"Rob Davison" wrote in message
...
Mister K wrote:
Vov@ Sadovyy wrote:

Hello.

I'm about to buy Sigma 70-210mm f/4-5.6 UC II AF for Minolta. What do
you think about this lens? Is it sharpen and quick enough?

If you are taking photographs of birds then it is highly suggested to
obtain a larger focal length.

I currently use a 400mm f4.5 lens for all my wildlife shots (my wife
uses a 400mm f5.6 lens).
In the long run the cost of the lens has been paid off in the number of
quality images I now have.

Hmmm. I find 400 isn't quite enough for frame filling photos. At that
focal length wild birds are either looking very suspicious or leaving
in a hurry.

Adding a 2x TC helps but on my camera that means manual focus and the
equivalent of an F11 lens at 800mm. :-(

Are there any solutions (that cost less than a small car) ?

I have a suggestion that is less than the cost of a small car, but much more
than the cost of the Sigma 70-210 f/4-5.6. That is a Sigma 50-500 f/4-6.3
EX on a Canon digital camera with a multiplication factor of 1.6x. That
would be either the digital Rebel or 10D. The 50-500 lens will frame the
picture the same as an 80-800 mm lens on a 35 mm camera. If that isn't long
enough, add a 1.4x teleconverter and get the effect of a 128-1280 mm manual
focus f/5.6-8 lens.

Better add the cost of a solid tripod and remote release if you want sharp
pictures, but the optical quality if very good.

Scott