What EF-series Telephoto Lens Should I Buy for Wildlife and Bird Photography?

[CurtL]

I bought my wife a Cannon Rebel EOS T7 for Christmas last year. She has hinted that she wants a better telephoto lens for wild life/ bird pictures. I did a little reading and I think she needs either a 600 or 800 mm lense. Can I get a suggestion of what lens she needs and what lens I should buy? Thanking you in advance- Christmas is coming!

[zakslm]

CurtL,

I will leave a lens recommendation to others with more experience and insight. 

I would like to mention that the T7 is a crop sensor camera and the effective 35mm focal length equivalent of any lens is 1.6X times the focal length of the lens.  That makes a 600mm or 800mm lens equivalent to 960mm and 1280mm lens.  Those focal length equivalents may very challenging to use on the T7.  In addition to magnifying the subject, a longer focal length also magnifies things like camera shake, etc. and even with image stabilization, may result in less than desirable results.

So, subject to the advice of others, you may want to include 300mm and 400mm lenses (or zooms with a long end of 300-400mm’s) in the lenses you may consider.  The equivalent focal length for a 300mm or 400mm lens on the T7 would be 480mm or 640mm and that may work nicely for wildlife/bird photography.

Good luck!

LZ

[FloridaDrafter]

Since you don't mention a budget, I'll throw these out there and let you decide.

Either of the Sigma or Tamron 150-600mm, which come in a couple of configurations at different price points. Another popular lens is the Sigma 60-600mm which is a bit more expensive than the others I mentioned, but a bit more versatile.

[EDIT] Just be sure you get the versions made for the Canon EF mount. They come in various camera mounts.

Newton

[Waddizzle]

Welcome to the Canon Community.  Do you have a price range or budget?

I think you may get suggestions for a 150-600mm lens by either Sigma or Tamron.   I would downsize that recommendation to one of the 200-400mm lenses by the same companies.  

Why?  Because the lenses are beasts and are quite heavy.  I would expect most women would need some sort of support like a monopod.  Also, because of its weight the lens would be a significant drain on the battery.  Canon DSLRs tend to reduce maximum frame rates once available battery power drops below 50%.    

Does she have any specific lenses in mind?