Which is the best camera for birding?

[mseed123]

Hi, Hope you are all doing well. I am looking for a birding camera. I have searched and found some of the good cameras. 

Let me know your thoughts about these cameras. You can also recommend any other camera, which you think is the best

for birding. I just want to take the beautiful images of the flying birds. 

[XKAES]

Those cameras are designed to take pictures of birds up close -- just a few inches/ccentimeters away.  Most photographers take pictures of birds from a much greater distance -- many yards/meters away.  Which do you want to do?

[thebeardedgroundsman]

For birds and wildlife, I use an APS-C camera with stabilisation (the Alpha 6500) it has 24 Mp.

This gives me more "reach" than a full frame camera (the same lens is effectively  1.5x longer). In built stabilisation means I have better chance of capturing good shots hand held or on my monopod (none of my lenses are stabilised - until I can afford one). 24 Mp means I have some leeway for cropping photos in editing.

All the A6xxx range appear to have have 24Mp and can shoot at 11 frames/sec. The A6400 and above have In built stabilisation - A6000 - A6300 don't. but are a lot cheaper.

Spending less money on a non stabilised camera body means you have more money to spend on a lens!

Most reviews suggest that having stabilisation in the lens (Optical stabilisation - OSS) is best.

The Lens I use for birds and wildlife is a 70mm - 400 mm Sony G lens.

I believe Tamron and Sigma make quite good long telephoto lenses that are cheaper than Sony

All my kit, I have bought on the reputable 2nd hand market (in Britain, I use MPB, Park Cameras, Wex or London Camera exchange) A "good" rated lens from MPB is perfectly usable and often half the price of a new lens).

Other forum members are much more experienced with birding than I am, so they may have better advice - I try my hand at lots of types of photography rather than specialising in wildlife.

Have fun!

[alasdairmac]

I use the Tamron 150-600 f5-f6.3 GO2 on my Sony Alpha 7iii. It's a legacy A mount lens from my A77ii with the LA-AE5 adapter and I am delighted with the results I get from it. Tamron aren't yet making an E-mount version (I expect they will given the popularity of the E-mount cameras) but Sigma make an equally good alternative for much the same price of around £1100.

OK the image quality isn't that of the 600mm f4 but if you're on a budget then for 10% of the price it produces great results and I find the versatility of the 150-600 zoom invaluable. You might also find, as I did, that a cropped full-frame image gives a much better final image that that which I'd get from the extra 50% of an APS-C sensor. And noise is noticeably less at the higher ISOs which f6.3 in low light sometimes necessitates.

 

To conclude, I'd be looking at the A7 series cameras.

Edited July 18, 2021 by alasdairmac