ApeArt

Julie Langford, 5 months ago

I would say a tripod is a must for anything 200mm or bigger – the clarity is just not the same without one – half my shots are hand held – hence why they are not on RB.

The other option is a large lens with IS

ApeArt, 5 months ago

Thanks Jul

Cheri McEachin, 5 months ago

Always use a monopod for wildlife photography if you are on the go, otherwise you can take a tripod. My monopod is part of my equipement and I never leave without it. I do take my tripod but I am a mover and a shamker and more times than none the tripod isn’t for me. EVERYONE should use one or the other. As for the lens, I would change your camera to a Canon…LMAO!!! feeling the eyes from the Nikon lovers…lol

ApeArt in reply to Cheri McEachin’s comment, 5 months ago

ha ha ha Cheri! Anyway, it’s interesting that both you and Jul recommend using a monopod/tripod as I never use one, though I do have one, perhaps I should start using it…

Sheila Smith, 5 months ago

Have just bought a 100-400 Canon lens with image stabalizer, it is really worth it but yes it is heavy and either a monopod or a tripod is necessary. In mid to bright light the monopod is fine but if you dont want to use flash and the light is low the tripod is necessary that and a very fast setting or very very slow animals. Dont know what Nikon equiverlant is but tried Sigma and tamrod 100-400 and they where extreemly top heavy making any sort of hand held impossible. Hope you find the lens your looking for .

Macky, 5 months ago

My question would be, for what type of wildlife and most importantly, what kind of terrain would you be working in?

Marvin Collins, 5 months ago

I shoot a lot of large birds (herons, egrets etc.) in flight and cannot follow them using a tripod or monopod. I have to handhold for my shots. I use a Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens for this purpose. It’s not light but I can handhold it with decent success. Let me just add that when I handhold I always use a shutter speed of at least 1/500th, and really want to use 1/1000th or more. I don’t know if Nikon has a comparable lens or not but I do like my set up for flying birds. I really wish I could use at least a monopod, but I can’t.

Mayra Pau, 5 months ago

Marvin is right, you can’t follow a bird with a tripod, but if you can not handold the camera, then you must use the tripod.

Carisma, 5 months ago

My 10c piece worth: I do not own a tri/monopod – all my captures are from a safari vehicle with not much space to set one – I use a small bean bag slung over anything that will hold it and rest camera on it – I always work on speed and set my ISO to 400 to maximize the speed tolerance; it works for me. My camera has built in zoom to 420 + stabilizer.

ApeArt in reply to Carisma’s comment, 5 months ago

Hi Carisma, what lens do you use?)

ApeArt in reply to Cheri McEachin’s comment, 5 months ago

Do you alter the ISO? I just keep mine on auto, cos I don’t know what to do!

ApeArt in reply to Sheila Smith’s comment, 5 months ago

HI Sheila thanks for your help. I don’t understand settings, unfortunately, I keep everything on auto, usually, esp for animals when I don’t have time to think. When you say fast setting, what exactly do you mean?))

ApeArt in reply to Macky’s comment, 5 months ago

Well that’s a very good question BBoy, but I don’t know the answer! I was thinking of otters as I saw one yesterday and I could only see it through some binoculars. I was also thinking of birds, really. And maybe wildlife when I next go to Africa. But I suppose mainly birds..? ))

ApeArt in reply to Marvin Collins’s comment, 5 months ago

Hi Marvin, thanks for your good advice, very useful for me. I don’t alter shutter speeds as I don’t know what I’m doing, keep the DSLR on auto I’m afraid. Do fast shutter speeds create “grain”? sorry to sound thick but I need all the help I can get…))

Cheri McEachin, 5 months ago

Yes I do alter the iso. I normally shoot moving animals at 800 iso, 400 if they are not moving …lol also depends on the weather. If its really bright then 400 might be fine, I have even shot at 1600 though…:)

ApeArt in reply to Cheri McEachin’s comment, 5 months ago

Phew, I have such a lot to learn. I really can’t cope with changing the ISO, I am so scared I’ll get it wrong and there’s not a lot of time usually with animals to get it right. Anyway, good advice, perhaps I’ll put it into practice…): btw what sort of conditions would lead you to shoot at 1600?

Marvin Collins, 5 months ago

Hi,
Fast shutter speeds don’t cause grain, high ISO is usually the culprit. I use shutter-perferred automatic a lot when I need a fast shutter speed, depending on the light conditions I also use manual a lot. I really would love to shoot at ISO 100 but for the shutter speeds I need I am mostly at 400. In the menus on your camera there will be a place to set the ISO. ISO correlates to film speed in the older film cameras. The fine grained lower speed films 32 – 200 ASA showed very little grain when enlarged. The faster 400 -1600 ASA films showed more grain. So the lower the ISO you set on your camera, generally speaking, the less grain will be shown in the resulting photos.
Back to digital…...the higher the ISO you set, the more light will hit the sensor and conversely the lower the ISO you set, the less light will hit the sensor. This all has to do with the type of photo you are taking. I am not that good at explaining this, but here is a link or maybe you will have to copy it and paste it into your browser. But this explains it much better than I can.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/shutteraperture.htm

Marvin Collins, 5 months ago

I said part of this wrong

“the higher the ISO you set, the more light will hit the sensor and conversely the lower the ISO you set, the less light will hit the sensor”

It actually is the higher the ISO the more sensitive the sensor is and conversely the lower the ISO is set the less sensitive the sensor is

Ed Stone, 5 months ago

Tips

There’s a load of tips on exposure etc in an easy to understand way.
I can explain a bit more when we come over next, not sure when that is maybe weekafter next as its halfterm i think. We might be going away this weekend because we were supposed to be moving but the solicitor messed it up so mums annoyed so we’re going away for the weekend i think to relax before we do move.

Mundy Hackett, 5 months ago

Small birds – must have 500-600mm for anything suitable in size even after crop
Large birds and Medium sized mammals in wild – 400-500mm
Large mammals – 300mm

It really depends alot on your budget and whether or not you want to be able to add extenders into the mix. I personally have the VR 300mm f2.8 lens and it is great for everything except for most small birds in wild. I alos have the 500mm f4 AF-S Version I, but find myself using it less these days and just putting the 2x converter onto the 300mm VR because it is that good! Now mind you I am in debt because of these lenses, but the shots one gets back are so worth every payment! You can go with the 80-400 VR and it is plenty sharp and would get you more reach and not alot of expense but it focuses slow in AF and is only f5.6. I can also recommend older AF-I versions of both the 300mm and 500mm as they are very affordable and just as sharp corner to corner as their more advanced counterparts but they have metal bodies so they are very heavy.

If you want to shoot at zoos alot go with 300/3.8 anything made by Nikkor and add converters and go have fun!

Carisma, 5 months ago

The lense is laica, all incorporated on the Panasonic FZ30 I use.

ApeArt in reply to Marvin Collins’s comment, 5 months ago

Hi Marvin

Thanks so much for your help and advice. I will take a look at the link.))

ApeArt in reply to Ed Stone’s comment, 5 months ago

Hi Ed, thanks for that, will take a look. Let us know when you wanna come, we miss you darling. xxx

ApeArt in reply to Mundy Hackett’s comment, 5 months ago

Hi Mundy, thanks for the advice, most useful. In layman’s terms, would be able to explain the f number on a lens to me? What it actually means? Also, can you explain about converters? Thanks very much)

Sheila Smith, 5 months ago

Hi Jane Sorry I mean you need to set the ISO speed to 1600 or 3200 for indoor /low light shooting without flash. Fast film speed used to make photos very grainy. I dont know if cameras vary but I have a Canon 40D and I was very suprised the first time I shot on 3200 to find the picture was not grainy. Mundys advice on converters is a good lighter and cheaper as a 2x converter effectively changes a 200mm lens into a 400mm lens BUT I nearly bought one (£200+) , fortunately spotted the “not compatible with…..” line on the review before buying. I have a lovely light weight 75-300mm lens so when I found out about converters I thought they were a dream come true except they do not work with all types of lenses. So If you are thinking of getting one check for compatability first.

ApeArt in reply to Sheila Smith’s comment, 5 months ago

Thanks Sheila, that’s most helpful ))

Mundy Hackett, 5 months ago

The fstop is how large an opening the lens has, and the lower the number the more light a lens can let in and the faster the shutterspeed. So if you have two lenses, one with a maximum aperture of f4 and one of f2.8, then the one that is f2.8 is one stop of light faster than the f4 lens if set at f2.8. They are more expensive, and they are larger and heavier, but they are worth it in low light conditions.

The converters allow you to multiply the length of a lens for more magnification, so a 2x converter on a 300mm lens gives you an equivalent 600mm of lens when combined, but thetradeoff again is light and quality. You have to also double the fstop value so 2.8 would become 5.6, thus you lose two stops of light which can easily be the difference between a sharp image and a blurry one.

ApeArt in reply to Mundy Hackett’s comment, 5 months ago

Thanks Mundy, that’s brilliant info for my confused brain))

ApeArt in reply to Mundy Hackett’s comment, 5 months ago

Well now I am thinking about buying a converter for my 70-300 lens. What exactly do I type into google…? Thanks )

ApeArt, 5 months ago

While we’re about it – what is a prime lens??

ApeArt, 5 months ago

Also, with a Nikon lens, do you know what ED means?

Ed Stone, 4 months ago

if your looking at a new lens this would be a good one the ‘bigma’ SIGMA 50-500MM F4-6.3 gives your a very good range and price around £700 which for the range is great as any other lens at 500mm would be at least £1500

Its a tad expensive but if you are interested visit here

ApeArt in reply to Ed Stone’s comment, 4 months ago

Hi Ed been looking at the Sigma 170-500mm for £560, but my Dad doesn’t think much of it…xxx