Which lens I can sell/buy for longer FL ? (adjusting my gears)

[nikon7777]

Hello all,

My first post. I am looking for some help to come out of confusion. I have Z6, 24-70 and 3 primes and trying to decide what can I sell/keep/buy. I checked my previous pictures and saw which lens I have been using most.

24-70mm - Mostly used
50mm - Used mostly indoor, at my kid's occasion or some indoor family pics where light is not very nice
85mm - Mostly used when I visited zoo, otherwise hardly used.
300mm - Kid's game, local functions when I want to isolate something, big animals. Felt like, too tight to use it frequently and too short for wildlife. But I am in love with its sharpness and color rendering, so let had heart to sell it.

If I want to fund money from my lenses, I can sell my two lenses (probably 300mm and one of other prime or may be all 3) and buy another.

If I have to buy, then my options are -

180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR - I heard all good things about this. With versatility of shooting from 180 to all the way to 600, it gives very good range for animals and close birds. Only drawback I read is, weight of over 2 kg which can be trouble in full day walk.
600mm f/6.3 VR S - Price is only drawback for me at this stage.
400mm f/4.5 VR S - At 1245g, good FL and reasonable price it looks well fit.
100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S - This is candidate to develop more confusion.

My interests - I am not dedicated wildlife photographer, but occasional visit. Mostly my images are landscapes. I thought of buying 14-30mm for wide, but can't decide on that yet if it would worth or not. I never tried that lens. One though back of mind is, if I should sell 24-70mm as well and get 14-30mm. But then I will miss lot of good range post 30mm.
Also, some of my images would be late evening too. That was the reason I bought those 3 primes as they can perform better than zoom.

I will be visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton soon. Next year will be Costa Rica. Please share your thoughts, which could help me to narrow down.

Thanks

 

[fulltimewanderer]

Might want to consider renting a lens or maybe 2 lenses. Contact Lensrental, Borrowlens. West Yellowstone Camera or Bozeman Camera and Repair are other local options.

 

[MrFotoFool]

100-400 is good for landscape as well as wildlife. 180-600 is for wildlife photographers, and since you say you rarely do that, I don't think it's a good fit for you (as much as I would love to sell you the one I just listed). I will throw one other consideration in the mix. What I use for telephoto zoom (instead of 100-400) is 70-200 f2.8 with either 1.4x teleconverter or 2x teleconverter (both of which I own and work great with this lens). With the 2x attached I get similar range and same aperture as 100-400 lens, but I have the option of removing it when the light gets low and having a fast f2.8 aperture.

 

[wotan1]

It all depends on what you intend to do.

If your focus is mostly on general travel and landscape then you probably would do better with a 14-24 range. Your choices would be 14-24 f2.8, 14-30 f4 or 20mm prime. The best lens of those three is the 14-24 but the 14-30mm will work. The 20mm prime is an ecxellent lens which gives you quality at a good fixed focal length.

You might then want to expand your horizons in the medium telephoto lens which means the 70-200mm f2.8 is a nice choice.

Getting fully into wildlife can be an expensive journey. The 180-600 is an inexpensive way to get started.

You can also go for the 24-120mm zoom it is reportedly pretty good.

If you really get serious about longer range work my personal recommendation would be to start with the 400mm f4.5 and eventually add the 800mm f6.3 pf. You will also want a teleconverter. Or if you already have the 180-600 you could add a 600 prime. Ultimately you are going to need to get out to 800mm if you are going to be serious about birds.

 

[wotan1]

I agree for these upcoming trips you may want to rent a lens or two and see what you end up doing. Your trips are typically wildlife destinations. You would also benefit from reviewing some of the Steve Perry guides.

I don't know what you have in the way of a tripod but tripods are good for landscapes. If you make a go at wildlife you will need a gimbal as well as a tripod.