Bird and Wildlife photography

I'm as fresh off the boat as it gets. I have a Nikon D7000 that I bought to get into bird and wildlife photography. I'm learning all about composition, rule of thirds and so forth.

What I also picked up is that my 18-200mm lens isn't going to get me as close to the wildlife and birds as I would like to. So I just found out about this gadget called 1.4x teleconverter. Will this work with my 18-200mm lens?

Couldn't say for sure. Very few zoom lenses can work with a teleconverter. I just looked it up on B&H website and usually it will say...customers who bought this lens also bought this... but there is no converter. So my guess is no. Put it on and find out. If the two do not connect, or if glass hits, then you can not use it.

You should have bought yourself a 70-300mm lens to start getting into wildlife photography. It's a good decent telephoto lens that most people enjoy using until they are ready to upgrade to something bigger.

I had the 70-300 for a few years until I upgraded to a 50-500.

I sold my 50-200 and upgraded to 70-300 VR, very pleased with it.

Be very careful and test this combo carefully. The 18-200 extends to the rear quite a bit. Rack through the focus and zoom slowly to make sure it doesn't collide with the convertor.

Shadowfixer1 wrote: Be very careful and test this combo carefully. The 18-200 extends to the rear quite a bit. Rack through the focus and zoom slowly to make sure it doesn't collide with the convertor.

Is there a way to know for sure if this will or won't work with my lens? Thank you in advance for your help.

I would suggest going to a Camera Shop and asking.

Isn't there a Nikon specific teleconverter for their lenses, that would definitely state which lenses it was suitable for. I know that Canon have a 1.4 and 2x teleconverter and list a limited set of lenses that it can be used with.

Steve

Scott Grant wrote:

Shadowfixer1 wrote: Be very careful and test this combo carefully. The 18-200 extends to the rear quite a bit. Rack through the focus and zoom slowly to make sure it doesn't collide with the convertor.

Is there a way to know for sure if this will or won't work with my lens? Thank you in advance for your help.

This is directly from Nikon's site...

"This lens is not compatible with any of our current teleconverters." from a Nikon's staff.

crystal wrote:

Scott Grant wrote:

Shadowfixer1 wrote: Be very careful and test this combo carefully. The 18-200 extends to the rear quite a bit. Rack through the focus and zoom slowly to make sure it doesn't collide with the convertor.

Is there a way to know for sure if this will or won't work with my lens? Thank you in advance for your help.

This is directly from Nikon's site...

"This lens is not compatible with any of our current teleconverters." from a Nikon's staff.

Crap. Thanks for finding that information. So what is the best priced lens that will get me upwards of 350 to 400mm. Or another lens that does work with a 1.4 teleconverter?

You guys are great! Thanks for helping the green horn. Cheers

I'm not a Nikon guy, so don't know their lenses very well. One think to bear in mind is that a teleconverter reduces the light hitting the sensor - a 1.4x reduces the maximum aperture by 1 stop, a 2x by two stops. That may make it more difficult for your camera to autofocus depending on the max aperture of the main lens.

Steve

I'm not sure what your budget is, but perhaps a 300 f/4 would be better for you?!

Good luck with the bird photography, you've pretty much jumped in the photography deep end.

As steve said an extender will make you lose stops.
X1.4 = 1 stop
X1.7 = 1.5 stops
X2 = 2 stops

I'd recommend a 300 f/4 and a x1.7 oh and a stable tripod.

Again... Good luck

Scott Grant wrote:

crystal wrote:

Scott Grant wrote:

Shadowfixer1 wrote: Be very careful and test this combo carefully. The 18-200 extends to the rear quite a bit. Rack through the focus and zoom slowly to make sure it doesn't collide with the convertor.

Is there a way to know for sure if this will or won't work with my lens? Thank you in advance for your help.

This is directly from Nikon's site...

"This lens is not compatible with any of our current teleconverters." from a Nikon's staff.

Crap. Thanks for finding that information. So what is the best priced lens that will get me upwards of 350 to 400mm. Or another lens that does work with a 1.4 teleconverter?

You guys are great! Thanks for helping the green horn. Cheers

You want best price lens for that focal length..buy a Sigma...unless of course you can afford Nikon prices. If you can afford Nikon lenses then buy all Nikon brand lenses. If you can't Sigma is the next best brand of lenses to buy.

IMO, do yourself a favor and do not buy a lens that is more then 300mm...at this time. You admit yourself that you are new to photography. You are just learning rule of thirds. You are now just learning about lenses. Trust me when I say, just go out and buy yourself the Nikon 70-300 f4.5 VR lens.
www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/449088-US..._VR_Zoom_Nikkor.html

Practice photography, practice wildlife photography on this lens. It's a good lens for it's price. It's a really good starter wildlife lens.
Do not upgrade to a 300+ lens before you are ready. It will be more then you could probably handle at this time.
That is the issue with alot of newbies. They bite off more then they can chew.

steveheap wrote: I'm not a Nikon guy, so don't know their lenses very well. One think to bear in mind is that a teleconverter reduces the light hitting the sensor - a 1.4x reduces the maximum aperture by 1 stop, a 2x by two stops. That may make it more difficult for your camera to autofocus depending on the max aperture of the main lens.

Steve

Good to know, I think I'm going to look at longer lenses.

Stealthy Ninja wrote: I'm not sure what your budget is, but perhaps a 300 f/4 would be better for you?!

Good luck with the bird photography, you've pretty much jumped in the photography deep end.

Those show out of stock on B&H website. What do you think about the Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED Telephoto Zoom ?

crystal wrote:

Scott Grant wrote:

crystal wrote:

Scott Grant wrote:

Shadowfixer1 wrote: Be very careful and test this combo carefully. The 18-200 extends to the rear quite a bit. Rack through the focus and zoom slowly to make sure it doesn't collide with the convertor.

Is there a way to know for sure if this will or won't work with my lens? Thank you in advance for your help.

This is directly from Nikon's site...

"This lens is not compatible with any of our current teleconverters." from a Nikon's staff.

Crap. Thanks for finding that information. So what is the best priced lens that will get me upwards of 350 to 400mm. Or another lens that does work with a 1.4 teleconverter?

You guys are great! Thanks for helping the green horn. Cheers

You want best price lens for that focal length..buy a Sigma...unless of course you can afford Nikon prices. If you can afford Nikon lenses then buy all Nikon brand lenses. If you can't Sigma is the next best brand of lenses to buy.

IMO, do yourself a favor and do not buy a lens that is more then 300mm...at this time. You admit yourself that you are new to photography. You are just learning rule of thirds. You are now just learning about lenses. Trust me when I say, just go out and buy yourself the Nikon 70-300 f4.5 VR lens.
www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/449088-US..._VR_Zoom_Nikkor.html

Practice photography, practice wildlife photography on this lens. It's a good lens for it's price. It's a really good starter wildlife lens.
Do not upgrade to a 300+ lens before you are ready. It will be more then you could probably handle at this time.
That is the issue with alot of newbies. They bite off more then they can chew.

Wow excellent advice, I forgot not everyone is me. Lol

70-300 is an excellent idea for a beginner.