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3 Lightweight Lenses for Bird Photography That Photographers Will Love

Chris Gampat
No Comments
05/18/2022
4 Mins read
Brett Day The Phoblographer Tamron 70-300mm f4.5-6.3 Di III RXD

If given the opportunity, we think everyone would love photographing birds. But not everyone wants to carry that much weight on them. Luckily, there are some fantastic lightweight lenses for bird photography out there. With the right settings, they’ll stand out from loads of other lenses on the market. And we’d know, since we tested them! So, in this roundup, we’re diving into the best lightweight lenses for bird photography. Check it out!

Pro Tips on Making the Most of Lightweight Lenses for Bird Photography

Here are some great tips on using the best lightweight lenses for bird photography we’re featuring in this roundup:

  • The Phoblographer’s roundups only spotlight items we’ve tested. All the images (except one) in this roundup were shot by our staff. And in each section, you’ll find a reference to our full review of each of these lightweight lenses for bird photography.
  • Live in a city? Try making your home more bird-friendly. Put out bird feeders or bird baths to attract birds for photography. There are lots of easy-at-home ways to do this. If you’re using a bird feeder, go for bird seed laced with chili oil. It will keep rats and squirrels away, but will be just fine for birds.
  • Bird photography requires accurate focusing and long focal lengths. Luckily, these lightweight lenses have just that.
  • If the birds are still, you won’t need the fastest autofocus. But if they’re in motion, be sure to switch your camera to continuous autofocus and tracking. Generally speaking, we keep our Sony cameras in the AF-C mode along with the bird autofocus setting.
  • The lenses we’re recommending have weather resistance built into them.
  • The best thing about Tamron’s lenses is their light weight and high build quality while doing the job. It’s hard to beat them!

Tamron 150-500mm f5-6.7 Di III VC VXD

Tech Specs

  • Focal Length: 150-500mm
  • Maximum Aperture: F5-6.7
  • Angle of View: (diagonal) 16°25’-4°57′ (for full-frame mirrorless format)
  • Optical Construction: 25 elements in 16 groups
  • Minimum Object Distance: 0.6m (23.6 in) (WIDE) / 1.8m (70.9 in) (TELE)
  • Maximum Magnification Ratio: 1:3.1 (WIDE) / 1:3.7 (TELE)
  • Filter Size: φ82mm
  • Maximum Diameter: φ93mm
  • Length: 209.6mm / 8.3 in (front tip of the lens to the lens mount face)
  • Weight: 1,725g (60.8 oz) (without tripod mount included) / tripod mount 155g (5.5 oz)
  • Aperture Blades: 7 (circular diaphragm, the circular diaphragm stays almost perfectly circular up to two stops down from maximum aperture)
  • Minimum Aperture: F22-32
  • Standard Accessory: Round-shaped hood, Lens caps, Tripod mount
  • Compatible Mounts: Sony E-mount

How’s the Autofocus

In our review, we state:

“…the combo we used is better for wildlife. Wildlife doesn’t tend to move as fast or as erratically as athletes. Want a nice photo of a butterfly? This is the combo you’ll want.”

“The Tamron 150-500mm f5-6.7 Di III VC VXD can focus between 23.6 and 70.9 inches from the front of the lens, depending on the zoom position. That’s fairly good for such a long lens, and it allows you to get close-ups just above a 1:3 ratio.”

Edited RAW

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Tamron 70-300mm f4.5-6.3 Di III RXD

Tech Specs

  • Weather sealing
  • Sony FE Mount
  • Works with Sony AI with Animal AF
  • 5.8 inches in diameter
  • 67mm filter thread
  • 15 elements in 10 groups
  • 3 inches in length
  • 2.6 feet minimum focusing
  • 1.2 lbs

How’s the Autofocus

In our review, we state:

“I mostly tried this lens with the Sony a7r III. But I also used it a bit with the original Sony a7. The autofocus is pretty comparable to one another. But overall, the focus with this lens is accurate, fast, and reliable.“

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Tamron 18-300mm f3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD

Tech Specs

  • Model: B061
  • Focal Length: 18-300mm
  • Maximum Aperture: F3.5-6.3
  • Angle of View: (diagonal) 77°24′- 5°30’ (for APS-C frame mirrorless format)
  • Optical Construction: 19 elements in 15 groups
  • Minimum Object Distance: 0.15m (5.9 in) (WIDE) / 0.99m (39 in) (TELE)
  • Maximum Magnification Ratio: 1:2 (WIDE) / 1:4 (TELE)
  • Filter Size: φ67mm
  • Maximum Diameter: φ75.5mm
  • Length*: 125.6mm / 4.9 in (Sony); 125.8mm / 5 in (FUJIFILM)
  • Weight: 620g / 21.9 oz (Sony / FUJIFILM)
  • Aperture Blades: 7 (circular diaphragm)**
  • Minumum Aperture F22-40
  • Standard Accessory Flower-shaped hood, Lens caps
  • Mount: Sony E-mount, FUJIFILM X-mount

How’s the Autofocus?

In our review, we state:

“One of my favorite features of this lens is its close-up capabilities. At the wide end, the lens can focus at 5.9 inches, but that’s the distance from the camera sensor. With how long the lens is, that means you can focus on objects that are .2 inches from the front of the lens in the wide-angle position. It’s close enough that Tamron actually has a fine print warning about being careful not to let objects touch the front of the lens.“

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This piece is presented in partnership with TAMRON. We’ve independently and ethically reviewed all the products in this round-up already without sponsorship. And we worked with them to recommend a few key gems to you.

The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

autofocus lenses for bird photography lightweight lenses lightweight lenses for bird photography review sony Sony cameras tacking tamron tamron 150-500mm Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 Di III VC VXD tamron 18-300mm Tamron 18-300mm f3.5-6.3 Di III-A2 VC VXD tamron 70-300mm Tamron 70-300mm F4.5-6.3 Di III RXD
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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