Pixiq

For years, my favorite wildlife lens was the Nikon 200-400mm f4 and, when an AF version appeared, I upgraded it – in the days when we were still shooting film. Then, I very rarely pushed film above 200 ISO, which meant that a tripod (or a bean bag on a firm support) was obligatory with such a heavy lens. The current version is the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED, which weighs in at a hefty 3,275g (7lb 4oz).

As George Lepp comments in a recent post – A Nature Photographer's Most Useful Lens – pushing the ISO way up with the latest digital cameras, has given us a new option for working with wildlife in the field.

If I can drive to a location here in the UK, I take a wide selection of lenses, plus a heavy tripod. But restricted hand baggage allowances on some planes means I have to be selective; I would rather keep my sticky paws on all my gear than have it checked onto some airlines, never to resurface at my destination.

This means my 200-400mm lens no longer sees the world; instead for wildlife shots I take the 500mm f/4, together with the Nikon 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED VR AF NIKKOR (yes, Nikon do have a comparable lens to the Canon EF100-400mm). What is more, it has a zoom ring instead of the Canon push-pull zoom system plus Vibration Reduction (VR). It weighs 1,360g (3lb) or 1,210g (2lb 11oz) without the tripod mounting foot.

Another alternative is to use the Nikon AF-S 70-200mm VR f2.8 lens and add a X2 teleconverter to gain a focal length up to 400mm, but you loose two stops so it also becomes a f5.6 lens. A bonus is the faster focusing, but there are downsides because it costs more and weighs in at 1825g (4lb) with the teleconverter. The choice is yours.

With a tripod no longer obligatory for working up to 400mm with the 80-400mm lens, I can shoot action shots on the hoof by not wasting precious time setting up the tripod and fixing the lens. Working from jeeps is a different matter, because you can either use a bean bag on a window frame or, if you have the jeep to yourself without any awning, you can set up the camera with a heavy lens on a sturdy tripod in the back and work with almost 360º coverage (excluding where the driver sits and maybe the odd vertical support).

I don't regard shedding a tripod for some scenarios as being a sloppy way of working. Far from it. Standing up on the deck of a boat or trekking through a rainforest all day holding the 200-400mm lens at the ready for a bird or mammal to come within range, is just not practical. Now, by carrying the 80-400mm,  I miss far fewer shots before the quarry vanishes and, if trekking in the field with scientists, I can keep up reasonably well.

All the images here were taken with the 80-400mm lens in China for my latest book Exploring Natural China. The pink dolphin was shot from a boat off Hong Kong and the gibbons in a tropical rainforest area in the far south of China close to the Laos and Vietnam borders.

Here, I spent three days gazing up at the canopy following a white-cheeked gibbon family when the mother was carrying her newborn baby, sticking to her like glue. Nine months later I returned to find the youngster had turned black like his father.  When the family rested on a branch to groom each other, the infant ventured off on short forays to practice swinging on thin branches before returning to its parents for reassurance – quite magical!