Lens Versus Megapixels
 

I have a Nikon D70 which is a 6 megapixel camera,the largest lens i have is 500mm.
I looking to get closer to wildlife. Question-If i buy a 800mm lens (that costs£2000+),
to use on said camera will take me closer to desired objects. Hence would i be better off
obtaining the Nikon D2X (body) which has 12.1 megapixels using my existing 500mm lens
(using my pc to zoom in instead to see the closer views)?
Any comments are welcome thank you Hugh.

Stick to the 500mm lens, (I assume it's a Nikon or Sigma lens?) and attach a 1.4 Nikon or Sigma converter, that will give you either a 750mm (without converter) or a 1050mm (with converter). You will lose just one f stop with this combination. A 1050mm lens is more than adequate for any wildlife, it will require substantial support and good light in order to use it effectively. If you need to be closer than this combination allows, then I think a brush up on field craft or the use of an hide is in order!

nirofo.

Agreed, keep the 500mm lens. Increasing sensor resolution will increase size of final image not bring subject closer. However greater resolution sensor will allow more aggressive cropping but this practice is not advised.

I have D2X not for resolution but for focus speed and accuracy.

a 1.4 Nikon or Sigma converter, souds lik a grate way to go thanks, 2 big lenses is a wast and moor bulk to cary but will converter werk with my nikon D70 and a SIGMA 50-500mm 1:4-6.3APO DG HSM D lens????
mor fieald craft defenetly, but I still need a troly and a donkey to pool it
hugh

Hi hughredcanary

The Nikon TC 1.4 E converter won't work on a Sigma lens, use a Sigma 1.4 and tape over the contacts (browse google for instructions).

I'm afarid the trolley and donkey are out (unless you can persuade some mug to carry your gear). You'll just have to put up with the nature photographers bad back like me!!

nirofo.

Do neither. Save yourself a bundle of cash by buying some Army Surplus Camo gear and improving your field craft. A bit more care and some patience (setting up a hide or similar and being prepared to wait for hours) will mean that a 500mm lens should be adequate for most jobs (it definitely will with a 1.4x or 2x convertor)

Unless your taking pictures of Snow leapords or similar (did anyone see our planet on BBC?) ;-)

Hugh

I agree with the concept of getting closer to the subject. The D70 and 50-500 is a fairly good setup. But the 50-500 is not the best of lens.

If you stick it on a D2X the increased resolution will show up the lens more as the sensor will out resolve the lens. e.g you just end up with a bigger blured version of your shot on screen.

Putting a TC on it will make the image very dark so the camera will struggle to Auto focus or hard to see if you manual focus. May be OK in bright light.

When using a TC you really need a good wide aperture prime lens to get the best results. Like a 500mm f4.

The problem with 800mm lens is that haze ( heat, pollen, mist ) becomes a problem with long distance work at certain times of year.

The TC-14E will work with many Sigma HSM lenses, but you do need to modify the tc slightly by filing off a small metal lug on the inside of it.
cheers,
Andy

Got to agree with this. I was surprised when I got Stevie a scope last year. Hers is a 60mm and mine 82mm. The same eyepiece giving greater magnification on my 82. Quite often the view through hers was better as it did not magnify the effect of haze to the same extent.

Don

Oh.....MY......GOD! :eek:

Please don't ever say anything like this again! Best solution is to get the Sigma matched TC surely?

Rob.

It's a well known and simple procedure. Sometimes there's no alternative but to use the Nikon tc-14e with a Sigma lens, as Sigma's own converters are notorious for not working with their own lenses. Kenko pro300 is a more reliable alternative but can fail to work on the odd camera/lens combo.

So do nikon deliberately do this to try to prevent people from using Sigma lenses with their TC?

Canon would never stoop to those levels :rolleyes:

Rob.

Probably to get people to buy AF-S lenses rather than the cheaper (and eventually obsolete) AF-D lenses, which won't AF even when attached to a modern Nikon tc... I doubt there's a Sigma factor involved in their design.


btw: the optical superiority of tc's matched to the lens are a bit of a fallacy these days, used to be the case but not anymore.

Woah! Do you mean that not all nikon AF lenses work on all nikon AF bodies!

Almost all the old AF lenses will work on new bodies, but not all new AF lenses will work on old AF bodies.

nirofo.

I'm talking teleconverter to lens fit, not lens to body.

Fortunately Nikon have one-up in that all their cameras will AF when faced with less than f5.6 worth of light in front of them, unlike some cameras that have an auto-cut off ;)

I have a hard time trying to work out which 3rd party lenses will work with my 10D so stuff like this just gets my back up.

It's good (in a strange way) to see that Canon aren't alone in being right royla pans in the neck when it comes to their (and others) lenses. It makes me feel a little less angry at them ;-)

There's not a problem using lenses with Nikon cameras, just when you add a dreaded teleconverter.

So do Nikon ensure that older Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, etc (NAF) lenses work on their newer bodies then? If so I could be tempted to defect next time I wnat to upgrade my camera body.

I tried to match up my Sigma 400mm to a Canon 1.4x the other day - it would need more than a file to make them fit, a hammer and chisel might do the job, though ;)

My only TC so far is a cheapy Jessops 2x one bought for the princely sum of £30 in a sale pile. ;-)

It works really nicely with my 80-200mm f2.8 L. I try and make sure I take everything with me before making a purchase. It helps to avoid frustration when I get my new toy but can't use it :-(

Why should it be up to Nikon or any camera manufacturer to ensure third party lenses work? The thrid-party companies have a responsibility too.

All NAF designated lenses will physically fit onto a Nikon/Fuji body (and work to some extent, even very old manual lenses)... but there's more to it than that with advanced metering systems using the lenses, as well as various AF issues. So not all the modern advanced functions of a camera will work with all lenses.

Lenses are no longer simply bits of metal and glass, they are complicated electronic devices in their own right.

cheers,
Andy

I totally agree Andy, I think the complexity of the electronics part often gets overlooked.

Don

This is the problem when a 3rd party reverse engineers a solution. It is often their best guess of how it works. It may only work correctly for one configuration and not all.

Exactly!

I am surprised how many people buy these not inexpensive 3rd party lenses when there is absolutely no guarantee that they will work with the next camera body you buy. You know the one ... 24 megapixels, 10 fps and almost no noise at 6400 ISO.

To top it off, the Nikon or Canon lenses have great resale value if you decide you need something different or want to upgrade further.

That said, I do own 1 non-Canon lens ... excellent build quality and optics on the Tokina 12-24mm f/4.

And to keep things on-topic:

Regarding teleconverters - you cannot add a $200 2x teleconverter to a $1000 300mm lens and expect to get the quality of a $7000 600mm lens! Think about it.

Ok, so it's not just Canon then. I realise that the onus is upon the 3rd party but it's still a pain in the a**e to find out that your great lens no-longer works on your latest digital body.

A good example is that i'd like to buy the 170-500mm from Sigma. Being a cheapskate, 2nd hand looks good but which of these lenses will work on my 10D. All the ones I can find are too far to travel and I don't want to risk mail-order without being sure the lens will work.

Sigma are giving mixed messages about re-chipping at the moment so that's not entirely certain and I can't think of a Canon lens that fits that niche.

Rob.