How do you take your wildlife photos (lense, shutter speed, etc.)? We have many wonderful creatures right outside my home but either I'm not fast enough (by the time the lense is on my eye the creature has scampered off) or when I do get them they are not sharp. I imagine a tripod would help and much patience and time which I do not always possess in large quantities :rolleyes:

I'd like to photograph cotton-tails, jackrabbits, woodpeckers, roadrunners, packrats, gambel's quail, hummingbirds, cactus wren, lizards and if I'm very lucky something bigger like a coyote or bobcat (given I am at a safe distance of course). I'm going on a field trip with my eldest to the Sonora Desert Museum (which is more of a wildlife preserve than a museum) in a couple of weeks and would like to get better at my technique before then.

Any tips or references to articles appreciated.

If your photos are not sharp because you shaked, you might want to increase the ISO to get a faster speed. The 20D is well known for having low noise at high ISO, you should take advantage of it :)
What are your current lenses? I know for safari the Sigma 50-500 is well rated, but it is bulky/heavy. Still a lens I plan to purchase one day!
Here are some reviews about it:
http://www.vividlight.com/articles/413.htm
http://www.lonestardigital.com/Sigma_50-500.htm
If you get a 70-300mm lens, it will be a 112-480mm on your camera, which is enough for most photos of wild animals and it will be lighter and cheaper :)

Olly

Olly, I have a Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 18-55 that came with the camera body and a Sigma 70-300 that carried over from our pre-digital days. I saw a Canon 75-300 that claims the following:

The Canon Telephoto Zoom Lens: EF 75-300 provides a camera-shake blur correction effect equal to an increase of two steps of shutter speed, greatly expanding the range of handheld photography even with slow-speed film

I'm particularly interested in the "camera-shake blur" claim and the increase in shutter speed. I noticed it said "slow speed film", how does this apply to digital? This lense is slightly over $200 US which is reasonable if the claims are true. Would this be an improvement over my existing 70-300?

Also, how much bulkier/heavier is the Sigma 50-500? As always, your advice is appreciated.

Sorry to keep bugging you, but what's your opinion of the Opteka 58mm High Definition Professional 10x Macro Lens? Would it improve the quality of the pictures when used with the 70-300 I already own?

Olly, I have a Canon Zoom Lens EF-S 18-55 that came with the camera body and a Sigma 70-300 that carried over from our pre-digital days. I saw a Canon 75-300 that claims the following:

The Canon Telephoto Zoom Lens: EF 75-300 provides a camera-shake blur correction effect equal to an increase of two steps of shutter speed, greatly expanding the range of handheld photography even with slow-speed film

I'm particularly interested in the "camera-shake blur" claim and the increase in shutter speed. I noticed it said "slow speed film", how does this apply to digital? This lense is slightly over $200 US which is reasonable if the claims are true. Would this be an improvement over my existing 70-300?

Also, how much bulkier/heavier is the Sigma 50-500? As always, your advice is appreciated.

First i want to say that your photo http://www.megapixelworld.com/photography/showphoto.php?photo=409&sort=2&cat=500&page=2
with the Sigma 7o-300 is great and until Olly answer your question about the Canon 75-300 IS USM you can read a previous thread.I wanted to buy this lens and i'm happy that i didn't :)
http://www.megapixelworld.com/board/showthread.php?t=54

and here you can see the Sigma 50-500
http://www.sigma-photo.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3237&navigator=3
I think you would need a tripod if you buy this lens because it weights 1840 gr. insteed of your 70-300 which weights 540 gr.
http://www.sigma-photo.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3241&navigator=3

Hi Lisa,

I think the Canon lens you were looking for is exactly the one Sophia wanted. Unfortunately it does not get good reviews. A good lens with image stabilizer at that price is too good to be true!
You can see some reviews at http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showcat.php?cat=27
The Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is rated 6.6.

By "greatly expanding the range of handheld photography even with slow-speed film" they mean the stabiliser can help you even with 100 ISO film per example. It applies to digital if you take photos at 100 ISO :)
The 20D you have is so well known for having good quality photos at high ISO (like 800 ISO) that it is not really a problem for you to use a high ISO, especially if you print in A4 format or if it is just for the computer. The noise won't be that visible.
The photo taken with your old 70-300 Sigma is good, I do not think getting that lens would be a big improvement. It has the image stabilizer indeed, but the rest will be similar.
To have a big improvement, you need more zoom (like the 50-500 Sigma per example) or a faster lens, like Sophia's Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM (lens zoom, but a fast autofocus/great optic).

For taking photos of lizards, you need more a macro lens than a long zoom lens. There is a good new 150mm 2.8 lens from Sigma (again I know, I promise I am not sponsored by them. LOL But they do have very good macro lenses: 50, 105, 150 and 180mm).

Olly

Sophia and Olly, thank you for the info and links. Very helpful. I'll let you know what I end up doing... I'm not sorting out all the information you've provided. Thanks so much!