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by Oleksii Burmieiev on Sat Mar 02, 2019 9:00 pm
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Hey. I need advice from experienced wildlife photographers!
I'm going to photograph birds, deer, coyotes, etc. According to my budget I picked up two lenses. Both of them with manual focus.
- Nikon NIKKOR Ai-s ED 500mm F/4 P MF
- Nikon NIKKOR Ai-s ED IF 400mm f/3.5 MF
I have not a modern model of the camera. This is the Nikon D610. The working range of the ISO is not as large as that of modern cameras.
So I can not decide. I heard that a 400mm lens is darn sharp. Do I have to take a more high-speed 400mm lens, or I have to take more dark lens 500mm? Is 400mm a sufficient focal length? Or will the ISO range be able to master the 500mm lens with a short shutter speed?
:|
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Mar 03, 2019 8:41 am
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Hello and welcome to NSN. Manual focus presents some challenges for wildlife photography but it is possible, especially if the subjects are static. Both lenses are very sharp and there isn't enough of a difference between f/4.5 and f/4 to make that the deciding factor. The noise difference between two ISO values only 1/3 of a stop apart is not enough to matter. I would opt for the 500mm f/4 in most instances.
 

by Larry Shuman on Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:08 am
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Manual focus on modern DSLR camera is difficult because of the lack of a split image focus screen. Whether or not if one can get the green confirmation light on which might need a good amount of light and micro movement on the focus ring. A knowledge of depth of field and how it works will aid in getting well focused images.
 

by photoman4343 on Sun Mar 03, 2019 11:12 am
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I have owned both of the lenses and used them when I shot film and digital with a Nikon D 200 and D 300. Both have excellent sharpness. In addition to what has already been said, the 500mm f4 P lens is far easier to use on a tripod as it is better balanced when on a ballhead. It is easy to focus too. (And this means that when used hand held it can be easier to hold , focus and shoot.) The 400mm f3.5 lens is front heavy and does not balance well on a tripod. The relatively large front lens element causes the front of the lens to tip forward or creep down when mounted on a good ballhead. I ended up keeping the 500mm f4 P lens a lot longer than I did the 400mm f3.5. For general wildlife shooting, IMO the 500mm f4 is the better lens to own. (I used mine for about 10 years.) If you do a lot of macro shooting, like dragon flies, the 400mm f3.5 with a Nikon extension tube makes an excellent long macro lens. If you use third party extension tubes with both lenses you may get some vignetting as the diameter of the tubes are narrower than the Nikon ones. The removable ens hood on the 500mm f4 works much better than the built in lens hood on the 400mm f3.5. And that lens hood can be tricky to extend and retract.
Joe Smith
 

by SantaFeJoe on Sun Mar 03, 2019 11:26 am
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Welcome to NSN. I can tell you very much from personal experience that the 500 f4 P is the one I would choose. I have used it for years and it is my primary wildlife lens. MF handicaps you a lot on moving creatures, especially birds, so you will waste a lot of shots to misfocusing. It would be much easier to focus the 500 due to the magnification, even thought the 400 is a bit faster and lets in more light. The key to achieving focus is to continually practice on moving things. If you take time away you will fall out of practice. Even at 500mm, I always wish for more focal length, even though I almost always use a TC 1.4B with it(TC also reduces light by 1 stop). The 400, of course, is lighter to carry, but you didn’t mention weight as a factor. My camera is an older model (D700) but works sufficiently well at 1250 ISO. If you’re good at post processing(I’m not) you should be fine at that ISO. You may have to be logged in to follow this link, or click on my moniker and then click on “all gallery posrs” and you can see most of my wildlife images are done with this lens.

https://www.naturescapes.net/galleries/ ... hp?u=48018

Joe
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.  -Pablo Picasso
 

by Oleksii Burmieiev on Sun Mar 03, 2019 11:48 am
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Larry Shuman wrote:Manual focus on modern DSLR camera is difficult because of the lack of a split image focus screen. Whether or not if one can get the green confirmation light on which might need a good amount of light and micro movement on the focus ring. A knowledge of depth of field and how it works will aid in getting well focused images.
I'm not a beginner. You can look at my work in Instagram.
I just want to try myself in the field of wildlife photography. I really like manual lenses. I really like the way they draw the picture. I believe that the use of manual lenses gives challenge and competitive spirit.
Well, as long as I don’t make money by taking photos, I don’t think it's worth paying huge money to buy very expensive modern lenses
 

by Oleksii Burmieiev on Sun Mar 03, 2019 12:05 pm
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Thank you very much my friends. So I will choose a decent copy of 500mm.
 

by ChrisRoss on Sun Mar 03, 2019 7:29 pm
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What will help enormously is using a camera that allows interchangeable focus screens and choosing a plain matte screen designed for manual focusing. I used MF lenses for many years and this was the single biggest help in being able to quickly focus the lens. The focus screens in most AF DSLRs are designed to produce a bright image but they do not have the snap of a proper bright matte screen and it's harder to tell if they are in focus.

Unfortunately these are normally the top line cameras, but the rapid release of new models means such cameras have depreciated into an affordable price range.
Chris Ross
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http://www.aus-natural.com   Instagram: @ausnaturalimages  Now offering Fine Art printing Services
 

by Oleksii Burmieiev on Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:43 am
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If you recommend 500mm, then I still have one question
Nikon NIKKOR Ai-s ED 500mm F/4 P MF
or
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm F5.6E ED VR
I understand that autofocus is very useful. But at the same time, isn't the lens too dark?
 

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