Camera for bird photography - Questions

[Apparatus]

Last time went on local bird trips and saw some carrying long lens of 200 mm to 300 mm for shootimg birds. I realized they actually can't shoot a bird clearly when the trees are tall and the bird is inside the dark areas or even inside some bushes far away

I have some questions

1) DSLR vs Mirrorless. Is mirrorless the trend now? How about mirrorless M43 cameras for bird photography?

2) Full-frame vs Cropped sensors.

3) 100 to 500 mm vs 200 to 600mm super telephoto lens. Which is better?

4) I want a reach of 1000/1200mm. So super telephoto lens with a 2x extender vs Cropped sensor of 2x factor with the mentioned same super telephoto lens. Which is better? The Olympus OM-1 with 300mm ƒ/4 Pro lens (highly rated) and a 2x TC should reach 1200mm ?

5) Telephoto lens is better with a fixed aperture opening or variable aperture opening?

6) If camera is mounted on a tripod do I need to turn off IBIS/OIS in lens?

7) Which brand and model of camera do you recommend?

8) Which brand is compatible with more 3rd-party lenses like from Sigma and Tamron?

9) Which brand and model of humidity control cabinet (aka dry cabinet) is best for storing cameras and lens?

Thanks

 

[francisjon14]

If budget is no issue, Just get the longest telephoto lens you can get with wider aperture. Some birds are pretty small when far away so you need the longer and faster lens to get a decent shot.

 

[Apparatus]

Just to make things a bit clear regarding my needs

1) Don’t have to be the best gear since the best gear will ultimately be the most expensive gear
2) Not going for competition and/or solo exhibition. Only for leisure enjoyment
3) Need to be light in weight in the wild
4) No need to have 8K video recording for bird photography so NIKON Z9, CANON EOS R5 C, CANON EOS R5 and SONY A1 will be excluded.

 

[alamakazim]

Buy binoculars lo... See see only man

Want see good photos ... Google lo

 

[Apparatus]

Buy binoculars lo... See see only man

Want see good photos ... Google lo

Ownself shoot ownself song mah

 

[Apparatus]

Cheapest option of all is to buy the NIKON Coolpix P1000 super telephoto camera which can give 3000mm reach and 4K UHD video. It weighs 1415g (w battery and memory card). Costs about S$1850

Investing in DSLR, Mirrorless, M43 etc with super telephoto lenses will be at least S$7000 and above for some good to great shots in bird photography

I have narrowed my search to 2 cameras, namely

1) OLYMPUS OM System OM-1 M43 with 300mm ƒ/4 Pro Sync IS lens and a 2x TC giving a reach of 1200mm

Body - $4002 Wt - 511g
Lens - $3365 Wt - 1270g
2x TC - $600 Wt - 150g

Total = $7967 Total Wt = 1931g

2) CANON EOS R6 full-frame with a crop feature of 1.6x. The lens is RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS Dual Nano USM. With a 1.4x RF Extender effectively giving a reach of 1120mm

Body - $3999 Wt - 680g
Lens - $4749 Wt - 1370g
1.4x TC - $829 Wt - 225g (2x TC - $999 Wt - 340g giving a total reach of 1600mm)

Total = $9577 Total Wt = 2275g

In summary

The CANON is heavier, costs more and has a shorter reach (with 1.4x TC) than the OLYMPUS

 

[RyanJ]

Regardless of the system you choose, if you have no prior dslr/mirrorless handling knowledge, it might be prudent to rent and try.

Also requires a sturdy tripod and a good ballhead/Gimbal head ( ymmv on either )

 

[Apparatus]

I believe I found the perfect budget entry-level combo of mirrorless camera and lens for beginner to shoot birds.

They're the

Canon EOS R7 + RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM Lens with RF Extender 1.4x

The APS-C sensor has a crop factor of 1.6 so the total reach is 1.6x400x1.4 = 900mm (about)

Remember, the items are for a beginner on a budget. Don't compare to mid-level and high-end items, which are more expensive. Also, expect to have some limitations as well. However, with good shooting skills and techniques, you can get pretty good results from them. Can check out the net/YT for more reviews.

Canon R7 body - Wt is 612g (cards + battery)
RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM Lens - Wt is 635g
RF Extender 1.4x - Wt is 225g

Total weight of the 3 items is 1.47Kg. Very light and suitable for handheld without the need of a tripod

Canon R7 body - $2049
RF100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM Lens - $635
RF Extender 1.4x - $829

Total - $3513

Note:- You need accessories like

1) External battery charger
2) UHS-II SDXC cards and card reader
3) 7-in Field Monitor with battery. Deskview R72 7-inch with 2600 nits should be great

https://www.amazon.com/Desview-R72-Brightness-1920x1200-Resolution/dp/B09N7Y83G1

 

[EJB]

At f/8 for 400mm, you're going to cry in dark areas.

 

[hellhole]

At f/8 for 400mm, you're going to cry in dark areas.

its okay if you are on a tripod with a trigger and low shutter speed. if you not looking for flight shots...

anyway.. if its dark, no point trying to shoot it.. even if you have a f2.8 lens

 

[EJB]

its okay if you are on a tripod with a trigger and low shutter speed. if you not looking for flight shots...

anyway.. if its dark, no point trying to shoot it.. even if you have a f2.8 lens

f/2,8 is 3 stops from f/8. That's a fair bit of difference. You can have a slow shutter speed provided the bird is sleeping and not moving. As for flight shots with bright light, f/8 might be feasible actually.

 

[Apparatus]

At f/8 for 400mm, you're going to cry in dark areas.

This combo I have chosen is not intended for shooting birds in low light nor small bird at faraway distance. For beginner ok lah

The PROS are

1) Very light and suitable for handheld without the need of a tripod
2) Enjoy CANON's fast AF and eye tracking for birds
3) Has 32.5MP crop sensor
4) Cheap combo

Well, cheap things will have more limitations ah

 

[EJB]

This combo I have chosen is not intended for shooting birds in low light nor small bird at faraway distance. For beginner ok lah

The PROS are

1) Very light and suitable for handheld without the need of a tripod
2) Enjoy CANON's fast AF and eye tracking for birds
3) Has 32.5MP crop sensor
4) Cheap combo

Well, cheap things will have more limitations ah

AF tracking depends on the lens and camera combo. You are right however that this setup is good for stationary shots where you can use a tripod actually, not handheld.

Just manage your expectations what you can achieve with this setup and you're good to go. You can push a bit but honestly, not much to push. You're better off with a 70-200 f/2.8 +2x TC actually.

 

[Apparatus]

AF tracking depends on the lens and camera combo. You are right however that this setup is good for stationary shots where you can use a tripod actually, not handheld.

Just manage your expectations what you can achieve with this setup and you're good to go. You can push a bit but honestly, not much to push. You're better off with a 70-200 f/2.8 +2x TC actually.

Actually, the R7 has IBIS and the lens has OIS and, coupled with its light weight, is suitable for handheld.

1.6x200x2 = 640mm reach for your lens. And yes your lens is definitely better than mine

Your lens alone costs $3499.....total cost will shoot up. Not for a budget set up ah
https://sg.canon/en/consumer/ef70-200mm-f-2-8l-is-ii-usm/product

With my budget combo its

1.6x400x1.4 = 900mm (about) reach and the Total cost is $3513

 

[EJB]

Actually, the R7 has IBIS and the lens has OIS and, coupled with its light weight, is suitable for handheld.

1.6x200x2 = 640mm reach for your lens. And yes your lens is definitely better than mine

Your lens alone costs $3499.....total cost will shoot up. Not for a budget set up ah
https://sg.canon/en/consumer/ef70-200mm-f-2-8l-is-ii-usm/product

With my budget combo its

1.6x400x1.4 = 900mm (about) reach and the Total cost is $3513

Sorry, I do not have the 70-200 f/2.8L I am just sharing a more ideal and realistic setup. I'm not a hardcore birder myself and I do not own a Canon system.

Sensor compensating and lens compensating would take time to focus, it's not instant opposed to belief. There's time to actively stabilize it before firing. It's not not suitable for handheld, but given the shooting conditions, handheld honestly isn't the best option opposed to tripod.

You need to consider down the road, your lenses stay, your camera body changes. Factoring a 'current' setup, won't work for SLR/mirrorless systems in the long run.

 

[Apparatus]

Sorry I quoted the EF lens

I think you are referring to the RF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM since the R7 is a RF mount camera. The lens costs $4499 which is way beyond for a beginner

https://sg.canon/en/consumer/rf70-2...ct?category=photography&subCategory=rf-lenses
I guess once you pass the beginner stage and if one intends to adopt bird photography as a hobby, one would likely to go for a better camera body with better lenses. There's no need to buy many lenses for now and you can sell the old lens later if there’s a need to upgrade

 

[Apparatus]

From my view, bird photography is bleak. You can only find mynahs, crows, pigeons, sparrows................and once a while maybe a kingfisher may drop by in your HDB neighborhood

Only some places like Sungei Buroh Wetland Reserve, Jurong Bird Park, Pulau Ubin, certain parts of the reservoirs, some parts of Bukit Timah reserves, Botanical Gardens, Samakau Island etc are where you can find birds for shooting.

And being a small concrete island we lack of low-lying bushes for the birds to perch, except near shorelines, mostly they'll perch high on trees. Without a reach of 1000mm and above, you can forget about shooting them and that provides you have great and expensive camera and lens to make good to great shots.

To further make the matter worse, you can probably see one or two bird societies on the net in Singapore.

Unless you have great interest to make bird photography as a hobby, investing in expensive camera and lens is not worth it. Just learn how to shoot a bird correctly, learn how to edit in post etc would be sufficient.

Other genres of photography have a wider reach like portraiture, macro, landscape, sports, advertisement, urban photography and architecture. Wildlife photography is even worse than bird photography.

 

[conure]

bird photography is expensive hobby and only gets exciting when there's seasonal migration, and provided not raining

gotta admire those seasoned photographers who persevere in their hobby, always craning necks and staring into trees