Beginner info please.

[BackGardenMoths]

Hi, hope you can help. I'd like to start branching out to take bird / wildlife photography and I need some advice on a good camera and lens set up. I've £1000 - £1200 to play with and I'm looking at the Canon range. Could someone please advise me on whats the best camera and lens combination I should get for that money in order for me to take bird photos.

Hope you can help.

Thanks

Simon
www.back-garden-moths.co.uk

[postcardcv]

To be brutally honest the camera you choose will not make much difference, all of the current crop of DSLRs can take very good images. The lens you buy will make far more difference to the quality of image you can get. With your budget I'd recommend looking at secondhand lenses, the Canon 400 f5.6 or the Canon 100-400 IS would be good ones to look at. I reckon you could get either of these for ~£750-800 (they are sometimes more but look about for a good price) which would leave you ~£400 for a body. You could either pick up something like a 450D new or look for a secondhand body like a 30D or 40D (even the older 20D is still very good). On top of a lens and body make sure to budget for a couple of memory cards (~£20 each) a spare battery or two (~£6 for an of brand one) and a bag to carry it in (not sure on price). I mention Canon gear as it's what your looking at and when I know about (as a Canon user), but other brands (esp Nikon) are worth looking at too.

[Jaff]

Same post stands to anyone who's interested.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1580852#post1580852

Adam