# Equipment advice



## Cwalker935 (Apr 20, 2016)

This is not directly related to pen photography but I thought that I would ask here anyway.  I have an Olympus Pen E-PM1 camera and been thinking about buying a telephoto lens.  I am not looking to take professional quality photos but would like to be able to take decent wildlife shots.  Is this a decent option or do I need to go a different route and upgrade my camera as well?  

Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II Lens


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## farmer (Apr 21, 2016)

*Wild life lenses*



Cwalker935 said:


> This is not directly related to pen photography but I thought that I would ask here anyway.  I have an Olympus Pen E-PM1 camera and been thinking about buying a telephoto lens.  I am not looking to take professional quality photos but would like to be able to take decent wildlife shots.  Is this a decent option or do I need to go a different route and upgrade my camera as well?
> 
> Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II Lens



I tried out a  (used ) EF 500 mm  it was 5500.00 
A new EF 600mm runs about 15.500.00.
There was a EF 1200mm on EBay  it sold for 161,000.00 used .
I have a EF 100to 400mm 4.5 mk I  L     Its worth  900,00 lens used .
New EF 100 to 400 mm mk II sales for about 2100.00.
I bought a canon 5 D MK II used with under 5K shutter count gripped with a RRS L bracket for 1500.00,
Is all in your budget ...
This is 50 to 60 feet away. 




The forum POTN  Photography on the net is filled full of professional photographer and the have a for sale section .
Classifieds: For Sale, photography-on-the.net Digital Photography Forums 
Canon EF and EF-S Lenses, photography-on-the.net Digital Photography Forums Lens Advise 
Wildlife Talk, photography-on-the.net Digital Photography Forums

Straight up, good long distance lenses can be extremely expensive .
Normally I try to buy used lenses .....
Good luck .


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## farmer (Apr 21, 2016)

*Camera repair shop*

You can go into a camera repair store , normally they have used cameras and lens for sale that you can try out.


All of my gear is canon and really don't know about other brands .

This is pretty interesting 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pas-GiB9jzo


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## Sylvanite (Apr 22, 2016)

I'm not personally familiar with the Olympus product line, but I looked up the specs and reviews of the E-PM1 and 75-300mm lens.  They seem to be reasonably priced with reasonable features and quality.  The E-PM1 has the necessary capabilities to shoot wildlife provided you don't expect too much out of it.  Also, the PM1 is targeted at "beginner" photographers and has minimal mechanical controls.  You'll have to get familiar with the menus to set it up properly.

The Olympus 75-300mm lens gets good reviews for image quality at the 75mm focal length, but not so good at 150mm and higher.  It also has a fairly small maximum aperture (f/6.7 at 300mm) and no image stabilization.  How fast it focuses seems to depend on who's reviewing it.

If you want image stabilization (I would), check out the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Zoom Lens.  

I use Canon gear myself, but believe that what's behind the camera is more important than what's inside it.  I've seen many people use expensive equipment to produce mediocre (or downright poor) images.  High-end DSLRs don't take better pictures unless you understand when and why to use the settings they provide.  Expensive glass isn't a magic bullet either - I've seen good and bad photos from both low and high-end lenses.

Until you learn how to use your camera, and understand exactly how its limitations are holding you back, there's really no point to spending more on fancier gear.  More money won't automatically produce better photographs.

I hope that helps,
Eric


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