Prime Time Tele Bird Photos

[Wes Hall]

My family took a shine to bird watching over the last couple of years, and we are fortunate to have some excellent RSPB sites nearby.

I've never had the funds to feel the draw of wildlife photography, seemingly such costly lenses with every possible enhancement of tech was needed. I would watch the enthusiastic photographers at the reserve wander around with their camp clad telephotos, elements giving comparison to howitzer barrels and accompanied dress more akin to a Bear Grylls show than a peaceful nature walk.

Struck me as a little excessive so I thought, how effective could I be with some old manual lenses, a teleconverter and some older digital cameras...

I share some of the more successful attempts I've had, and wonder if anyone else has similar experiences to share with budget options for this kind of shoot

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Well, done, Wes. It's not a genre I'm remotely interested in, but I love the background in the first!

 

[Ralph Turner]

With results like this, who needs the 'big guns'? Great stuff, Wes.

 

[Wes Hall]

Thanks chaps, that first one of the sparrow hawk is one of my favorite photos I've taken.

 

[Brian Moore]

Where I live bird photography is very popular and there are many very fine photographers shooting birds here on the island. But, like you, I shy away from the bazooka lenses and, like Rob, it's not a genre that particularly interests me.

You've done well challenging yourself, Wes. (That's something you tend to do a lot, and I admire that in you.)

 

[Wes Hall]

Thanks Brian, and thoughtful comments as always.

The community of photographers, exemplified here for sure, provide such a banquet for the artistic soul it's hard not to be inspired to challenge my experiences and what can be created.

I ponder oftentimes the genres I resonate with, and find I'm somewhat mercurial- new experiences driving the interests before a focus is reached.

For interest, the first image was taken on the Sigma SD15 + Tamron SP500. Was definitely some luck involved.

The second and third are Pentax KS-1 and Tamron SP 500/300 + 2 x teleconverter at ISO 400.

 

[Stevenson Gawen]

Great images Wes! I had a lot of fun years ago with birds using a Pentax K-01 (yep, that one!) and a cheap-ish Sigma 70-300 f4-5.6.
That combo did have AF but so slow it was often worse than manually focusing so I gradually became quite proficient at quickly nabbing focus. Unfortunately I don't have access to my shots of that era at present... the hard drive I have with me only runs back to 2021 and this was something like 2012...

I often had to crop a bit when I couldn't get close enough, but I was quite proud of some of them.

 

[Beth Carter]

i picked up a dirt cheap sony camera and a half dozen lenses a few years back. i had no idea exactly what i was getting, but the price was too good to pass up. the 200-600mm was one of the lenses included. it isn't half bad, even at full price for a new one.

if i'd never used the 200-600, i'd consider one of those crazy 900mm mirror lenses. or an adapter for a scope, if you already have one.

 

[Wes Hall]

Ahh the K 01, cool camera Stevenson- I nearly got one prior to my KS-1 (eBay bid was lost and didn't manage to find another at time)

Would have been cool to see some of those images, I used to have that lens when I had a Panasonic GF3 many years back, was ridiculous on that body.

Beth, you may have read my mind as I only recently discovered scope attachments (through looking into Nikon accessories) and rather like the idea of turning a lens into a spotting scope or similar!

If you fancy a challenge, join me as I try to photograph anything shake free with the Tamron 500mm 55BB and the teleconverter . Would recommend as a cheap and just about usable extreme focal length setup

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

I like them Wes and honestly, I have done a few with an Olympus omd e-m5 and a Tamron 70-300mm, both fairly old and done manually. As you probably know, the mft extends the Tamron to 140-600mm perspectively. It's a great combo, light and small. Only the results impresses people as it is noneobtrusive.