what is the best lens for eagles can someone please help me

I assume you know wear Mt Saint Helens is. I think its a long drive from Spokan ( think I spelled that wrong) but if its eagles you want thats wear you'll find them and no restrictions on how close you can get, with the exception of climbing the valcano its self,you need a climbing permit for that.

I just bought a mirror lens (500mm) because I wanted to try it out. The focus is not as sharp as I had hoped for. With my aging eyes it is hard for me to zero in on the proper focus. The fact that there is no autofocus on my lens also makes it hard to adjust while holding a good frame. A tripod might have helped in that area. I'm thinking my next move is to save up some money and get a longer telephoto lens. I'm going to miss the light weight and small size of the mirror lens but those advantages pale when you consider the focus and small depth of field on the mirrored lens.

Penny ... Your bird identification is an Osprey.

i hope i can find someone to help me find a place in grand coulee dam to help me find the perfect place to take picture of eagles.

i find a web page on grand coulee dam too here is the web page address for anyone that want to see it
www.grandcouleedam.org/oldweb/balde.htm

luckywish1 wrote: yes i am very dispointed and very depress about it because it didnt work. and i try and try and try and try and try. and we dont go to grand coulee damm all the time that was a special trip too. i spend 5 hours over there yesterday try and try and try and try to get it perfect and i feel that i waste my money on that stupid len that was only 125.00 now i just dont know what type i lens i need to get.

Wildlife photography is to go back to the same spot for hours to shoot to get the one perfect shot. If you do not have the patience to do that, then wildlife photography is not your thing. It's ok. It's not for everyone. You may enjoy wildlife, you may even enjoy taking a picture here and there, but until you can gain the patience and wait around for hours to take shots. You need more experience, that's all. And the only way you will get that is to go out more, and stay out long hours to get the perfect shot.

My husband and I will kayak down the river for an 8hr trip in hopes to find eagles. Sometime we do see eagles, sometimes we don't. When we do, we will stop the kayak where ever we can, up against the island, against shoreline rocks etc.. stay in kayak and photograph the eagle. We can get hundreds of shots of the eagle sitting there, but what we want is the eagle taking off, coming down to catch a fish and carrying the fish off to a tree and get some shots of it eating too. That has not happen. Usually the eagle just flys further out of our way. Then we continue to either kayak where it landed or if it left the river altogether, we continue down the river. Now imagine holding almost 8lb weight in your arms (camera and lens) up pointing into a tree at an eagle, clicking away, praying the river doesn't move you, and hoping to get that one perfect shot. And after all that, you still have to paddle down the river to the car. Now for me, I have very weak arms, it sucks, but I do it, because I love photography, I love wildlife.

Dedication
Patience
for wildlife photography.

luckywish1 wrote: what type of bird is this one?

That is an osprey.

can you guys tell me what kind of len to get for eagles. im thinking about geting me a new len next month after i study more on it gigggles

Penny,

Folks that are responding to you are being very nice, which you deserve because I am sure that you are a nice person. I would like to offer an honest opinion to you regarding photographing birds.

My passion and favorite photographic subject are birds, so I think that I can offer an experienced opinion.

While a mirror type lens is fun and a bit of a novelty you will not find a serious bird / wildlife photographer using one. Getting a sharp image with one takes lots of practice, patience and a good deal of luck, especially at long range, like your eagle image.

There is a reason that the most popular birding lens for a Canon camera is the 500mm f/4L IS lens ...... It works. This lens currently costs $6,900.00 and the newer Series II model of the same lens is $9,500.00.

Of course not everyone can afford this type of investment, so what are the options? My opinion is that a lens of at least 400mm is best for bird and wildlife photography. There will be times (many) that a 400mm lens will not have a long enough focal length, and you will want more. A teleconverter helps, if the lens and camera combination will accept both together.

Keep in mind that this is just one person's opinion (mine). I know that folks like to say that a 70-300mm lens works for bird / wildlife images .... and they do if you can get close enough to the subject, or if you can accept large crops of your images. I owned a 70-300mm and then a 100-300mm lens and was always wishing that I had more focal length (millimeters)

Here are some lenses that I would suggest that you learn more about;

Telephoto Zoom Lens
Canon 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 50-500mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 150-500mm telephoto zoom
Tamron 200-500mm telephoto zoom

Telephoto Prime Lens
Canon 300mm f/4L IS
Canon 400mm f/5.6L (not image stabilized)

Both of the prime lenses take teleconverters well, with limited image degradation. A prime lens has a fixed focal length and does not "zoom."

My reason for posting this is to offer one person's opinion, not to disappoint or hurt feelings. Your passion for wanting to photograph birds comes through in your posts, but I believe that you will need better lenses to achieve the results that you are hoping for.

Well said Bob.

bhowdy wrote: Penny,

Folks that are responding to you are being very nice, which you deserve because I am sure that you are a nice person. I would like to offer an honest opinion to you regarding photographing birds.

My passion and favorite photographic subject are birds, so I think that I can offer an experienced opinion.

While a mirror type lens is fun and a bit of a novelty you will not find a serious bird / wildlife photographer using one. Getting a sharp image with one takes lots of practice, patience and a good deal of luck, especially at long range, like your eagle image.

There is a reason that the most popular birding lens for a Canon camera is the 500mm f/4L IS lens ...... It works. This lens currently costs $6,900.00 and the newer Series II model of the same lens is $9,500.00.

Of course not everyone can afford this type of investment, so what are the options? My opinion is that a lens of at least 400mm is best for bird and wildlife photography. There will be times (many) that a 400mm lens will not have a long enough focal length, and you will want more. A teleconverter helps, if the lens and camera combination will accept both together.

Keep in mind that this is just one person's opinion (mine). I know that folks like to say that a 70-300mm lens works for bird / wildlife images .... and they do if you can get close enough to the subject, or if you can accept large crops of your images. I owned a 70-300mm and then a 100-300mm lens and was always wishing that I had more focal length (millimeters)

Here are some lenses that I would suggest that you learn more about;

Telephoto Zoom Lens
Canon 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 50-500mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 150-500mm telephoto zoom
Tamron 200-500mm telephoto zoom

Telephoto Prime Lens
Canon 300mm f/4L IS
Canon 400mm f/5.6L (not image stabilized)

Both of the prime lenses take teleconverters well, with limited image degradation. A prime lens has a fixed focal length and does not "zoom."

My reason for posting this is to offer one person's opinion, not to disappoint or hurt feelings. Your passion for wanting to photograph birds comes through in your posts, but I believe that you will need better lenses to achieve the results that you are hoping for.

Your comments are "spot on". Those longer (400 - 500mm) low light lenses are the way to go. For me right now, my 70-300 IS will have to do (sometimes adding a 2x convertor). All of the commnets on patience are exactly right. During the summer, I have days when eagles show up twice or more a day, then nothing for a week or more). Thus, even in prime feeding grounds, a shot is NEVER guaranteed. Also remember that when you are using a lens of 300+mm, a tripod is almost a absolute. Good shots can be had hand-held but the practice required is years in the making and even then, that steadiness is important.
Thanks for the thoughtful lesson and advice.

Penny - I spent two days in Gros Mourne National Park in Newfoundland, which is the largest concentration of moose anywhere and did not get to see even one moose. I did the same for two days at Moosehead Lake in Maine, and again, no moose (until we saw a cow and calf cross the road quite a distance away. Patience,

bhowdy wrote: Penny,

Folks that are responding to you are being very nice, which you deserve because I am sure that you are a nice person. I would like to offer an honest opinion to you regarding photographing birds.

My passion and favorite photographic subject are birds, so I think that I can offer an experienced opinion.

While a mirror type lens is fun and a bit of a novelty you will not find a serious bird / wildlife photographer using one. Getting a sharp image with one takes lots of practice, patience and a good deal of luck, especially at long range, like your eagle image.

There is a reason that the most popular birding lens for a Canon camera is the 500mm f/4L IS lens ...... It works. This lens currently costs $6,900.00 and the newer Series II model of the same lens is $9,500.00.

Of course not everyone can afford this type of investment, so what are the options? My opinion is that a lens of at least 400mm is best for bird and wildlife photography. There will be times (many) that a 400mm lens will not have a long enough focal length, and you will want more. A teleconverter helps, if the lens and camera combination will accept both together.

Keep in mind that this is just one person's opinion (mine). I know that folks like to say that a 70-300mm lens works for bird / wildlife images .... and they do if you can get close enough to the subject, or if you can accept large crops of your images. I owned a 70-300mm and then a 100-300mm lens and was always wishing that I had more focal length (millimeters)

Here are some lenses that I would suggest that you learn more about;

Telephoto Zoom Lens
Canon 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 50-500mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 150-500mm telephoto zoom
Tamron 200-500mm telephoto zoom

Telephoto Prime Lens
Canon 300mm f/4L IS
Canon 400mm f/5.6L (not image stabilized)

Both of the prime lenses take teleconverters well, with limited image degradation. A prime lens has a fixed focal length and does not "zoom."

My reason for posting this is to offer one person's opinion, not to disappoint or hurt feelings. Your passion for wanting to photograph birds comes through in your posts, but I believe that you will need better lenses to achieve the results that you are hoping for.

Oh Penny you do beat yourself up all the time, now stop it please, you are willing to learn you are passionate about photography and you have Ed to help you out, just read whats been said on here and learn from it, yes the mirror lens wasnt a good purchase so what, send it back and see if you can afford one of the lenses that have been suggested for you on this thread, if you can then buy it get out there and be patient, look for better spots, and dont take failure to get the perfect shot so badly, if as photographers we all did that, there would be few photographers left as we all went off to find different hobbies that are simpler, stick with it you havent been doing this for long so keep practising, I have seen you take some wonderful photographs so you have the talent.

thank you guys for helping me too. i apprecaite everyone too

crystal wrote:

bhowdy wrote: Penny,

Folks that are responding to you are being very nice, which you deserve because I am sure that you are a nice person. I would like to offer an honest opinion to you regarding photographing birds.

My passion and favorite photographic subject are birds, so I think that I can offer an experienced opinion.

While a mirror type lens is fun and a bit of a novelty you will not find a serious bird / wildlife photographer using one. Getting a sharp image with one takes lots of practice, patience and a good deal of luck, especially at long range, like your eagle image.

There is a reason that the most popular birding lens for a Canon camera is the 500mm f/4L IS lens ...... It works. This lens currently costs $6,900.00 and the newer Series II model of the same lens is $9,500.00.

Of course not everyone can afford this type of investment, so what are the options? My opinion is that a lens of at least 400mm is best for bird and wildlife photography. There will be times (many) that a 400mm lens will not have a long enough focal length, and you will want more. A teleconverter helps, if the lens and camera combination will accept both together.

Keep in mind that this is just one person's opinion (mine). I know that folks like to say that a 70-300mm lens works for bird / wildlife images .... and they do if you can get close enough to the subject, or if you can accept large crops of your images. I owned a 70-300mm and then a 100-300mm lens and was always wishing that I had more focal length (millimeters)

Here are some lenses that I would suggest that you learn more about;

Telephoto Zoom Lens
Canon 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 100-400mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 50-500mm telephoto zoom
Sigma 150-500mm telephoto zoom
Tamron 200-500mm telephoto zoom

Telephoto Prime Lens
Canon 300mm f/4L IS
Canon 400mm f/5.6L (not image stabilized)

Both of the prime lenses take teleconverters well, with limited image degradation. A prime lens has a fixed focal length and does not "zoom."

My reason for posting this is to offer one person's opinion, not to disappoint or hurt feelings. Your passion for wanting to photograph birds comes through in your posts, but I believe that you will need better lenses to achieve the results that you are hoping for.

+1