Lens advice for Nikon D5000

[fishincreeks]

Hey guys, I bought the wife a D5000 for her graduation present last fall and we have two lenses right now. One is the 18-55mm that comes with it and the other one is the 55-200mm. We are getting ready to go on vacation to fish in Canada at Lake of the Woods (don't ask me how I talked her into this one), and I want to possibly rent a really good lens from someplace like Adorama. I considered the 80-400 to help her get some good bird shots but after reading the reviews I'm not so sure on this. Should I just stick with what we have? What would be the best lens for bird shots and other nature stuff? This will definitely be the only time I get her up there and I'm sure the picture opps will be crazy. I would love to have her be able to use a very high end lens without having to shell out a bunch of money to buy one.

We're still new to this but learning every day!

[Sneezy Beltran]

Your best bet would be a 500-600mm f/4, but chances are you don't have the correct gear to support it.

If the above is true, I strongly recommend the Nikkor 200-400mm f/4.

Obviously it's a large lens, but it can still easily be handheld. You'll need the extra stops of light it has over the 80-400mm, and it's absolutely tack sharp.

I recently sold my 500mm f/4 because it was such a beast , and will likely buy the 200-400mm for it's increased versatility .

[fishincreeks]

Thanks for the reply Sneezy! I had looked at that one last night but it's almost $600 to rent for the 2 weeks that we would need it!

The more I read it seems the more I become confused! Would it be better to get a teleconverter to work with a 200mm lens?

I'd like to keep the total rental below $200 if possible.

Thanks so much for the help!

[timberland]

Check these guys out for rentals http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/nikon/lenses
I rented last year from them and have just placed my rental order for the week of the July 4th .... warning though, you can rent some fine glass then you just have to own it. Then again, I rented two lenses last year and found out one of them wasn't what I wanted. Another I like about Lens Rentals is they schedule and guarantee your lens rental dates...another I found on the web didn't guarantee the exact rental dates.