Right gear for Bird photography (1 Viewer)

[Evostick101]

Hello to the forum. This is the first ever forum I have ever joined so please be gentle with me. I hope that you can be of help to me.

I am based in London and currently am more of a landscape shooter and would like to take bird photography more seriously. I have a D 7200 and D750 and my longest lenses are the Nikon 70 -300 vr fx lens and AF 80-200 2.8. D.

I’m considering selling the D7200 to move into the Nikon 1 system using the V1 or V2 camera and the Nikon Ft1 adapter. I could then keep my current lenses and gain the extra reach of the 2.7 crop. This can be done secondhand for an overall cost of £200 -300 At the moment. Is this a good idea? Or should I keep the Nikon D7200 and invest in a longer zoom lens. My budget for a longer lens is small, being £300-350. l would dearly welcome any help in identifying possible lens choices in the 100-600 range within that budget, as l know the D7200 is a very capable camera for bird photography with good lenses.

So Nikon D7200 and longer lens or move into the Nikon 1 V camera system.
Thank you for any advice in advance.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Evostick and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I've moved your post to the Nikon Cameras forum as they're better placed to advise you in there. I'll look forward to seeing some of your pictures in the Gallery.

Meanwhile, I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[Evostick101]

Thank you very much.

 

[jafritten]

Hello Evostick 101, I don't know either of your lenses but I know the 7200. Don't sell it. If your 80-200 is a quality lens and sharp wide open, you could use a Nikon teleconverter with it. That should be within your budget. Or just be happy with your 300mm + cropping.

 

[gerald762]

I love my D7200, and it is paired with a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary lens. It works really well for me. A new one is probably outside your budget but you should be able find a second-hand one at a reasonable price. I have no experience of your existing lens, so can't comment!!

 

[Evostick101]

I love my D7200, and it is paired with a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary lens. It works really well for me. A new one is probably outside your budget but you should be able find a second-hand one at a reasonable price. I have no experience of your existing lens, so can't comment!!

Thank you for responding. I also love the D7200. I have researched into the V1 and know that there is a noise trade-off but the ability to use an adapter and gain that extra reach for bird photography is very appealing. The D7200 focusing system would be superior in handling though. I will look into the Sigma as l have heard good reports of it.

 

[Evostick101]

Hello Evostick 101, I don't know either of your lenses but I know the 7200. Don't sell it. If your 80-200 is a quality lens and sharp wide open, you could use a Nikon teleconverter with it. That should be within your budget. Or just be happy with your 300mm + cropping.

Hello jafritten. I had not considered the teleconverter route. I was worried about the degradation of the images produced. I have given myself a week to make a decision so will do more research. I would be sad to part with my D7200 and then be unhappy with the results on the V1. Maybe, at a pinch (and some creative money management), l can do teleconverter on D7200 and still purchase the V1. If you have any experience with the V1 l would love to hear them.

 

[jafritten]

Hello jafritten. I had not considered the teleconverter route. I was worried about the degradation of the images produced. I have given myself a week to make a decision so will do more research. I would be sad to part with my D7200 and then be unhappy with the results on the V1. Maybe, at a pinch (and some creative money management), l can do teleconverter on D7200 and still purchase the V1. If you have any experience with the V1 l would love to hear them.

I've never used a V1. Will it not be very difficult to track the birds with no viewfinder? Another point that would put me off this option is image quality at fast shutter speeds. And: Autofocus.

 

[Evostick101]

I've never used a V1. Will it not be very difficult to track the birds with no viewfinder? Another point that would put me off this option is image quality at fast shutter speeds. And: Autofocus.

The V1 has an inbuilt viewfinder. I have not thought about shutter speeds, do not really know how that will impact image quality. Thom Hogan has written in depth on the V1 series and despite many caveats the cameras use with the Nikon adapter makes it very valuable for bird/wild life photography. I think l an leaning toward teleconverter/d7200 combination. I will post some pictures once l stop writing and get out and shoot.

 

[Compuwight]

Hi and welcome...

Bird & Wildlife photography is my thing, being a born again photographer and new to digital it has and continues to be a long learning curve. I have just purchased a used D7500 to use with my Sigma 150-600C which is probably the best combo I have. I also have a FF D610 however it lacks the focus choices and speed of the D7500. However, with my Sigma 70-200 F2.8 sport it is great for close action HH. I also have the dedicated 1.4 teleconverter but the f9 min aperture results in less than ideal quality and the focus speeds drop. I am no expert but reading and watching others suggests to me that given a freehand the D500 with the 500mm PF for HH and the 500mm f4 on a tripod are the 'bees knees' but you need a rich relative !

IMHO you should perhaps keep your D7200 and look to purchase a good used Sigma 150-600 C or Tamron 150-600. www.usedlens.co.uk is a good starting point with options starting from £600

Good luck and have fun....

 

[jafritten]

I have not thought about shutter speeds, do not really know how that will impact image quality.

Fast shutter speeds will rev up your ISO and high ISOs result in graininess, noise, dull colours and loss of detail. An APSC-sized sensor (your 7200) will produce good image quality at ISO 1600. A smaller sensor just won't; it will produce disappointing results. This is because the pixels on small sensors with a high megapixel count are significantly smaller and thus gather less light. Compare 20 Mpx on a 1" sensor to 20 Mpx on a full frame sensor (e.g. Nikon D5).

Thom Hogan has written in depth on the V1 series and despite many caveats the cameras use with the Nikon adapter makes it very valuable for bird/wild life photography.

I'm not saying it's not possible. I took my first wildlife photos using a compact camera and binoculars. But as you own a very good DSLR, I'd rather use the 7200. Mind you, until the advent of the D500, the D7200 had been Nikon's top of the line crop camera.

I think l an leaning toward teleconverter/d7200 combination.

If I were you, I'd first see if I could be happy with my 300mm lens. The 7200 has 24 Mpx so there's a lot of potential for cropping. Next, I'd consider a Nikon TC (a x1.7 maybe for the 80-200, which will give you 340mm at f4.5 or so). If you can get a 600mm zoom lens for a good price, that would be an option, too.

That's just my opinion. I agree largely with compuwights's contribution in #10.

Cheers

 

[Andrea Collins]

If you are considering a teleconverter you will need to check very carefully that it is compatible with both lens and camera. In particular with Nikon lenses there have been many very similar models made over the years as designs are updated and not all lens/teleconverter combinations will be compatible, even if both are Nikon's own designs.

 

[PaulCountyDurham]

I have not thought about shutter speeds, do not really know how that will impact image quality.

I wouldn't get too hung up on that. I'm guessing for the well experienced, who have been right round the block and have everything else under control, shutter speed matters a lot. But, for those of us who are learning there is so much to get to grips with that it's probably wise to not be overly concerned with shutter speed and instead aim for a balance of knowledge when learning aspects of the camera.

I posted a picture of a linnet yesterday using a Nikon P950. It was taken hand-held, full zoom (2000mm) and only 200/250 shutter speed. It's not perfect, and of course the bird is more or less stationary, but it does show that you can get a decent image at much lower shutter speeds. Among other things, I'm starting to experiment with contrast and saturation and what happens at different settings in different conditions. In the event I thought that shutter speed trumps everything then I'd neglect learning about the other aspects of the camera. From my pictures to date, I'm not seeing a whole load of difference between say 500 and 2000 shutter speed: that said, I do not take pictures of birds in flight. I think that holding the camera steady, getting close to birds, and finding a nice background are all more important than shutter speed, at least at this point in time anyway. The sharpness control is another one worth getting used to: I don't particularly like the sharpness of the tail on the linnet, 'just doesn't look right to me and so time to turn it down a notch.

Either way: lots of interesting and challenging things to learn about taking pictures of birds and their environment and I'd imagine that whatever camera/lens you choose you'll enjoy it!

 

[PedroS]

Hummm...
It all depends on what you expect from your photos.
With your budget, I will keep what you have and invest on a decent tripod and gimbal head, to use your 70-300. Forget the AF 80-200, because too slow.
Remember that croping is never an answer to great photos. Learn to be near, learn the good spots. Enjoy!