wildlife photography

[jf.1970]

hello all. iam pretty new to photography so any advice is greatfully received.at the moment i have a digital compact camera that i have been using for the past 2yrs or so,but i would love to get into wildlife photography now that i have some money to spend on a dslr camera.can someone pls give advice on best camera and lenses to buy around the 600 euro mark.the wildlife i would be looking to photograph would be badgers,foxes,deer,birds and otters.any advice on wildlife photography would be a bonus. thanks. iam new to this forum.

[Loupey]

Hello, jf.1970, and welcome to the site!

Do you have a preferred brand? I'm knowledgeable only with the Canon line so I can only comment within that line but others here can give you recommendations with other makes.

To stay within your budget, I would recommend the Canon XS (1000D) kit along with the Tamron 70-300mm (the specs and prices for the lens can be found HERE). My son has this versatile combo and one can do a lot with it.

But keep in mind that the 300mm end may not be long enough to provide what you envision - especially for timid mammals and many birds. But this is a good start and will give you a good idea on how to proceed in the future.

Good luck and hope to see you around.

[jf.1970]

hi loupey,thanks for the reply,your info was very helpful.how close would i have to get to my subject with a 300mm lense.iam very patient and will sit for hours watching wildlife its amazing what you will see when you are quiet and still.i just never had a decent camera to take along.i couldnt get close enough with my compact.

[Loupey]

Depending on the model compact you're currently using, you may actually have more "zoom" with your compact than you would with the 70-300mm. But keep in mind that compacts use "digital zoom" which differs drastically from optical zoom and image quality suffers. In addition, the shutter lag associated with compacts makes shooting wildlife very difficult.

That being said, to get a good tight shot of smallish birds (like robins for example) you would need to get to within the 5~7 meters. This would show the bird prominantly as the main subject and still include its environment. To get a really tight "head-and-shoulders" shot - to show it with a seed in its mouth for example - you would need to get to around 2 meters.

But it sounds like you have the first prerequisite already - patience. Many times I've had to stand in one spot for 2 to 3 hours at a time to get a shot.

BTW - I love your country. So many shades of greens, quaint country roads, and super-friendly people!

[jf.1970]

thanks i love it here to,i have been staying here now 11yrs,iam originally from scotland,a lovely country also. i was looking at the reviews for the canon xs 1000d and it sounds as if its the camera im looking for except that alot of reviews say its not very good in low light, is that a common problem with dslr cameras?

[Loupey]

thanks i love it here to,i have been staying here now 11yrs,iam originally from scotland,a lovely country also. i was looking at the reviews for the canon xs 1000d and it sounds as if its the camera im looking for except that alot of reviews say its not very good in low light, is that a common problem with dslr cameras?

Keep in mind when reading reviews that people often compare cameras against other cameras even though one may be 2~5 times the price of the other.

The XS is fairly new and the imaging sensor is cleaner than those just 3~4 years ago. The XS is the least expensive in Canon's line so it's not going to have all the features. For nature/wildlife, I think the two main features that the XS doesn't have that are beneficial are build quality and fast frame rate.

But build quality may not be a factor for those who don't use their equipment hard or in harsh environments. It is also quite small. I can't hold it comfortably for extended periods of time and it won't balance "properly" with larger/heavier lenses. But as an entry-level camera, it is hard to beat the value.

So the only real and immediate feature that is lacking for unpredictable N&W shooting is the rather slow 3.0 frames per second burst rate. When a bird bursts into flight, that second shot will seem to take forever to get at that rate.

[jf.1970]

iam learning about these slr cameras already .thanks for the tips and advice i will take them all on board.no doubt i will be looking for your advice/tips again some time.thanks for your time.

[Frog]

I'm not the expert on wildlife but just wanted to add that 300 mm telephoto or zoom lenses will be less costly if you look at Sigma, Tamron, Tokina. I have one of each and like them fine, though only one is a 70-300 that being the Sigma.

[jf.1970]

checked out prices for sigma,tamron both around same price cant see one by tokina.there are so many different lenses . surely i wont need them all. i would have to re-morgage my home i think?checked out some kits that come with 75-300 lenses what is the difference to a 70-300 lense?is that a silly question?

[jetrim]

To give you an idea about what the Tamron 70-300 can do fully extended, here's a shot from approx 22' (7 meters) of a bird with a 12" body: http://gallery.photographyreview.com...small800px.jpg

The difference between a 70mm focal length and one with a 75mm is negligible, you'll have less than a 2 degree difference in field of view (the 75 will be ever so slightly tighter side to side) and when shooting wildlife, I rarely go less than 200mm anyway.

For sure you won't need all the lenses! I get by most of the time with 2 - a 28-80mm and a 70-300mm this covers nearly everything from wildlife to wide open street scenes and the pair was had off ebay brand new (with factory warranty) for under $200 US

The big thing that runs up the cost of lenses is speed. As the f/ number goes down, the price goes up...exponentially! but you don't want to look at lenses that start with an f/ number much higher than 4 for wildlife as they just wont be fast enough to catch the action. In an ideal world, it'd be good to invest in something closer to f/2.8 but I guarantee you won't like paying more for the lens than the camera if you're just starting out