Hi,

I plan on buying a telephoto lens for wildlife photography. I'm not really that interested in bird photography but more in the 'big' animals like deer, moose, bears,...

I was wondering what kind of focal length I would need for this type of photography?

Secondly, what kind of 1.4 teleconverter is recommended for use with the Sigma 170-500 (if any)?

Thanks!!

-- Stefaan Delcroix (delcroix@uwyo.edu), February 15, 2002

Answers

Bears are usually fairly shy and getting close is tough & often not safe. I would want a 600mm f/4 for bears. And then I'd want a 1.4x TC to go with it.

Moose are just plain dumb and often can be approached. Around here *they approach you* if they think you might have food to offer. I got close enough with a 35mm f/2.8 a month ago. In fact he wouldn't leave my yard until after I stared my car, but that's another story. For moose a 300mm is often enough.

Don't have any deer around here, so I don't know.

The Sigma 170-500 should not be used with a TC. It's slow enough as it is and is not that sharp to begin with. Not to say that it won't work, but you are likely not to be happy with it. If you are using it with an autofocus camera, most won't AF reliably with anything smaller than f/5.6 and the Sigma is f/6.3 already. Attaching a 1.4x TC will get you down to about f/9. That's not very usable.

-- Jim Strutz (j.strutz@gci.net), February 15, 2002.

I agree, a teleconverter on the 170-500 would be a bad idea. Just to add, make sure you've a steady tripod as even though the Sigma is a farily small and lightweight lens, it's still a long focal length and tricky to hold steady without support.

Best of luck with the bears and moose. Steve

-- Steve Phillipps (steve@redvixen.freeserve.co.uk), February 17, 2002.