20 telephoto tips
1 Which focal length?
A telephoto lens has a long reach, however, there’s a huge range of telephoto options available, with some lenses being more suited to some subjects than others. Nature photographer Victoria Hillman has the following advice: ‘There is a choice of zoom or prime lenses and they both have their pros and cons. Prime lenses are fixed focal length and for wildlife 300mm to 500mm or longer work very well, they’re fast and super-sharp. Telephoto zoom lenses give the flexibility of being able to capture frame-filling images or wider shots of the subject in their habitat and can be especially useful when the subject distance changes – birds in flight, for example. There is a wide variety available, from 70-200mm up to 150-600mm. Many have a variable aperture through the zoom range but the best (and most expensive) have fixed apertures.’ Victoria Hillman, www. vikspics.com
2 Use a teleconverter
A teleconverter sits between your camera and lens to multiply the focal length by 1.4x or 2x. More affordable than a lens, they make your optics more flexible – however, not all lenses are compatible with them so check that yours can work with a teleconverter before you buy.
3 Try a monopod
Although tripods are great for support and stability, they can feel a
