Originally Posted by
YVR Cockroach
Fixed aperture, I agree with but I actually have a camera manufacturer (Minolta) brand lense that is auto focus (only one out there apparently so I guess it doesn't apply to Canon EOS). p.s. my shooting in Africa was with a manual focus manual exposure Olympus OM-1. Not ideal but manageable.
Taken with a Minolta 500mm reflex lense with a Sony A850). Iceland, May 2010 on an overcast day, north-facing cliff
That's a very nice shot. Congrats.
While I agree that manual focus manual exposure shooting of wildlife is doable, it is not easy even for an experienced photographer.
Canon does have the excellent EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens which has nearly the same long end as the reflex, is more flexible, and features image stabilization. I would suggest that for most users that is a better choice than a 500 mm reflex lens and gives better results.
It is not cheap, but at 1600 bucks it is not monstrously expensive, either. And one can be rented for about 150 bucks for three weeks, which I think is a pretty good deal for special occasions.
Cheers,
T.