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Originally Posted by robski
I am puzzled ruchai have used the Sigma 170-500mm lens?
Looking at your recent shots in BF they all seem to be taken with a Nikor 80-400 VR. If these were taken wide open you may find your shots gain a bit more detail if you stopped down a bit.
In an idea world the 1/400 sec or faster is a good rule of thumb but most days I am happy if I can get 1/200 sec @ ISO 400 or 800.
If you open up the lens too far there can be poor depth of field or the lens is not at peak optical performance. If I drop below 1/100 sec it's time to think about packing up and going home. Now shooting Blue tits at less than 1/100 sec is a real challenge.
I think Christine's advice is good for this lens. My experience of Sigma lens is that many of them do benefit from being stopped down to improve the optical performance. It is a juggling act to get shots with low noise, good depth of field, sharp image and a high enough shutter speed to freeze action.
Who said photography was easy especially in the UK where the light is rarely brilliant.
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I do not have the Sigma. I have had experiences photographing birds more than 40 years. Whit film cameras in the good old days I used 400mm tele with f:4 with ISO 400 films. Now with digital camera I use the 80-400 (120-600) f5.6 which is fine in the weather here. I chosen the Nikon D50 because it has the lowest noise ccd among the DSLR cameras available at the time. I believe you will need the lowest noise ccd camera with lens that could be use at full opening for birds. My 80-400 Nikkor and Nikon D50 seems to work well at f:5.6 and ISO 400. Nikon external flash also do help as filling when the situation get dim.