As far as bird photography is concerned, we are very fortunate. Companies such as Sigma and Tamron have recently released lenses that zoom to 600 millimetres, giving photographers more choice when it comes to long lenses. Canon and Nikon, in addition to making their own long lenses, are producing camera bodies with increasingly higher resolution, which also benefits bird photo graphers. However, as focal length and resolution increase, so too does the need for a steady platform from which to shoot.
There are a number of ways in which you can create a stable shooting position for your equipment. Some of them are quite simple and particularly relevant for those people who photograph while out walking or who use their vehicle as a mobile hide and photograph out of an open window.
It is possible to hand-hold some, or perhaps all, of the telephoto lenses that are used for bird photography, but that depends on the size of your lens as well as your own frame and physical strength.
When photographing, I hand-hold a 500-millimetre lens. I use the tripod collar to rest my hand, which also means that my grip on the lens barrel is kept away from the focus ring, so I don’t accidentally shift the focus while I am shooting. I seldom use the manual focus ring when I shoot, so my grip suits me. You may have a different way of holding your lens that works for you. Photographers who are physically bigger than I am sometimes hold a lens of a comparable size at the furthest end of the lens hood to gain greater stability.
When choosing between a fixed or a zoom lens, it is relevant to consider just how much more difficult the zoom lens might be for you to manage. With a fixed lens, such as my 500-millimetre, my left hand really only has to support the lens and aim it. With a large telephoto zoom lens, my left hand has to assume another role, that of managing the zoom ring. For me this means that it is easier to hand-hold my 500 f4 fixed lens than to hand-hold Canon’s EF 200-400L f4 IS 1.4x extender lens. The same applies to the big Sigma 150:600 Sport lens. Both those zooms are too long and heavy for my left hand to comfortably control the focal length without wobbling. Again, this is not the case for many photographers who are physically larger than I am. Although hand-holding a lens can be physically demanding, it allows me the most flexibility to easily track moving subjects.
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