Declan

A Canon EOS 450D will be a superb camera for anyone starting out. In fact most leading brand cameras will be up to the job.

Regarding a suitable lens, I can only say that it is not possible to advise fully without knowing how much you are prepared to pay, but you can still get superb results even with cheap lenses.

For birds, the general rule is, the longer the focal length you can get the better. However I still do a lot of stuff working with a just 300mm focal length and sometimes less. A nice picture of a bird in habitat can often be more enjoyable to view than an 'in your face close up'

When the time comes for you to get a lens let me know and if you intend shelling out several hundreds of pounds I will be more than happy to advise you again, and if need be, test the lens out for you so that you don't make a bum choice or purchase.

As for actually getting out there and taking pictures, I suggest you spend a day with me or another and I will, with my limited knowledge, advise you on camera settings etc which will , in part, be dependant on the software you use to process your pictures.

If you have no knowledge of cameras at all, I suggest that you obtain a good book that deals with the basics in a simple way (I can lend you one ) so that you get to grips with exposure, depth of field and ISO's etc etc. I can only show you my way... as they say, "there is more than one way to skin a cat." Don't work in fully automatic it just won't cut the ice with most birds.

It goes without saying that to get the best pictures you need patience and lots of it, even for common birds, although opportunities will arise that you do not plan for or expect.

Finally, if you have a good high end telescope you may wish to consider digiscoping which will involve your getting a suitable adapter. If that is your route I won't be able to advise you except to say that with a quality scope you can get superb pictures. If you do not have a high end scope then I do not see the point in coupling a good camera and wasting good quality pixels with poor quality glass. You have a an 18-55mm lens, I too have the bog standard 18-55mm lens and still managed to get pictures published with it.


AD

Mike hirst wrote:

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Hello snappers,
the results of the Birdguides `photograph of the year' are on view on their site and they are magnificent, well worth a look. I know you have to be in the right place at the right time but the quality stands out so this must be down to technique and equipment. (beats the hell out of my little Fuji). I was thinking it would be nice to have a Manchester birder winning it so I am laying down the challenge - a pie and a pint to anyone who wins it before I pop off.
Keep focusing

Mike

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They are fantastic photographs Mike.
As much as I like the winning shot, my personal pick would have been either the Green Bee-Eater or the Cormorant.
Although the Green Woodpecker is nice too...Difficult job the judges had, I like them all really!

Anthony

Hello snappers,
the results of the Birdguides `photograph of the year' are on view on their site and they are magnificent, well worth a look. I know you have to be in the right place at the right time but the quality stands out so this must be down to technique and equipment. (beats the hell out of my little Fuji). I was thinking it would be nice to have a Manchester birder winning it so I am laying down the challenge - a pie and a pint to anyone who wins it before I pop off.
Keep focusing

Mike

I was hoping to find this little beauty in my xmas stocking, but alas!

For a beginner to wildlife photography, I'd recommend getting the best 300mm telephoto you can afford and perhaps a 1.4 teleconverter.
The hardest part is learning the fieldcraft and getting close enough to your subject without scaring them off!

As it is pertinent to this thread, Canon and Sigma camera equipment for sale have just been placed on the Marketplace on the website. Could well be of interest...

Hi Declan,

I bought a Canon 400D a year ago and luckily for me my dad's Canon 75-300 lens from his old film camera fitted. This meant I could have a go a photographing birds without having to decide which lens to buy. You can certainly get a lot of enjoyment out of a lens costing £100-£200 while learning technique. One thing you soon begin to appreciate is how much time and patience the good bird photographers have put in to get their shots. Also, you sometimes have to decide whether to take the camera or the scope as carrying both can be a bit much (hence the popularity of digiscoping).

Gary

I have nikon gear,and all bar a few shots on the gallery page and my avatar are taken with a nikon 70-300 lens ,but i would like a bit more reach at times but im always torn between size and weight,as i am by nature a moocher.i can't just sit in hides all day,so i tend to walk a lot around penny,so i look at bigger lenses ,then re-think,would i realy want to carry something that weighs 5lb + the camera and thats a normal weight for say a sigma 150-500.plus if you carry A Scope etc.You realy just have to balance what you do.if you just want shots like mine,a 70-300 sigma/canon/tamron would do.if you want shots like davids/adrians etc.you will have to lug the gear.
tamron and sigma do a few zooms like 28-300 for about £200 they will cover landscape and birds and are the same size as your standard lens.and don't beleive people when they say you can't take bird shots with them because the qualitys crap.just look at the common tern article ian did and i did the photographs on this site.All of them were taken with a sigma 28-300 dc macro which cost £180 from the traford centre.so thats the cheapest option.
P.S If paul can get you that 100-400 canon len inside your budjet,grab it quick as its not too big to lug around and is realy the best all round nature lens that you can get,at a reasonable price that is the normal price is around £1000.so judge from that what you wish/can pay,just over half that would be reasonable for a good one.



-- Edited by JOHN TYMON at 07:53, 2009-01-07

Thanks everyone. Excellent advice all round, and helpfully, jargon-free. You haven't quite scared me off yet Dave - i was expecting i would need to shell out a bit for proper bird photography. My budget currently is probably in the low hundreds of ££ at the very most but that still seems to leave me a few options. Plenty to think about.

Thanks again,

Declan

Hi Declan,

I am in my last year of studying for a wildlife photography degree and it is a minefield when it comes to lenses. The camera is a good one for what you are wanting to do, but the lens is a standard zoom, not overly great for wildlife, more for people and landscapes. Ideally you need at least a 200mm for birds, and even thats a long way off, 300mm would be the bare minimum in my books for recording and the bigger lens you can get the better.

For general bird photography you would have to upgrade the lens, which means money. How much depends on you, from a few hundred to thousands and you get what you pay for.

some lenses across the spectrum;

Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 Macro DG Lens - £94.99 Warhouseexpress.com - a good range of focal length, cheap, but will be slow and image quality will not be sharp sharp.

Sigma 100-300mm f4 EX IF DG Lens - £722 Warehouseexpress.com - i loved my version of this lens, its quick and can be very sharp at times, other times its just fine.

Canon 500mm f4 IS - £3998 - Probably the best lens for bird photography there is. amazingly sharp, but heavy.

to the more expensive lenses you can add converter to increase the magnfaction.

If you are wanting to do close up stuff of insects etc then a macro lens would be ideal.

To put it in perspective my camera bag includes

Canon 5D
Canon 40D (back up body)
500mm f4 + 1.4x converter
180mm f3.5 Macro
16-35mm f2.8
24-105mm f4 Macro
Speedlite
spare batteries
small toolkit
70-200mm f2.8 (when paul lets me borrow his)

Paul will still be laughing at the sight of me lugging all this up Pendle to take pics of Dotterel.

But Declan you could easily get some lovely shots with the 15-55mm, Landscapes, abstracts etc - its down to the photographer at the end of the day. But its a too short a focal length for birds.

Keep it simple - the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 Macro DG Lens with the Canon fit would be a good investment to get going at a 'small' price (in photography terms anyway), just dont expect the world. It also has the 'macro' facility for doing more dragonfly and butterfly shots.

anyway im sure ive probably scared you off..........generally as a wildlife photographer theres a tool for the job - 1 lens for birds, one for fungi, one for insects etc.

when starting off its trying to get 1 lens that does a good job of most.

hope its some sort of help, its probably not, but i know what your going through!

Best Wishes

Dave

http://mikeatkinson.net/tutorials.htm
Try the above link - very good for both beginners and the more experienced. Although I don't have Canon gear, you probably need at least a 300mm lens, preferably 400mm. Many of the photographers I come across, using Canon, combine a 400mm with a 1x4 teleconverter. If you look on the Birdforum web site, under photography, you will a dedicated Canon discussion forum with most of the threads about lenses. Hope this helps.

he declan - prolly the most versatile birding lens is the 100-400L. i know a man who's selling one. if you're interested i'll find out how much he wants for it. it's a minter and not be used much at all.

Hi Declan

I have a Canon 350D, so the older version of your 450D. They are a great camera with full auto function ie. point and shoot. You may be limited with your lens but you would be best to try it out before thinking of adding bits, after all you may not like the added weight or the fact you have to also lugg a camera about. I have just purchased a new lens for mine and have a redundant 150-500mm zoom lens , which you are most welcome to try out just to see what potential the camera has. If you want anymore limited advice drop me a pm.

cheers
jason

I have just been offered a new Canon EOS 450D DSLR with an EF 15-55mm lens. My mum won it in a competition at Xmas and doesnt want or need a new camera so I'm lucky enough to have been given first option and naturally said Yes. Unfortunately I have no knowledge whatsoever of cameras and photography, but am very keen to learn and begin recording some of the birds I see. Is this camera any use for general everyday bird (and other wildlife) photography? Would I need to buy other gear e.g. another lens? I'm not planning anything too adventurous. The reviews I have seen on line all appear very positive but I haven't seen any reviews re birds. Any advice would be very welcome. Cheers, Declan