BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="HermitIbis" data-source="post: 3420656" data-attributes="member: 128291">I started with a Canon 450D, Tamron 70-300 + Kenko 1.4 Teleconverter (672 mm equivalent), but it wasn't much fun - the birds were too small in the optical viewfinder. (*)In 2011 I bought a Canon SX50 (1200 mm equ. + internal TC) and started birding. In four years I shot hundred thousands of photos, had two shutter breaks (I'd estimate the shutter lasts for ~130,000 photos) and still own three SX50 bodies. It is a phantastic camera, but the EVF isn't stellar. Over the years my total costs (1 new + 2 used bodies, shutter repair costs Euro 150): ~1000 Euro. Lately a used SX50 sold at $bay for as low as 124 Euro. 2016 I bought a used Nikon V2 + CX 70-300 lens (810mm equivalent). I love it for BIF (at 15 fps), the EVF is much better than the SX50's, almost OVF quality. Not many of these lenses are offered "used" at $bay, with luck the whole combo costs ca. 800 Euro. I don't know for sure, but apparently the electronic shutter can't break easily.(*) Recently I got a Sigma 400mm apo macro telephoto lens for a mere 100 Euro (un-re-chipped version, so it's only AV mode with exposure wide open). This means 896mm equivalent, yet AF is slow, shooting BIF is hard. It is heavier than the Tamron 70-300 and the AF is clumsy, but the birds are a bit larger, and the total costs with a used Canon 450D body could be around 300 Euro. Altogether not a bad combo, I quite like it for situations with dim light, e.g. in a forest - the prime lens does a decent job isolating the bird from the twigs. Overall I'd much prefer the Nikon V2. It is even easier to handle than the Canon SX50 - very "forgiving" for user errors, while a Canon DSLR can be terribly frustrating for a novice when you don't get the settings right.</blockquote>

Verification