What Is The Best Camera For Birding Photography?

Table of Contents

The Best Camera For Birding Photography

Choosing the best camera for birding photography is important, especially if you are a just starting out. You may be reluctant to buy a high-end camera if you are unsure whether you will stick with the hobby. Maybe you have never picked up a camera before, or you are technologically challenged. Still, you have snapped enough pictures with your iPhone to know that you would like to take your interest in bird photography to the next level. If that sounds like you, read on! We will offer you guidance as you take your first professional-looking photos of birds.

Some Factors To Consider

Here are a few factors to consider when you’re looking to buy a birding camera.

Photographer, know thyself! If you have other hobbies, you will know whether or not you will throw yourself into bird photography, or if you will start gradually first to see how you like it. If you are the first type, consider a higher-end birding camera with all the bells and whistles. Otherwise, you may wish to consider a camera with fewer features, but a lower price.
Choice: Sometimes less is more. Remember that it will take a while to learn about bird photography. You may want to find a camera with more automated features to use while you learn. As you learn more, you can switch those features to manual mode and start taking pictures in lower-light situations. Also, you’ll want to select a camera that has a wide variety of lenses so that you’ll be ready when that perfect shot comes along!.
It’s all in the lenses. The choice of camera lenses will offer you the greatest amount of flexibility as you learn and grow in the hobby. A great macro lens will help you capture professional-looking closeups, while a wide-angle will be perfect for landscapes. Lenses also make all the difference when it comes to picture quality, so select a camera with will give you the best access to the widest variety of lenses.

Birding Camera Recommendations

If you are just starting out in bird photography, the Nikon D500-DX is one of the best choices you can make. It has a cropped CMOS sensor with 20.9 megapixels. Consequently, you will enjoy creating both high-quality images as well as having the advantage of using Nikon’s lighter-weight lenses, an important consideration for birders in the field. This means that you can move quickly to capture those perfect shots, even when using telephoto lenses.

If you are taking pictures in low-light conditions, the ISO range of 100-51,200 will ensure that you won’t have to worry that it’s too dark. You will still be able to capture great detail, even in shadowy conditions. If you would like to capture fast-moving action, like flapping wings, the
Nikon D500-DX will let you do it with its Multi-CAM 20k auto focus system. This system features 153 focus points.

This camera is also a breeze to carry and won’t weigh you down in the field. It is made of magnesium allow and carbon fiber materials, so it not only feels comfortable to hold, it is also extremely durable.

The Nikon D500-DX doesn’t stop a still images. It also shoots
4K Ultra HD video at a speed of 30 frames per second. Get the camera body and all you’ll need is a lens to start taking incredible bird photos!

Second Best Camera For Birding Photography

The second best camera for birding photography that we have found is the Canon EOS-1DX Mark II. This is a 20.2 megapixel camera with a full-frame CMOS sensor, making it perfect for high-speed signal reading. The auto focus feature on this camera has 61 focus points. Focus tracking is a breeze, even under difficult, low-light conditions down to an exposure of -3. Auto focus points are compatible to f/8, depending on the lens you use.

The ISO range of this camera is 100 to 51,200. In addition, there are also excellent noise reduction features. ISO can be expanded down to ISO 50 and up to 409,600. When you start out, let the auto ISO do the work for you. As you gain experience, you can change the settings manually.

This camera even has built-in GPS, so you can geo-tag all those excellent bird pictures!