It is usually posed either by birders who fancy taking some record shots while they are out in the field, or by people who already own a camera and use it for general photography, but would like to try photographing birds. For the serious birder who owns a good quality telescope, then digiscoping is my usual answer, using a Coolpix or similar compact digital camera. But for those who do not own a scope, then the answer is more problematic, involving expensive lenses, converters and, after a short while, perhaps a large credit card bill.

What are the choices when it comes to buying a lens in the 400-600 mm range? Apart from camera manufacturers’ own top-of-the-range (and top dollar) models, and a few from independent manufacturers, there is a void at the cheaper end of the market – a gap which this Super Vari model seems designed to fill.

This is not a telephoto for the connoisseur of lens design, being a slightly quirky-looking pull-push zoom. The range covers 360 mm f7.2 to 600mm f12, with a 500mm f10 also marked on the lens barrel. The aperture ring is labelled Bright-Dark rather than with f-numbers, but this lens is probably best left wide open to allow as much light in as possible.

Manual focus is the only option. To me this wasn’t a problem, as I’ve used many manual lenses in the past, and still use it on my AF lenses at certain times. Most modern cameras will not link to the exposure meter when using this lens – my Nikon D2X did, but my D100 didn’t, so exposure will be trial and error. With a digital body this is not a problem as the screen can be checked to see what’s happening, but with a film SLR it would probably be too hit and miss.

I was surprised at the quality of images that I took with this lens, given its price and limitations. Supporting it on a bean bag at my local reserve, I took very acceptable shots of Common Terns and Black-headed Gulls, plus a hand-held shot of terns in flight. There was some colour fringing when I enlarged the image on screen, but on a 6x4 print this was not noticeable. The lens is small and light and will fit in a large pocket.