Extraordinary Bird Photos and How to Capture Them Vol. 2

Choosing good, basic equipment for professional-quality bird photography isn’t nearly as difficult as some people would make it out to be. Granted, there is a lot of equipment to choose from, and the human brain can get quickly overloaded faced with so many rather expensive choices. I am going to keep my suggestions brief and simple and yet professionally directed. Bird photography does require special equipment, especially lenses. The advice which is forthcoming directs you to the kind of equipment a professional or serious amateur photographer would choose if he or she were out shopping to replace lost or seriously damaged equipment.

Here is a fact which may surprise you. All the major DSLR camera manufacturers offer some models which are suitable for serious bird photography. Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras are what professional and serious amateur bird photographers use. And there is one particular overwhelming reason for that choice. DSLRs make it possible for the photographer to attach a large array of big lenses with different focal lengths, say 300mm to 800mm, to the same camera.

Why are such big lenses necessary? Because the bird photographer’s subjects are usually so small. Long lenses quite literally expand the size of the subject in the frame, and bird photographers want their subjects to dominate the frame close to the center, but not dead center, which is most often a compositional cliché.

Certain features of most present-day DSLRs are “must haves” for bird photographers. The good news is most of these essential features, such as autofocus, through-the-lens metering, sharp focusing viewfinders, exposure compensation, depth of field preview, mirror lock and self-timer are now standard on even entry-level models. This was not always the case.

Several features of DSLR cameras are variable, depending upon the model chosen. The three most important of these are the size of a camera’s sensor (an APS-C sensor approximately 22.3 x 14.9mm is preferred), the number of its pixels (approximately 15 megapixels or more is best), and the quality of those pixels. All of these variables, and especially the quality of the lens attached to the camera, create the sharpness of the final resolution of the images you produce, assuming your shooting technique is adequate.

Point and shoot and cell phone cameras, although great fun for social occasions, are not proper instruments for serious photography of small subjects. Their smaller sensors, usually with fewer pixels and added mechanical elements to facilitate zooming, put them at a decided disadvantage in the field.

More than 95 percent of professional nature photographers in North America choose either Canon or Nikon models matched with the camera manufacturer’s lenses. There are two major reasons for this. First, both produce excellent lenses. Second, each produces a large line of lenses, including long focal-length lenses appropriate for bird photography. There are many first-rate camera and lens makers in the world. However, no other camera and lens manufacturers offer as many camera models and large focal length lenses as these two fierce competitors.

Perhaps you already have a camera and long lens which you like and use frequently. If they produce for you, you may feel quite satisfied. I cannot, and would not ever, suggest that you change what works for you.

If you are now considering a new birding camera, I recommend you choose one of the following: a new 90D Canon or a 7D2 or its predecessor, the 7D -if you can afford them. If you need to economize, I would opt for a used Canon 60D, 70D, 80D or a recent, but not necessarily new, Rebel. The Rebels are all entry-level DSLR models but don’t underestimate them.

It probably will surprise many people that an entry-level product can take professional-quality photographs, but these cameras can and do just that. They lack some of the bells and whistles found on more expensive models, and their overall ruggedness is a little inferior to the semi-pro and “professional” models, but they will perform just fine as long as you don’t knock them around. I have used one for several years as a backup and can vouch for its reliability and the quality of the images it produces.

I am not as familiar with the Nikon line and must therefore offer advice from hearsay, although my sources are usually reliable. I believe the D3500 and D3400 are suitable entry-level cameras and will probably do everything the Canon Rebels can. More expensive but still suitable for general birding would be the pro D500 followed by the less expensive D7500 and the D5200. If I really wanted to spring into the upper stratosphere, my choice would be the D500.

Let me repeat myself here. The only real advantages I can see that top-of-the-line DSLRs have over their entrylevel competition are a slight gain in ease of operation and a more appreciable gain in ruggedness. Once upon a time not long ago, entry-level cameras had considerably fewer pixels available on their sensors compared to “pro” models. Today this is no longer true. Entry-level cameras now have sensors approaching 20 megapixels and beyond. In actuality, a 15megapixel sensor can produce a frame which can be enlarged nicely to 16 x 20 inches or more and still look good.

My most used camera is the Canon 7D—the slightly older model. Its major advantage is a burst rate of eight frames per second and a burst length of roughly three seconds before the buffer is full and must clear itself at least partially before further images can be exposed. Its APS-C CMOS sensor is good for 18 megapixels, which come in handy when cropping is necessary. I do a lot of flight photography now, and the high burst rate and burst length make it ideal for the job.

By all means choose a camera with a crop factor of 1.3x or 1.6x (Canon) or 1.5x (Nikon). The cameras I have recommended all qualify in that respect. A camera with a full 35mm sensor does not have a crop factor and is labeled 1x. It is virtually useless for bird photography. Practically speaking, smaller CMOS sensors sacrifice detail at the periphery of a frame for a concentrated focus of what is at the very center of it. When the APS-C CMOS image is reproduced to full-sized dimensions on your computer screen or a paper print, it creates the illusion of a magnification factor. This is due to the cropping of a theoretical 35mm frame. The photographer with a APS-C sensor is capturing the center-most part of a theoretical full frame. This is where (especially if you are a bird photographer) your subject dwells, your rather smallish bird, your true focus, and it just happens to be where the optical resolution of a lens is sharpest. You’re getting an enlargement that’s extra sharp. Two bonuses in one frame.

How much larger is our subject with these magnification factors? A 1.3x sensor produces a magnification which is 1.3x (one horizontal side of the image) multiplied by 1.3x (one vertical side) which creates an image approximately 1.7 larger than the same lens would produce on a full frame 35 mm camera. If the sensor has a crop factor of 1.6x, like the Canon T6i and the 7D, multiply 1.6x by 1.6x to get approximately 2.5x. The image produced is actually 2.56 times larger than what the same lens would yield from a full frame 35mm sensor. Does it really come as a surprise, then, that most bird photographers prefer these smaller sensors which in fact end up giving them a bigger bird?

At this moment a pixel war is taking place among major DSLR companies to see which can claim the most megapixels per camera. This war shows no signs of abating because big dollars are at stake. How many pixels can be loaded onto a 22.3 mm x 14.9 mm (1.6x crop factor) sensor? Remember the Middle Ages’ scholastic argument over how many angels could sit on the head of a pin? Right now we are tempted to believe that the more pixels the better rather than worrying about the quality of those pixels. More is not necessarily better. We are putting a lot of faith in our suppliers. What is the optimum number of highest quality pixels suitable for each sensor size? Will the next increase in pixel numbers on a given sensor size increase image resolution or just sales numbers? Don’t expect a thoroughly honest corporate answer to this question forthcoming any time soon.

Ask any group of professional photographers what part of their gear is most important to them and chances are the great majority will name their camera lenses. You can have...