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Choosing a camera for bird photography

March 29th, 2008 , 4 Comments »

Update: There is a new and updated version of this post availabe at my photography website:
http://markusjaisphoto.com/cameras/choosing-a-camera-for-bird-photography

Which digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera is best for bird photography? This is a question many birders who want to get serious about bird photography, are asking themselves.
Today, there are many companies who offer DSLRs, including Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus and more. The price of the models goes from below 1.000 Euros (or Dollars) up to more than 5.000 Euros for the professional cameras.

Which brand?

That’s an easy question. Canon or Nikon. Period. Although the cameras of other manufacturers are not bad, Canon and Nikon offer the best camers and are the only ones who currently offer professional bodies (Nikon with the D3 and D300, Canon with the 1D Mark III and 1Ds Mark III). In addition Nikon and Canon have the greatest selection of lenses and other useful utilities like extenders.
Canon and Nikon are currently the only companies that offer a 4/500 with image stabilization. Sigma has a 4.5/500, but without stabilization and a much slower AF than the Canon and Nikon lenses. And the Sigma is also available for Nikon and Canon, if you want to use them. The 4/500 is one of the best choices for the serious bird photographer. For more information about lenses, read my post Choosing the best lens for bird photography.
If you are serious about bird photography and want the best equipment currently available, choose either Nikon or Canon.

How many megapixels?

10 megapixels (MP) is the current standard of most consumer cameras and some professional models. Some new models like Nikon’s D300 offer about 12MP and Canon’s 1Ds Mark III even offers about 21 MP.
I think for most cases 10 or 12 MP are enough. If you are also doing a lot of landscape photography, you might want to get a camera with more than 12MP. At the time of this writing, there is only the Canon 1Ds Mark. But more cameras with a higher resolution from both Canon and Nikon are expected to follow soon.

Crop factor or full frame?

Let’s use an example to demonstrate the point why I like a camera with a crop factor. Nikon’s D300 and D3 both have about 12 MP of resolution. The 1.5 crop factor of the D300 will give you the bird with the same size in the image as if the picture were taken with the D3 and a 750 mm (500 x 1.5) lens. That means, when you photograph a bird with a 4/500 with both the D300 and the D3 from the same distance, you will get much more pixels per bird with the D300 than with the D3. That will allow you to make bigger prints.
But keep in mind, that the full frame sensor of the D3 has better image quality. You probably won’t notice this at all up to ISO 400 but above ISO 800, the D3 is the clear winner. That said, the D300 performs very well at high ISO values.

What else is important?

The camera should have a fast and accurate autofocus (AF). Canon and Nikon currently have both very good AF systems. The more expensive the camera, the better the AF. That’s because those cameras have more processing power and a more sophisticated AF system. A Nikon D3 will perform much better than a Nikon D60.
The camera should be able to shoot at least 5 frames per second (fps). That’s important when you are shooting action scenes like fighting birds or birds in flight. A camera with 8 fps will give you a much higher chance to get a good shot than a camera that can only shoot 3 fps.
The camera should have weather sealing, if you will be using it in difficult weather situations like heavy rain, or dusty areas like a dessert or at the ocean shore.
The camera should also deliver good image quality up to ISO 800, which is the case with most current Nikon and Canon cameras.

What do you recommend?

I currently use a Canon EOS 40D and am very happy with that camera. If you want an affordable but great camera for bird photography, the EOS 40D is a great choice. A serious alternative is the Nikon D300. This is a more expensive camera, but also overall a better one. It has a higher resolution than the EOS 40D (12 vs. 10 MP), can shoot 8 instead of 6.5 frames per second, has full weather sealing and a faster and better AF.
If you want to spend even more money, you can get either Nikon’s D3 (12 MP, full frame) or Canon’s 1D Mark III (10 MP and 1.3 Crop factor) or Canon’s 1Ds Mark III (21 MP and full frame).

The lens is more important than the camera

Keep in mind that the lens is more important than the camera. It’s better to bay a Canon EOS 40D with a 4/500 lens than a EOS 1D Mark III with just a 4/300 lens. For more about the right lens, read Choosing the best lens for bird photography

Choosing the best lens for bird photography

March 3rd, 2008 , 6 Comments »

Update: There is an updated version of this article availabe at my photography blog:
http://markusjaisphoto.com/lenses/choosing-a-lens-for-bird-photography

Today I want to write about which telephoto lens is best for a bird photographer.
Let me tell you in advance that this is my personal opinion. Nature photographers like to discuss this topic a lot, especially if a 500mm or a 600mm lens is best.
I will just start describing the various choices and what I use:

70-200mm

That’s a popular zoom range. Nikon offers a 2.8/70-200 VR. Canon offers a 2.8/70-200 IS, a 4/70-200 without IS and a 4/70-200 with IS (which I use). VR stand for “vibration reduction” and IS for “image stabilization” and describes a technique to reduce the vibration of the lens when hand holding it or even when on a tripod. The 70-200 lens is too short for most bird pictures, but can be handy for tame birds like swans in a park or if you want to photograph a landscape with birds in it.

300mm lens

A 2.8/300mm lens is used by many photographers. Both the Nikon and Canon lenses are extremely sharp and have very fast AF (Autofocus). But 300mm is still to short for most situations. That’s why you will see most photographers who use a 2.8/300 using 1.4x or 2x extender with the lens. The 2.8/300 lenses are not cheap and cost several thousand Euros or Dollars. A cheaper choice is a 4/300 like the Canon 4/300 IS (which I use, too). Those lenses are also very sharp but much lighter and cheaper. The downside is that you will lose AF with many cameras when using a 2x extender with that lens. My Canon EOS 40D will not autofocus with the 4/300 and a 2x extender. The current Version of Nikon’s 4/300 does not yet offer VR (the Nikon 2.8/300 does have VR).

400mm lens

Canon and Nikon both offer a 2.8/400 with VR/IS. That’s a heavy beast (the Canon weighs more than 5kg ) and very expensive. I do not recommend that lens for bird photography. It’s too heavy, in my opinion and 400mm is still not very much when it comes to birds. But keep in mind that many photographers use that lens successfully, especially with good 1.4x and 2x extenders.
Canon also offers a 4/400 IS which is very light. That would make a great lens for flight photography and many photographers use it successfully. Some claim that it’s not as sharp as Canon’s 4/500 and 4/600. Canon also offers a very light and small 5.6/400 (without IS) which is very popular for birds in flight as it can be handhold for a long time.

200-400mm lens

Currently only Nikon offers a 4/200-400 lens. Canon does not although many Canon photographers (including me) would love to see such a lens. The Nikon lens is a dream of a lens. Very sharp and fast AF. Together with Nikon’s great D300 and it’s 1.5 crop factor, that lens would be like a 4/300-600 – a dream for bird and wildlife photographers. The downside of the lens is the high price.

100-400mm

Canon offers a very good 4.5-5.6/100-400 IS and Nikon a 4.5-5.6/80-400 VR. They are much cheaper than the 4/200-400 from Nikon and also much lighter. The sharpness is good, although not as good as with the 4/200-400 or 2.8/300. AF is slower due to the smaller f-stop. Nikon’s 4.5-5.6/80-400 is particularly slow, especially when used with an entry level DSLR from Nikon.

500mm

Canon and Nikon both offer a 4/500. Canon already introduced IS many years ago for this lens. Nikon recently (finally!!) came up with a new version of it’s 4/500 with VR. For me the 4/500 is the perfect bird lens. I love my Canon 4/500L IS. Those lenses are very sharp, f4 is still good, and they deliver amazing quality with a 1.4x extender and even with a 2x. I can handhold it for a while and have used it successfully for birds in flight like Black-headed Gulls, Griffon Vultures and Cinereous Vultures. It will still fit in a backpack that you can take with you on a plane. It’s cheaper than the 4/600 and although heavy (the Canon around 3.9kg). it’s still much lighter than the 4/600. That are the reasons why I chose the 4/500 over the 4/600. I use it a lot with a 1.4x extender on my Canon EOS 40D. That’s a dream combination for bird photography, as is Nikon’s 4/500VR together with the D300.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow, EOS 40D, EF 4/500L IS, 1.4x

600mm

The 4/600 lenses from Canon and Nikon (recently also with VR) give you a longer reach than the 4/500. That’s the only advantage of the 4/600 over the 4/500, but a significant one. If you are shooting a lot of shy birds and don’t have to travel by plane a lot, the 4/600 might be a better choice than the 4/500.
The best would be to own both, the 4/500 and the 4/600 but that’s quite an expensive option. I do not own the 4/600.

800mm

Recently Canon introduced a new 5.6/800 IS. It’s lighter than the 4/600 but more expensive. I would prefer the 4/600 + 1.4x as this is a more flexible solution but I am sure some bird photographers will be very happy with Canon’s new 5.6/800.

200-500mm

That lens does not yet exist. But what’s needed is a 4/200-500 with IS/VR from Canon or Nikon with a weight not over 3.5kg and the optical quality of Nikon’s 4/200-400. That would be the killer lens for bird photography. The zoom advantage would be great and allow for a much better composition of an image without the need the change your position of the lens (which is often not possible). I really hope that Canon or Nikon will come up with such a lens in the future.

You can buy some of the Canon lenses described here in the birdingnet store. There you will find the Canon equipment I use currently or used in the past (the 100-400L witch I replaced with the 4/70-200 and 4/300).