A question I keep getting e mailed about is what photographic equipment do I use when out birding so for anyone interested in photography I,ve put together a list of tackle I use.
I always swear by Canon equipment but mostly because that is what I have always used and got to know but no doubt Nikon and Sony are on equal terms with Canon, each one having its own advantage points.
I have 2 Sigma lenses whilst all the others are Canon , the reason for this is price wise with the Canon 600 being around £16,000 so I have the Sigma 150-600mm which I am happy with as it does my job at nothing near the price. Other than that I have already wrecked 2 Sigmas out on the field so if I had a Canon I would,nt dare use it.
When I started with SLR cameras over 40 years ago they were all film cameras with manual focus and you had to use a light meter to set the exposure. How things have changed now with DSLR
having mega fast auto focus and a menu of settings to suit every occasion along with super zoom lenses and image stabilization. The Canon 7d Mk2 can shoot off an amazing 4 frames per second in continuous shooting mode when tracking a flying bird with a lock on auto focus system.
Gets out to 960 mm on a 1.6 crop factor camera.
skeins of Pinkies or a blast off of geese from a field.
for those far off birds.
butterflies, flower heads etc.
Amazingly fast auto focus.
and Canon 400d.
Another hot sticky day as long as you kept out of the E>5 with clear blue bird less skies.
Another attempt at Oats Royd found me a nice male Blackcap with quickly moved on as I transferred from bins to camera. otherwise it eas just the usual Willow Warbs and Chiffchaffs whilst the place was alive with Chaffinch, certainly no shortage at this site .
No sign of yesterdays Wheatear on Roper Lane and just Skylark and Pied Wags on Old Guy Rd cricket pitch.
BS