great feature of the 100-400mm focal range is that it doubles up as a really good nature macro lens. I wouldn’t worry too much about the comparisons between Sony gear and Sigma gear because the difference is only apparent to photographers and not to a wider social media audience. The only time I have found it matters is when shooting faces as the Sony system is second to none.

It’s been great advice in this thread to say hire the focal length you are interested in before committing to an expensive purchase.

#6

Thanks all for the suggestions. Renting one sounds like a really good idea, it will give me a good idea of what it’s like to shoot with it.

I’m not against the idea of converter and longer focal length prime lens at all. I quite like using prime lenses.

#7

If renting, check out Fat Llama. It’s great for camera and film gear.

https://fatllama.com/

#8

I was literally just looking there! Someone has the Sigma lens available for just £10/day!

#9

I’ve had two bad experiences with FatLama. Beware to check for all faults before you walk away from the deal.

The professionals who dont charge a deposit are LensesForHire. I completely wrecked a Sony A7RIII and a f2.8 24-70mm lens and beyond a quick call to explain what happened it was a painless process. Accidents happen.

https://lensesforhire.co.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4MSzBhC8ARIsAPFOuyUoslOrWolS8hyY9aFJ7TsDSU1hFK4qYHODTLCE8mt4nK3GuX44Zn8aAqY8EALw_wcB

#10

Renting is the way to go to check out what you want to buy. Part of the WEX group is Fixation in Stockwell. They also have a good line in secondhand from professional photographers who have upgraded. The best hire advice is to hire for the weekend - You can pick up the lens Friday afternoon and return it Monday morning for the price of 1 or one and a half days. Some long lenses are very heavy and require the lens and not the camera body to be on the tripod. You might want to try a monopod too if you need to follow something. The tripod head also needs a lot of consideration. I generally went to fix length lenses. The zoom options tend to suck in dust.