I am asking a question that might have been asked many times in the past. However, I like to hear some advice for my situation so.
Basically I am looking to invest some money on my photography for some possibilities of shooting wildlife. It's just a hobby and I haven't done much wildlife in the past. In team of subjects, I don't really know. What can I find easily here (UK)? I am going to do a puffin trip next month. I would love to shoot birds and all kind of animals I can find. Also have a plan to go to Spain for a wildlife trip in Summer.
My budget is quite limited though. I am willing to spend about £1000 for this.
My kit. My camera body is 5D III. My longest tele lens is 70-200f2.8 IS II. Although I said it is a hobby, I want to get best possible results and best possible range. What are my options?
Here is few options I can think of to start with. You guys can advise me new options and also comment on what I have thought.
a new 7D + 2x Extender (or 1.4 Extender). It would give me 448mm with 1.4Extender or 640mm with 2x. 7D would give me 1.6x but I am not sure about it. If I just use my 5DIII and crop it as 1.6x, would it be the same? 5DIII has 23MP so 23MP/1.6x = 14.4MP. 7D is 18MP so I will lose about 4MP? Does it work like that? I don't really know I am guessing.
I heard about greatness of Sigma 50-500. The range sounds amazing. I don't mind having f6.3 as this is a tele photo lens I should get a nice bokeh at f6.3. But how's the quality? I normally try to avoid using non-canon equipments as much as I can. (apart from battery grid btw)
Canon 400mm f5.6 ? that would cost me 1k but I can just buy 2x Extender with my 70-200. I can get 400f5.6, and still have IS on it. But which can give me better quality and AF speed?
Any other lens or options that I should consider?