what DSLR camera to buy?

[darrenm]

looking for a DSLR camera and lense for bird and wildlife photography but dont know what to buy. I have a budget of around £4,000.

Have used old style 35mm and digital compacts and tried digiscoping but now want to take the step into DSLR but dont know where to start looking.
I also want to be able to take hand held pics.

Any help and ideas would be welcome

[AndyElliott]

For the most part, wildlife is about reach (long effective focal length or narrow angle of view). Your £4k budget will probably mean a 'crop sensor' (rather than 35mm sensor) DSLR - although, arguably, for the advantages of reach, want to go for a crop sensor camera anyway.

Consider also the types of wildlife photography - how close, how big, how fast and how bright.

Do you want weather sealing on the camera?

No doubt people with Canon DSLRs will say, get a 7D and a 100-400 lens or the 300f4 lens (if you go for the canon I would say, the 300f4 with the 7D this would give 480mm equivalent reach). The Nikon users will say, get a D300s with the Nikon 300f4 - this would give 450mm equivalent reach...

I am a user of neither and have my own bias!

I would wait a month or two and get the upcoming Olympus E-5. It will use the latest Panasonic sensor, better than that seen already in the Panasonic GH1. DxO mark, who rate sensors did a comparison of the 7D and GH1 sensors (DxOMark review for the Panasonic Lumix DMC GH1). If you use their comparison thingumajig, and include the D300s, then you find the sensors have roughly the same ISO noise profiles and dynamic range, each one edging the others in slightly different ISO ranges. I will be getting the E-5 myself... I point out the sensor comparison as, historically, the Olympus and fourthirds sensors have given poorer performance (albeit not that massive) than the Canon and Nikon leaders - this would appear to not be the case any longer.

I would couple the E-5 with a 50-200SWD zoom and EC-14 teleconverter (The total should be about the same as the other combos, around £3500). This gives you (because of the fourthirds sensor 2x crop factor) a reach of 100-400mm (at f2.8 to f3.5) or 140-560mm (at f4 to f4.9). The AF on the 50-200SWD is very fast indeed (most of my BIF shots are with this lens coupled to the E-3, Picasa Web Albums - OlympusAndy), as is the sharpness of the lens, even wide open. The other thing is the weather sealing - really excellent on both the lens and the camera, and superior to the Canon and Nikon combos, IMHO. I have had my E-3 engulfed by a wave, then run it under a tap to wash it without any problem.

I should also say the E-3 (and I assume, as will the E-5), has built-in body image stabilisation, unlike the Canon and Nikon, rated at 5 EV stops, so any lens attached to it has image stabilisation.

Andy

[Ollie]

Well I aren't going to try and influence you in any way regarding what make of camera to buy. There are a lot of very good DSLR's and lenses that will comfortably come within your budget.

All I will say is do your research well before actually buying. Try and get to a shop where you can actually handle the various set ups that you may have in mind or better still try them out if you have any friends with set ups that you fancy. Read up on the various reviews that are available on the internet for the cameras and lenses you have in mind.

For bird photography I would recommend nothing less than a 400mm lens reach wise, I would also go for a fixed focal length rather than a zoom as the fixed length prime lens usually gives better image quality than a zoom. Unless of course you are going to be doing all your photography from a hide where the birds are reasonably close.

I'm sure you will get lots more advice than I have offered here but these are just starters. Once you have narrowed it down to what make of camera and lens you are going for then it will be easier to offer more advice.

[GTH]

I agree with "Ollie"...some sound and good advice there !!

Spend some time on research, and any good retailer will help you as it`s a lot of money not to be fully happy with your choice, and will save you frustration !!

best of luck

Geoff

[AndyElliott]

The prime lenses will tend to be sharper, but not necessarily. Olympus's zoom lenses, in particular, are very sharp indeed. Given your budget, the fast primes (any make of 300 f2.8 or 500 f4) will be out of your range. I would be confident that the zuiko 50-200 is as sharp as the canon 300 f4, and has the advantage of being a zoom! (I have actually compared results with a friend with a 40D and the 300 f4).

I wouldn't always pay too much attention to magazine reviews - do your research, but take 'opinion' (including mine!) with a pinch of salt. The best bet is to experience the camera setup for yourself - either borrow or hire. If you are anywhere near Cambridge, drop me a PM and feel free to try my gear! Alternatively, E-group UK (E-group equipment hire - Olympus UK E-System User Group) hire most of the Oly gear - the only comprehensive UK hire place for Olympus. Canon and Nikon have more places where they can be hired, but they are generally more expensive for 'like for like' kit than e-group.

Andy

[darrenm]

thanks for the advice

Was thinking of going with the Canon Eos 7D and the 400 F5.6L USM to start with and maybe a upgrade to a bigger lense when the cash permits and a macro for insect pics.

Does anyone use the above combination and what sort of results do they get?

Is the combination also good for image stablization and auto focus for in flight shots when using handheld?

[John D]

Originally Posted by darrenm

thanks for the advice

Was thinking of going with the Canon Eos 7D and the 400 F5.6L USM to start with and maybe a upgrade to a bigger lense when the cash permits and a macro for insect pics.

Does anyone use the above combination and what sort of results do they get?

Is the combination also good for image stablization and auto focus for in flight shots when using handheld?

See OLLIE'S images in the Gallery for examples of what this combination can produce in the 'right hands'.

John D

Zenfolio | John's Wild World

[squishy]

Originally Posted by darrenm

Is the combination also good for image stablization and auto focus for in flight shots when using handheld?

the 400mm f/5.6 doesn't have image stabilization

if you're using that kind of focal length, a tri/monopod is essential in a lot of circumstances.

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by darrenm

thanks for the advice

Was thinking of going with the Canon Eos 7D and the 400 F5.6L USM to start with and maybe a upgrade to a bigger lense when the cash permits and a macro for insect pics.

Does anyone use the above combination and what sort of results do they get?

Is the combination also good for image stablization and auto focus for in flight shots when using handheld?

Hi Darren. I use the 7D and the Canon 400mm F5.6L USM lens. For in flight shots the 400mmm is in my opinion unbeatable just look at my latest Gallery images.

Although the 400mm F5.6L has no image stabilisation it is a fairly light lens as far as 400mm lenses go and is easily hand held for long periods. I hand hold for all my in flight shots as I find a tripod or even a monopod to be too restricting for in flight work.

In good light the 400mm is hand holdable for static subjects as well. I usually take a monopod with me but only resort to using it in low light conditions when shutter speeds drop below acceptable levels for hand holding.

Before the 7D I used the Canon 400mm F5.6L lens with the 40D and got great results, but with the 7D it is in my opinion an awesome combination the 400mm is very fast to lock on to a moving subject when it's on the 7D and with the 7D's expanded auto focus system enabled and set up correctly it stays locked on to the subject.

One thing I would recommend if you get this combination is to get a reasonably fast CF card. I got a Sandisk Extreme 16GB UDMA card with a 60MB/s write speed and the camera buffer never seems to fill up no matter how many photos I take in succession. With the camera on high speed shooting mode at 8 frames per second you can soon rattle of 50 or more shots in one burst.

For a macro lens I would highly recommend the Sigma 150mm, although I haven't tried it on the 7D as yet but being a Sigma prime lens I don't expect any problems with it.

[darrenm]

thanks for the advice Ollie