Today’s article is going to be featuring what we feel are the two best contenders for the title of the best lens for wildlife photography with a Nikon d5200 camera. As the d5200 is an entry-level camera body, we will be focusing on entry-level lenses that will fit your d5200’s lens mount.
Either of the two lenses we have chosen to feature in our article will make a great addition to your d5200 photography kit while improving the image quality and your wildlife photography. Although both of the lenses are budget-friendly, the first one that we will be covering is closer to the mid-range price point whereas the second lens is an entry level lens that is very popular due to the quality it provides.
Click Here To Check For Prices On High-Quality Wildlife Lenses For Your Nikon d5200!
Table of Contents
The Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED
Being a great little telephoto zoom lens with the perfect focal length for wildlife photography and an excellent build quality makes this the obvious choice for your d5200 if you want to avoid breaking the bank. The lens is currently the go-to lens of choice for many photographers and has proven its ability to perform well for wildlife photography as shown by the image quality in the photograph below.

The silent wave motor technology on the lens offers a great autofocus system considering its price the provides you with a precise, fast, ultra-quiet autofocus that works with many Nikon camera bodies. Chances are that you will have to tweak your image before capturing it with the manual zoom and manual focus rings. Thankfully, they are both very easy to rotate allowing you to quickly and easily perfect the image quality before capturing the photograph.
The Nikon 55-300mm telephoto lens comes with the commonly used 58mm lens filter thread attachment. Due to the 58mm thread size being used by a large number of lenses it is easy to source any filters that you may want to pick up for your new lens. We would highly recommend the Gobe 58mm range (Click here to check for product prices and availability) for all of your lens needs for this camera.
If you own a Nikon d5200 camera and are wanting to pick up a lens that will stand the test of time while also improving your wildlife photography performance then we would highly recommend considering the Nikon 55-300mm. If it is out of your price range then our entry-level recommendation below is very budget friendly while also offering a decent image quality.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!
The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
The Tamron Auto Focus 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 Di LD
With more and more people picking it up over the years, it has managed to receive a large number of third-party reviews (click to read them) from photographers who own it sharing their thoughts and experiences on the lens. The 70-300mm focal range of the lens offers decent image quality throughout making it ideal for a large number of wildlife photography situations.
As many animals will roam freely around their environment during your photography session, the large zoom range allows you to switch between two or more animal subjects switching between them at different ranges to capture photographs of them in different parts of the environment while they do different things.

Again, the lens comes with some decent autofocus technology for its price but it does not work with as many Nikon cameras as the technology on the Nikon 55-300mm covered above. Both the manual zoom and manual focus rings on the Tamron 70-300mm are easy to turn while also having enough resistance to ensure you don’t over rotate the ring.
The Tamron 70-300mm comes with a 62mm lens filter thread that again is a very common thread size making it easy to source any filters for the lens that you might want. Again, we would recommend that our readers consider the Gobe 62mm filter range (Click here to check for product prices and availability) for their filter needs.
If you own a Nikon d5200 and are looking for a decent telephoto lens that is perfect for wildlife photography that isn’t going to break the bank then the Tamron 70-300mm is the lens for you.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!
The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Tamron Auto Focus 70-300mm to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
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Image Licensing
Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Tiomax80 – On the web. – https://flic.kr/p/ecfhP4
Jez Elliott – Hummingbird – https://flic.kr/p/7wFzaB