Not only does a super telephoto lens allow you to get shots of far away subjects more easily, but if you use it well, and try to get as close as you can, it will return images that display the subject in absolute sharp focus against a background that is pleasingly out of focus. This highlights the subject of your image and makes for spectacular shots.
So what lens do you choose? Well, the bad news is that many super telephoto lenses are unbelievably expensive and can cost as much as a decent used car. The Canon 500mm f4 and Nikon 500mm f4 spring to mind. These lenses are at the very pinnacle of quality and sharpness while also letting in a lot of light to work with in darker situations. But they are also HUGE, heavy and as I said, really expensive. In fact, they will set you back a good $6,000 to $10,000 or more depending on their condition.
Sony users like me don't have a lot to choose from in this area, but the Minolta 500mm mirror lens (not made anymore) is a fine lens and much less expensive than the ones mentioned earlier. However, it has a fixed f8 aperture that can be limiting, and the way that mirror lenses treat out of focus highlights in the background can be annoying or even irritating. It tends to turn them into donut shapes. Some people like these kind of images, but many do not.
So what are the other alternatives? Fortunately, Tamron and Sigma have entered this horse race and are making products that can fill the bill for those that are willing to make a few compromises in overall quality to get results that are still very pleasing.
Just recently I bought a Tamron 150-600mm lens for my Sony cameras and so far I am thrilled with the results I am seeing in my images. Sigma makes a fine 150-600mm lens as well from what I can tell, but at the time of this post, it is not available in the Sony A mount, neither the regular "Contemporary" lens nor the upgraded "Sport" lens.
This Tamron has a f6.3 aperture at its lowest setting and some may consider that an issue because of its lower light gathering capability, but honestly, I am most often using it in daylight conditions anyway, and it just doesn't bother me that much. And the difference in out of focus background appearance between f4 and f6.3 is not a deal breaker either, especially if one gets pretty close to their subjects anyway as I mentioned earlier in this post.
But the big feature of these lenses is their reach. 600mm! WOW! That really gets you close to the action. And if you are using a crop-sensor camera like most of us amateurs do, that means that your effective focal length is somewhere around 900mm. Now that is really WOW!
There are other super telephotos made by third party lens manufacturers like Tamron and Sigma, but these 150-600mm cannons tend to be the best deal out there overall in my humble opinion. The good news is that my Tamron does have some heft to it, but it can still be used successfully by hand without any tripod or monopod, although I highly recommend some type of support if you want the best chance of getting really sharp images. The Canon and Nikon f4 behemoths mentioned above are often only usable on a solid tripod due to their weight and size.
What about sharpness, you say? For me, the Tamron I have is plenty sharp. No doubt, the more expensive lenses deliver an even more impressive level of detail and sharpness, but for my purposes, this lens delivers enough to keep me happy. And there is certainly not enough difference that I feel impelled to part with many thousands of my hard earned cash to get the next higher level of lens performance.
In fact, here are a few shots I made a couple weeks ago at a local lake that I think proves my point that this lens delivers highly detailed, sharp, and color-saturated images:
 White egret in dappled lighting |
 |
| Muscovy duck close-up |
 |
| White ibis portrait |
So if you are thinking about moving into the super telephoto category of lenses for your nature photography, why not give these third party 150-600mm lenses an honest look? For me, it's just what I was looking for.
See my latest nature and wildlife images at:
www.duanelipham.com
Follow me on Google+
No comments:
Post a Comment