New to birding, here is my equipment so far, what else do I need (1 Viewer)

stlouisguy · Oct 31, 2008

I have found I really enjoy birding, and want to keep a photo log of my birds. I have a Canon Rebel xti 10 meg, the stock 18-55 lense, and the 100mm macro.

I think the 100-400 would be good as I dont really like stagnant lenses. Weight doent bother me and most shots would be as I creep through woods and such.

I have heard of magnifiers, but dont understand much about those yet.

Any and all comments are welcome as I am a novice at most of this camera stuff.

Thanks in advance

HokkaidoStu · Oct 31, 2008

stlouisguy said:
I have a Canon Rebel xti 10 meg

I think the 100-400 would be good

That's exactly the set-up I use and can definitely recommend that lens. You can check my gallery for some example pics if you want.

Re magnifier (you mean teleconverter I think). They do work with this though you can use them with this lens but you may lose autofocus some (or most or all) of the time..........lots of info about this splashed across the web.

stlouisguy · Oct 31, 2008

Yeah, teleconvertor. I guess I dont understand, does it double the magnification? Losing focus doesnt bother me that much I guess unless I need it for flight shots.

I am going to try and get the 400 birds listed for Missouri. Figure that should take me a few years or so LOL

HokkaidoStu · Oct 31, 2008

stlouisguy said:
Yeah, teleconvertor. I guess I dont understand, does it double the magnification? Losing focus doesnt bother me that much I guess unless I need it for flight shots.

There are 2 types, a 1.4X or a 2X. Many people use the 1.4 with this lens. I don't think anyone would recommend the 2X except on some of the really expensive Canon lenses (ie not the 100-400).

danehower · Oct 31, 2008

Don't forget to put the camera away some times - use the bins, and you will get a better feel for the bird !

Roy C · Oct 31, 2008

stlouisguy said:
I have found I really enjoy birding, and want to keep a photo log of my birds. I have a Canon Rebel xti 10 meg, the stock 18-55 lense, and the 100mm macro.

I think the 100-400 would be good as I dont really like stagnant lenses. Weight doent bother me and most shots would be as I creep through woods and such.

I have heard of magnifiers, but dont understand much about those yet.

Any and all comments are welcome as I am a novice at most of this camera stuff.

Thanks in advance

For the lens it depends on your budget, if money is no object then a 'stagnant' (I assume you mean Prime) lens like the Canon 500mm f4 would blow the 100-400 lens away. In general prime lenses are reckoned to be better than zoom lenses when it comes to IQ and they also tend to take a teleconverter better. On the other hand If you think that you you will use a lens like he 100-400 at less than 400 regularly then a zoom could be your best bet.

lmans66 · Nov 1, 2008

Excellent point

danehower said:
Don't forget to put the camera away some times - use the bins, and you will get a better feel for the bird !

Great point...I have been birding for 15 years and have done it all via binocs other then last 2 years. Bonocs give us a chance to really see a bird and concentrate on birding the old fashioned way, putting you a bit more intune with nature, the bird itself etc. Sometimes with a camera, even though I love it and will continue, we tend to focus more on the 'shot' than the bird.....

So I try to take both with me, my camera and binocs.....and of course my book.... jim

gymell · Nov 4, 2008

lmans66 said:
Great point...I have been birding for 15 years and have done it all via binocs other then last 2 years. Bonocs give us a chance to really see a bird and concentrate on birding the old fashioned way, putting you a bit more intune with nature, the bird itself etc. Sometimes with a camera, even though I love it and will continue, we tend to focus more on the 'shot' than the bird.....

So I try to take both with me, my camera and binocs.....and of course my book.... jim

I see it the opposite - many birders I know are busy checking off lists and life birds, and moving on to the next sighting. With photography, you spend a lot more time just watching, and for me that's more in tune with the bird itself. Plus you have to work on getting close, learn behavior, etc. That all takes time and I just don't see a lot of birders doing that.

To answer the original post, the 100-400 is a good versatile lens for bird photographer. The cream of the crop is the 500 f/4. With the zoom you will not only lose AF (which isn't the end of the world) but you also lose a stop of light which puts you at f/8 when at 400mm with that lens. Just something to be aware of since that will impact shutter speed. Even with the 500mm, the 2x is a challenge to use, because of the extreme focal length it's really hard to avoid the effect of camera shake. Definitely check out the Canon Digital Photography Forums, we have an active bird forum there as well.

Tero · Nov 4, 2008

A hand held video camera can come in handy if the birds are singing as well.

gymell · Nov 4, 2008

A little point and shoot camera can work well for that also, easy for taking video and the quality these days is halfway decent.

nikovich · Nov 9, 2008

I used to have the Canon 350D and 100-400 , now I upgraded to the 40d plus battery grip and still carry around the same lens plus my binocs everywhere I go.
It can be hard to juggle the two, but I couldn't go anywhere without either.
If you want to see some photos taken with this combo, check my gallery or blog.

New to birding, here is my equipment so far, what else do I need (1 Viewer)

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