Alternative to Tele Lens?

[dave lackey]

Dumb question for the day.

From our couch to the bird feeder in the backyard, it is roughly 70-75' and all year we wished I had a 300mm lens or longer to use on my resurrected D3100 or the F6. But there is no way to afford that and my bride wants to make photos of her faithful red Cardinals. My 50mm AF is not going to cut it.

Has anyone tried a tripod set up with a remote device? I will still have to get a cheap decent G lens and the remote but I have no idea what that will cost...

 

[tunalegs]

Such long lenses can usually be had for pretty cheap on ebay, particularly old ones. I picked up this old Soligor 350mm lens for only $5:

 

[Rob-F]

I've read about people making a "blind" that they sit in with a camera, unseen by the birds. I think they are available made from tent material, or I suppose you could make one from natural materials like branches.

 

[mfogiel]

For the Cardinals, particularly the red ones, but also for other occasional impromptu snapshots of the clergy, this lens for example is more than enough:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/ASTRANAR-400...097313?hash=item5d62f3b521:g:xmgAAOSwoudW74iF

 

[MrFujicaman]

Even with a 500mm, at 75' the bird will be very small in the frame. I'd move the bird feeder closer.

 

[presspass]

If you don't mind the out-of-focus donuts, a Nikon mirror lens will do as long as you're willing to be patient, and those lenses are less expensive than the 300mm conventional ones. Still, 75 feet is quite a distance for a songbird shot.

 

[farlymac]

The remotes aren't expensive, Dave (you can get a knock-off for less than $15), and a 70-300mm on your D3100 would give you around 450mm focal length. I have a plastic black and yellow butterfly on a fan at the other end of the room I'm in, and it's about 23' to it from my chair. I just mounted a 300mm lens to my F2, and it doesn't fill much of the frame with the butterfly, maybe a 7% spot in the center. If your camera can use a D lens, those are a bit less expensive. A Tamron or Tokina would be adequate for your use.

Feeders attract more birds when they are close to trees or bushes, if you plan on moving it closer to the house. It gives the little ones a place they can scout out the area for danger, and affords a quick hiding spot when they get spooked.

PF

 

[mgilbuena]

On the subject of keeping costs low: If the camera will be in a fixed place, as well as the bird feeder, consider a teleconverter with a Nikon manual focus prime. Trigger mechanism will depend on the camera you are using (electronic vs mechanical shutter tripping)

 

[rogue_designer]

T-mount to a spotting scope?

 

[zuiko85]

I'm with 'move the feeder closer'
You can often source one of those 500mm f8 T-mount lenses used for less than $50. Trouble with them is that they only focus to 33 ft. usually. To cover the same field as a 50mm lens at 18 inches they would have to focus to 15 ft. Cheap 500mm mirror lenses can be had for about $100 but at that price I'd expect a rather poor lens, especially in contrast. However they do focus to 4 or 5 feet. A older 200mm f4 Nikkor can be had for cheap but again, they have a minimum focus of 8 ft., providing a field size of about 12X18 inches, still too large for small birds.

 

[Jockos]

Get one of those gorilla tripods wrapped around a branch, and tether it to your laptop!

 

[Ronald M]

move the feeder & cut a lens size hole in window shade or 1/4" foam core. Do not allow the birds to see you inside.

 

[pschauss]

When our children were little we had a feeder which stuck to the kitchen window with suction cups. In the winter the birds would be feeding within a foot or so of the kitchen table where we ate. It worked well for a few weeks until the squirrels discovered it. ;-(