This is what happened when one shoot with a prime

[NHL]

Can't zoom out like a Bigma to frame the shot correctly!
When the lens is set to shoot smaller waterfowl: http://forums.steves-digicams.com/wi...week-lake.html

[kazuya]

those are amazingly sharp pictures, but as you say they just remind me of the biggest drawback with using a prime, the fact that part of the BIF is missing from the shot.

[tkdmomkm]

Hi. Those are beautiful... Would a prime lens work with indoor sports such as taekwondo?

[NHL]

It will depend...

That was a 400mm f/2.8 so it's a 'sport' lens OK for low-light/action, but do you have enough distance as this lens is designed for larger venue such as a stadium?

[Ozzie_Traveller]

G'day NHL

Yes mate - I can see the excellent results, and for a $12000 +/- lens, I would be very upset if the lens did not give me those results. Pity is that I [& poss many others] can't sell the family car to buy such a lens, so the commercial grade zoom lenses are the go for me

However, pl keep posting your images so that I can drool over them :-)
Regards, Phil

[NHL]

Originally Posted by Ozzie_Traveller

.... Pity is that I [& poss many others] can't sell the family car to buy such a lens, so the commercial grade zoom lenses are the go for me

Hii Phil,

MO there's nothing wrong with a 'commercial' grade zoom as it has many advantages over a prime: http://www.pbase.com/nhl/sigma_50_500&page=all

I did the comparison a few years back on one of my vacation, and the big trade-off was size and weight against my 500 f/4l. I realized after a couple of trips, the big prime was just too inconvenient to travel with, especially overseas where lugage space is limited. The family also don't want to be around me on such outings as I stuck out like a sore thumb with a humongous white lens, and we're attracting too much attention !!!

It's also interesting hat you mentioned the price as people used to flock to Canon because their prime's were cheaper than Nikon's. What a difference a few years make: The new Canon 400mm f/2.8 now are priced almost twice as much as the Nikon's!!!

[zig-123]

Your problem is one that I would certainly love to have.

Zig

[Ozzie_Traveller]

Well done Zig !!!

Originally Posted by zig-123

Your "problem" is one that I would certainly love to have.

Zig

Phil

[Frogfish]

Those are the breaks when you go for the IQ of a big prime over that of the flexibility of a zoom.
The heron is of course a very large bird but even with a 500mm on an FX that is only going to happen on the odd rare occasion. I have a Sigma 500mm and I wouldn't give up that IQ for the Bigma (50-500) even though the later is also capable of very sharp shots.
A 70-200 (or maybe the smaller 80-200) and a TC or two may be better for your vacations !