Looking for a camera for bird photography (1 Viewer)

My name is Asaf, from Israel.
More than 40 years watching birds.
I would like to purchase the best DSLR camera ( Canon or Nikon), for bird pgotography.
Im sure there are one or two optimized camera which bird photographers has experienced with.
Would like any reccomandations.
Thank you.

Welcome! :t:

You will need to ask yourself a few questions first ..... What is your budget? Also, what style of shooting will you be doing? walk around? or more fixed tripod shooting? What distances? Low light/bad weather? and will it be action (Birds in Flight)? or more stationary targets? Are there any weight limitations or preferences?

You can get a reasonable rig for a few thousand dollars, or spend up to ~20,000 USD for the best of the best ..... :cat:

You can carry 2 or 3kg hand held as a walk around rig, or be looking at about 6 or 7kg for the best Full Frame DSLR + Super telephoto + tripod set up ..... :cat:



Chosun :gh:

Hi Asaf,
Like Chosun says there are many different options out there so making a decision can be a difficult one.
Both Nikon and Canon make great slr's so look check out reviews on their models and see which ones have the features that appeal to you most.
Personally,i use a Nikon D7200 which is a cropped sensor camera,this enables you to have greater focal length with any given lens compared to a full frame model,this obviously helps when photographing small birds.Although it has a cropped sensor,image quality is superb and the camera can capture amazing feather detail.......which brings me to my next two points.
1.Lens quality is very important......if you want sharp,clear images you need to invest in high quality glass.It is pointless buying a great camera body and then sticking a poor quality lens on the front of it......you will be disappointed.
2.You need to get as close to your subject as possible,it is no good buying a large focal length lens and trying to take photos of distant small birds......even with a big lens,you need to get close.Get close with a large focal length lens and you will get superb results with a good camera and high quality lens.
I use a nikon 200-500mm lens and it is used most of the time close to the 500mm setting......from a hide close to my subjects.This gives fabulous results......an expensive prime lens would probably give me even more,but the expense puts me off getting one.
Good luck in your search for your ideal set up.......there is so much good equipment out there these days that you have a lot of choice.

I'm also a recent convert to DSLR bird photography, and after getting a lot of opinions from members of Birdforum I decided also to go with a Nikon D7200, in my case with the 300mm PF for a lightweight walkaround kit. If weight and size aren't so much of an issue then I'm sure the 200-500mm lens Neil uses would serve you well and give better reach.

Although I'm not a newcomer to photography, I was also surprised how easy and intuitive the D7200 was to use, so much so I've taken to using manual settings with auto ISO. For birds in flight others will recommend the D500 as likely to give you more 'keepers', but the D7200 is still a capable camera for flight shots, as well as being physically smaller and now very good value.

As others have suggested the "Best" camera and lens(es) is very much down to your uses/needs plus the size and distance of your subjects.

Some more information would help us make some better suggestions.

All the best.

Impossible question, but Nikon D500 is one good answer :t:

As all have mentioned, budget is a huge consideration - there are lots of camera/lens combos that can be very good for bird photography at many different budget levels, from $1,000 to $20,000. The higher-price camera systems may not necessarily provide better results just because it's more expensive or even more capable - it depends on how you will need to use it. Birds in flight and motion are better served by cameras with good tracking focus systems, birds in forest/very low light will often be easier to capture with very fast (ie: expensive) lenses and larger sensor cameras, birds in good bright sun sitting still can often be captured to gallery-level quality even by cheaper basic DSLRs or mirrorless cameras with APS-C sensors and mid-level lenses.
There are actually many wider types of systems and brands of systems which can deliver excellent results - not just DSLRs, but mirrorless interchangeable lens systems, and even some fixed-lens systems. Excellent bird photography cameras & lenses can be found from Canon and Nikon, as well as Sony, Pentax, Olympus, Fuji, and Panasonic. It may really be worth your time to do a little research, pick your budget range, decide if any particular features, focal lengths, etc would be desired, and then start to whittle down the choices from there. DSLRs can range from huge pro-body full-frame monsters to compact APS-C sensor bodies, mirrorless cameras can range from full-frame sensors or mini-DSLR designs down to slim rangefinder styles that can nearly fit in a pocket...lenses on any of these systems will usually be bigger than the cameras - especially depending on what reach you think you'll need. Will you be shooting large raptors or wading birds from 20 feet away, small warblers in a dark forest 30 feet away, or various birds from 100 or more feet away? Moving subjects, flying birds, or mostly sitting birds? Open desert with often very bright sun, or deep dark forest with almost no light? Dusk or dawn with low contrast? Lots to consider!

You can't go wrong with Nikon or Canon. I am a Canon snob, so I know more about them. And I am a very serious amateur photographer who strives to create nice images in the camera with the best gear I can afford to do that with. I don't take happy snaps. So everyone's needs will be different, consider that too

Look at how much you want to spend and go from there. Also, take into consideration your wish to hand hold or not. Personally, I have grown to love hand holding my series 1 EF 500mm f/4L IS USM with a 1D camera body and I'll happily shoot all day while hand holding. I can also do that with the series 1 EF 600mm f/4L IS USM, though my shoulders ache a bit after for a few days.

My partner on the other hand uses a 7DMkII and the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM with an EF 1.4x MkIII converter (and without converter) and is loving it, but still finds it a little heavy. But she is building up strength.

With Nikon, you could consider their newer 200-500mm f/5.6 VR lens with whatever camera body (I know very little about Nikon, sorry) as a good entry level lens.

My best advice is: always opt for a better lens over a better body. Camera bodies come and go (man, I never buy a new camera, all mine are bought off E-bay or friends and I have been using very affordable 1D series bodies for the past 5 years). Obviously higher end cameras will have better AF systems and better low light performance and handle digital noise better. There is a lot to photographing with DSLR cameras and I could write a book on my personal experiences and tips for those new to the "game" - especially about things like minimising noise, how to expose a digital file etc.

Lenses, however, last far longer and they make the image.

Maybe get to know other birders who also photograph. Go out with them or talk to them, try their gear if they allow. I would not spend too much time talking to camera shop sales people, as many are probably not bird photographers and would not have half a clue about what you need. I'd leave discussions with camera shops at bargaining to get a better price for what you want.

Also consider, that the latest and greatest of cameras and lenses do not make good photographers. Time in the field using one's gear and practising is what makes good photographers.

Enjoy the journey, it is an amazing experience!

Best wishes...