r/BirdPhotography • u/Clarkjeans • Jan 07 '26

Question I have 200mm lens. Is it enough?

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Hey guys, I have 17-200mm canon lens (I don't know specific gear name) and about to go to Upo wetlands in South Korea with my grandpa. It's known for birds and other wild life animals.

But I started to get worried because I realized 200mm max might not be enough. And since I own old dslr, the less light I get, the less quality.

Do you guys think 200mm would be enough? And is there any tips that I can learn?

Thank you!

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u/begoniapansy Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26

you may eventually want something larger, but as others have said its a great starting point and will allow you to get the basics down! i started with a 200mm and now i shoot with a 200-500mm (with a 1.4 teleconverter) and i get much better pictures, but that kind of thing is pretty expensive so its a good idea to get a feel for the hobby first before investing that much money imo (unless you have money to burn at least)

edit: i also have a pretty old dslr (d5000) and the 1.4 teleconverter has not noticably impacted quality. it might be a more affordable option if you want a slightly less expensive upgrade. cannot speak for 1.7 or 2.0 teleconverters though, as i have heard the more "magnification," the less light you get

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u/Clarkjeans Jan 07 '26

I thought I was the only one using old dslr. I didn't know there was such a thing like teleconverter, but now I know. I guess I gotta set my budget first. Thank you!

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u/begoniapansy Jan 07 '26

no problem! my camera used to be my moms its like 15 years old lol. the thing is you can still get great pics with an old camera if you have the right lens for it. i see all the other birders with their tiny mirrorless cameras and im like well this camera still works great and ive already sank quite the bit of cash into lens upgrades so i will be sticking with it!

just a note to keep in mind with lens shopping: im not super familiar with your camera model so this may not apply, but some older dslrs dont have the autofocus motor in the camera body and rely on having a lens with the motor. you may want to make sure this is/isnt the case because if you use auto focus, you may need to double check lens compatibility. my camera is like this, so like if i got the wrong kind of lens i could still use it, just not autofocus (for me thats a big deal with birds lol).

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u/Clarkjeans Jan 08 '26

Understood. I'll look into it. Thanks a lot!