Hi Stephen,
We seem to have these discussions on birding-aus every few months.
It is not easy to answer the question, "What camera should I buy?" Whether
it is for birding or any other purpose. There are quite a few questions that
would need to be asked in order to make a recommendation, for instance:
1. What's your budget - how much are you wanting or expecting to spend?
2. Is your primary use birding, or will it be used for landscapes,
portraits, travel photography as well as birding?
3. What is your level of expertise? Have you had or used a camera before?
4. How serious are you about bird photography? Are you primarily a birder
that will take the occasional photograph, or do you intend to become a bird
photographer?
5. How much weight are you able or willing to carry?
6. And, question 1 again, what is your budget?!
I ask the budget question twice, because without knowing that it is hard to
even give a range of recommendations.
Iain, in his answer, recommended the Canon 100-400mm lens coupled with a
Canon 7D body. This is the current "workman" rig used by many birders (and
bird photographers). That setup works well and is a good all-round
combination. Nikon make a similar lens, an 80-400mm, and the equivalent body
would be the Nikon D7100 (or new D7200). The limitations of this combination
are that at 400mm the lens is "only" f/5.6 which can make rainforest
photography more challenging. Iain also recommended the new Sigma 150-600mm
lens (and Tamron also make an equivalent lens). It's hard to recommend this
lens currently as there are simply none in use at the moment - however the
earlier Sigma 150-500mm is well reviewed and I know a number of birders
using it. The advantage of the 150-500mm and 150-600mm are, of course, the
longer "reach" - essential for photographing waders, and useful for birds of
prey and bush birds at a distance. The disadvantage with these lenses is
that they are much slower than the Canon and Nikon xx-400mm lenses, with a
maximum aperture of f/6.3 at their longest extensions. At f/6.3 you can
struggle in conditions that are not well lit. Of course, these days, the
argument is that cameras are much better in low light - and that is
certainly true.
A Canon 7D will cost you $2,200 and the 100-400mm lens will cost you $2,600
- bringing the total to $4,800. Incidentally, Canon recently released both a
7D Mark II and a second version of the 100-400mm lens, which means that you
could pick up the earlier versions as either run-out stock from dealers or
second hand (check eBay) for about 60% of that figure. The Nikon equivalents
are $1,250 for the D7100, $1,400 for the D7200 and $3,500 for the 80-400mm
lens. This is Nikon's second version of that lens and I definitely DO NOT
recommend the previous version - I had one and hated it. The Sigma 150-500mm
lens is $1,000 and the Tamron 150-600mm lens is $1,250 (I expect the Sigma
equivalent is a similar price).
There are alternative lenses. Many birders use the Canon 400mm f/5.6 lens
($1,700). The "disadvantages" with this lens are that it is a prime lens not
a zoom (I say disadvantage, because if this is to be your only lens, then it
is somewhat limited), and that it has no image stabilisation - which makes a
big difference with bird photography with lenses in the 400mm range. Both
Canon and Nikon have 70-300mm zooms with image stabilisation, both of which
are good lenses and come in around $1,650 for the "L" series (top-end)
Canon, $470 for the regular Canon lens and $800 for the regular Nikon lens
(they don't have this range in their top-end).
If you didn't want a DSLR then there are two paths to follow - the fixed
lens "point and shoot" type cameras (although that name really does them a
disservice) and the compact system or mirrorless cameras. Starting with the
fixed lens cameras, the Canon SX60HS with 16 megapixels and a 65x zoom
(equivalent to 21-1365mm) for $600 is well regarded by birders. The Nikon
equivalent is the Coolpix P900 with 16 megapixels and a staggering 83x zoom
(equivalent to 24-2000mm) for $750. Whilst it is easy to think that these
cameras sound absolutely amazing, there are disadvantages - firstly when
designing optics with those sorts of ranges in a hand-holdable camera, an
awful lot of compromise is involved - meaning that either at the wide end,
the telephoto end, or more generally all across the range, image quality
will never be as good as the top-end DSLR lenses. Secondly, the image
sensors in these cameras are physically small (I don't mean in megapixel
count, I mean in physical dimensions). This means that for various technical
reasons I won't cover here, the image quality can't be anywhere near as good
as the quality from a DSLR and the low-light capabilities of cameras with
these sensors will be poor. This is an important point as, even in bright
sunlight, birds tend to stay in the bushes in shadow (which equals low
light). Other manufacturers have similar cameras, so if you choose this
route, do your homework. Oh, ALL manufacturers will quote zoom ranges
including "digital zoom". DO NOT take that into account. Never, ever, ever
use digital zoom - as the images will be useless. If you do buy a camera
that includes digital zoom make sure you understand how to turn it off and
then TURN IT OFF!
The second range of cameras that I mentioned is a relatively new category -
the so-called, compact system or "mirrorless" cameras. These are
interchangeable lens cameras with, electronic viewfinders. This gives these
cameras two distinct advantages over DSLRs, first they are smaller and
lighter and secondly, they don't include mirrors, so are mechanically
simpler and don't suffer from problems caused by the vibration when the DSLR
mirror moves ("mirror slap"). There are several brands that compete in this
category - most notably Olympus, Fuji and to a lesser extent Sony. Canon
does have a mirrorless camera, but it should be ignored. Nikon has a superb
little player in this category that I'll describe in a minute. In my opinion
the Fuji X series cameras are as good as you can buy - they are absolutely
brilliant for almost anything except bird photography. Why? Because they do
not have the lenses with the telephoto range currently (I believe they have
a 100-400mm lens on the way). The Fuji cameras use the same sized sensor
that the Canon 7D and Nikon D7200 have, so the image quality is equivalent
with no degradation. The Olympus OM-D cameras are incredibly well reviewed
(generally rated equal to or better than the Fuji) and they do have a
75-300mm lens (equivalent to 150-600mm). The Olympus cameras use a sensor
size known as "Micro 4/3" which is smaller than the sensors found in DSLRs
and is subject to more noise (but a lot less noise than the
point-and-shoots). The Nikon contender in the mirrorless category is the
Nikon 1 - which comes in a multitude of bodies. Probably the best body for
bird photography is the Nikon 1 V2 ($750). The later Nikon 1 V3 ($950) is
better specified, but you need to purchase a separate viewfinder ($350) and
grip ($200) to meet and better the specifications for the V2. What is
amazing about this camera, apart from the fact that it is tiny and light, is
that you can buy a 70-300mm lens (equivalent to a mind-blowing 189-810mm)
for $1100. This lens is built to the same standards as Nikon's top-end
lenses, and is simply amazing. No, you can't really hand-hold it at maximum
zoom, but image quality and sharpness are amazing. The Nikon 1 series of
cameras use a "CX" sized sensor which is much larger than the point and
shoot cameras, but much smaller than the DSLRs. Yes, the images can be noisy
and the low-light capabilities are not as good as a fast lens on a DSLR, but
all things considered, this is a good combination. I wrote a bit of a review
on this system in an earlier post and provided some links to photographs I
had taken with it.
Coming full-circle and returning to DSLRs for a moment. Beyond the basics I
mentioned earlier, the DSLR has the ability to grow with you. For example,
both Canon and Nikon have wonderful 200-400mm lenses (in the $7,000 price
range) that offer you versatility and superb image quality - I have met many
birders and bird photographers that use these lenses, and they are often
regarded as favourites amongst safari photographers. Both Nikon and Canon
have 300mm f/2.8 lenses, also in the $7,500 price range, that are well
regarded by bird photographers. Coupled with a teleconverter, they offer
absolutely amazing quality and have reach to around the 450mm-600mm range. I
know a number of the top bird photographers that use exactly this
combination. The mainstay of bird photographers, however, are the 500mm f/4
lenses. Both Canon and Nikon have these lenses, and when coupled with a
teleconverter extend to around 700mm. Moving up again, you have the 600mm
f/4 lenses. These are another kettle of fish - much, much heavier than the
500mm lenses, almost impossible to travel with (I should know, I have done
precisely that), these beasts really do need a tripod. You are looking at
$13,000 for these beauties. Both Nikon and Canon also have 800 f/5.6 lenses
- I must confess that I have not seen one in the wild, and have certainly
not used one. They are undoubtedly great lenses, but would be very hard to
use due to their very narrow field of view. Also at 800mm, when
photographing waders (say), you are having to deal with heat haze and other
atmospheric conditions that make photography tough.
I hope this helps.
Paul Dodd
Docklands, Victoria
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Stephen
Sent: Saturday, 21 March 2015 12:18 PM
To:
Subject: suitable camera
I am thinking of buying a suitable camera and lens for bird photos. I start
from scratch, and have no knowledge of what is suitable - presumably it
would be a SLR, used on a tripod.
I'd be grateful for advice from experienced users.
Stephen
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