My first venture into serious nature photography was on a trip to Alaska in 2002 where I positioned myself on a “bear proof” stand and looked down at brown bears catching salmon at Brooks Fall in Katmai National Park. I had a Tamron 200-400mm zoom lens and was shooting Kodak slide film on a Nikon F100. The autofocus was slow and of course there was no chimping.
I was on the stand with several pros who sported monster lenses in the 600mm range. That’s when I suffered one of the seven deadly sins--envy! More specifically lens envy! A couple of years later, I purchased a refurbished Nikon 500mm AFS F/4 telephoto lens. That purchase opened up new possibilities for photographing birds and wildlife in general and has been my go-to wildlife telephoto lens ever since.
Now I could photograph the small birds and the distant wildlife with ease and when I added a 1.4x extender it pushed my capabilities to a monstrous 700mm and the 2x jumped me to 1,000mm. On a cropped sensor camera, I could go to 1,500mm. Even a respectable image of a quick little tufted titmouse was possible. 
I recently spent some time with my friend Jeff Gulitz from Long Island Photography Workshop Meetup Group talking about his recent purchase of Canon 600mm lens and we had a long rambling conversation over lunch about the photographic possibilities it opened up for him. He uses the lens on full frame cameras and doesn’t hesitate to use 2x extenders to expand his range and distance. He also pushes the ISO rating so he can shoot at high enough speeds to stop the action.
Below is an image of his setup that includes all the bells and whistles: camo, flash extender, remote trigger, and 2x tele-extender. Though not clearly depicted, Jeff uses a Really Right Stuff articulated gimbal tripod head.
Jeff said that he debated whether to take a chance and purchase a used or refurbished lens, but since he was making the investment, he decided that the newer technology, and the warranty from Canon made the purchase of a new lens worth the extra money.
Jeff didn’t hesitate using the lens. He started by taking photos of birds in his backyard, but then moved out to capture images of surfers at Cupsogue Beach and birds in Sunken Meadows State Park. The images are amazingly sharp and capture the action of crashing waves in the ocean and feeding egrets along the shoreline of the Nissequogue River.
Instead of talking about this, take a look at some of Jeff’s images. You can find all his galleries on his Smug Mug website at J&D Creative Photography. One of the first things Jeff noticed is that it takes some getting used to finding the subject in the frame.
That’s especially true for moving subjects like flying birds or surfers riding a wave. One thing that helps track your subject is using a gimbal tripod head that can move up and down as well as side to side.This makes tracking your subject a lot easier.
Below is a King Cobra gimbal head by Kirk that I use. Notice that the lens foot is attached to the tripod. These large lenses are just too heavy to be supported on the camera’s lens mount alone.
The second thing to consider is that if you decide to use a tele-extender, you will lose an f-stop or two depending on its magnification ratio. For example, an f/4 lens will go to f/5.6 when you add a 1.4x and then jump to f/8 when you add a 2x. Especially on overcast or low-light days where you may encounter fast action birds in flight, you have to increase ISO to maintain shutter speed and to compensate for smaller f/stops.
Most modern DSLR’s and lenses capture sharp images but high ISO’s generate noise especially when you pass the ISO 800 threshold. It’s the in-camera noise reduction that tends to reduce sharpness and is most noticeable when shooting JPG images. So shoot raw images and correct for noise in post-processing.
Depth of field is another concern when you use smaller f/stops. However, with these big telephotos, depth of field is rarely an issue as they have very shallow fields of focus.
Look at Jeff’s image below. The sharpness is incredible despite a 2x extender, and the concomitant smaller f/stop didn’t add any objectionable depth-of-field distractions. Nor does the image suffer from objectionable noise.
Carrying a long lens is another problem. I used to remove the lens from the tripod and carry the camera and lens attached to a sturdy strap over one shoulder and the tripod over the other. I felt like a WWII machine gunner going from bunker to bunker. Now I keep the lens on the tripod, nestle the barrel of the lens and the crook of the gimbal head on my neck and shoulder, and go from one shooting position to another. If I had to traverse rough terrain, however, I would repack everything in the camera backpack and set up again at the new location.
Wildlife photographers usually benefit from the reach of long telephoto lenses, but when I was in Africa, I never needed more than the 70-200mm and a 1.4x tele-extender. Larger mammals and elephants often came pretty close so I didn’t need to carry the extra weight. However, in New Mexico and British Columbia, it was difficult to get close to mule deer and elk, so the long lens came in handy. But the 500 mm wasn't enough to get a really good capture of this coyote in Bosque de Apache in New Mexico. (By the time I dug out the 1.4 extender the coyote moved out of sight.)
Generally speaking large mammals--horses, bison, elk, bears--won’t require super-long lenses if you can get relatively close, but almost all wild birds will, unless they land at your feet.
Jeff debated what to purchase and finally decided on the 600mm because it fit his style of shooting and the subjects he likes to capture. Something heavier than that, like the 800mm, would be too long for what he considers "average" bird and wildlife shooting.
One way to learn which focal length is right for you is to rent lenses from Lens Rental. (LIPW members receive a discount.) Check out their super-telephoto lenses and you will find that a four-day rental of a 600 mm lens may be all you need to get the shots you want. In fact, you can rent a zoom lens like the Sigma 300-800 to see what works for you.
The total cost of my first four cars--two VW’s, a Plymouth and a Mazda--was less than the price of one of these lenses. As I’m writing this, NikonUSA is offering a refurbished 500mm for a savings of about $700 off the price of a new one. All refurbished Nikon cameras, lenses and accessories include a 90-day limited warranty against defects in material and workmanship. With such little discounted from the retail price, you can understand why Jeff decided to get the new one and the extended warranty. By the way, Canon and Nikon include an 800mm f/5.6 lens in their super-telephoto line up. Be prepared to lay out upwards to $18,000 for a new one.
You have to determine how committed you are to wildlife photography before you make a major cash outlay of this sort. But if you’re serious about it, and have aspirations to making the cover of Audubon or National Geographic then a super-telephoto lens could be a valuable addition to your photography arsenal.
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