Choosing a camera for bird photography

August 11th, 2008

In this post, I want to give you some tips on how to choose the right camera for bird photography. If you are new to bird photography, it may seem hard to pick the right camera, as today there are more digital SLR cameras then ever.
You can got bird photographs with every current DSLR but it worth paying attention to certain features that may give you an advantage in some situations. For example, a camera that can shoot 8 frames per seconds (fps) has a higher change of getting a winner in an action scene than a camera that can only shoot 3 fps.
The following tips will help you to pick the right camera for you.

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 cameras and are the only ones who currently offer professional bodies (at the time of this writing Nikon has the D3, D700 and D300 and Canon 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 and I use a 4/500 myself for over 90% for my bird pictures. For more information about lenses, read my post Choosing a lens for bird photography.
If you are serious about bird photography and want the best equipment currently available, choose either Nikon or Canon.

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

How many megapixels?

10 or 12 megapixels (MP) is the current standard of most consumer cameras and some professional models. Canon’s 1Ds Mark III even offers about 21 MP. It’s expected that Nikon will soon introduce another top model with around 24 MP, maybe at Photokina in September 2008.
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 to make large prints.

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 (and D700) 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. As a rule, the more expensive camera often has the better 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 I recommend?

I currently use a Canon EOS 40D and am very happy with that camera.
If you use Canon, the EOS 40D is a great choice at a very attractive price. If you have more money to spend, think about the EOS 1D Mark III. Unfortunately, that camera has had bad press because of serious autofocus problems. I won’t go into details here as this is beyond the scope of this article. Check out this very detailed analysis by Rob Galbraith about the AF of the EOS 1D Mark III.

If you shoot with Nikon, I recommend the D300. It has a great 12 MP sensor, very fast AF, full weather sealing and can shoot up to 8 fps. If you prefer a full frame sensor, go for the D700. It’s almost as good as the D3 but much cheaper and it even has some features the D3 lacks like sensor cleaning or a built-in flash (which is not very useful for bird photography but still nice to have).

The lens is more important than the camera

Keep in mind that the lens is more important than the camera. It’s better to buy 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 a lens for bird photography

It’s the photographer - not the equipment

Although good equipment is important, a good camera alone won’t take good pictures. If you want to get great bird photographs, you have to learn about the life and behavior of birds and spend a lot of time in the field. This is much more important than your camera.
That said, it pays to invest in good equipment and learn how to use it.