500mm ultra telephoto - any 'cheap' recommendations

An old mate of mine in the airforce once said to me that there are old
pilots and bold pilots, BUT there aint no old bold pilots. I think its the
same with lens optics. There are no decent "cheap" ultra telephotos. You
pays your money and you takes your chances. I have spent the extra money on
Canon L series lenses as I can afford them at the moment. Prior to this I
put some money down on cheap consumer model super zooms and was very
disappointed. That said, I have seen good reports on the big Sigma 50 -
500. All of the good large primes no matter their maker (unless they are a
mirror lens) are pricey. I have a 70 to 200 F4 which I attach a two times
teleconvertor to and although I loose auto focus it is bloody sharp when I
do my bit of the equation properly. I think the poster below with the
suggestion of a converter is providing a cheap (relatively for you should
buy the best converter you can get) and workable solution that might meet
your needs.

regards

Don from Down Under

"Dr. Joel M. Hoffman" wrote in message
...
I am toying with the idea of getting a 400 or 500mm ultra telephoto but
cannot afford the Nikon prices. I have a D70 with a 70-200 f2.8 which is a
brilliant lens but I want more reach for wildlife and sports shots.

A 2x teleconverter will bring your lens up to 400 f/5.6, and will
probably look as good as an affordable 400mm; it will certainly look
as good as an affordable 500mm.

Are you using the full resolution of your D70? At 8x10, you might be
happy cropping an image from a 1.6x teleconverter combined with your
quality Nikon f/2.8 lens. If you're printing at 5x7, even cropping an
image from your 70-200 lens will look better than a mediocre longer
lens.

Finally, my experience (with Canon) has been that beyond 200mm, image
stabilization is enormously helpful for wildlife. (It's not so
helpful for sports, unless the sports-people agree not to move.)

-Joel

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Many thanks for all your advices

Kind regards

Mike




"Mike Mc" wrote in message
...
Hi

I am toying with the idea of getting a 400 or 500mm ultra telephoto but
cannot afford the Nikon prices. I have a D70 with a 70-200 f2.8 which is a
brilliant lens but I want more reach for wildlife and sports shots.

I've been looking at the sigma lenses but have no knowledge of their
performance and would be grateful if anyone could give me advice?
Obviously I can't get close to paying the prices for a 500mm f2.8!

Many thanks

Mike

Many thanks for all your advices

Kind regards

Mike




"Mike Mc" wrote in message
...
Hi

I am toying with the idea of getting a 400 or 500mm ultra telephoto but
cannot afford the Nikon prices. I have a D70 with a 70-200 f2.8 which is a
brilliant lens but I want more reach for wildlife and sports shots.

I've been looking at the sigma lenses but have no knowledge of their
performance and would be grateful if anyone could give me advice?
Obviously I can't get close to paying the prices for a 500mm f2.8!

Many thanks

Mike