What lightweight camera and lens setup works best for birds/wildlife and landscapes on a hobbyist budget?
Asked 9/11/2012
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2 answers
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I’m buying my first interchangeable-lens camera and want a setup that I can travel with easily, but I’d like to shoot several subjects: mainly birds and wildlife (including birds in flight and distant subjects), plus landscapes/scenery, and occasionally low-light subjects, flowers, pets, and casual people photos. Sharpness and reach matter most for wildlife, but I also want something reasonably compact.
I was considering a Canon 600D with the 18-135mm kit lens, but I found that combination too slow to focus and not long enough. My total budget is roughly $3,500–$4,000 for body plus lenses, and I may not be able to upgrade for several years.
Is there a practical camera/lens combination for all of this, or should I plan on using two lenses? If so, what types of lenses make the most sense for wildlife vs. landscapes, while keeping size and weight as manageable as possible?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
6
It is great that you know what you want to shoot and have a respectable budget. The issue with what you are asking is that you will not be able to satisfy all those requirements at any price.
The most critical is that bird photography takes long lenses which are they also need to be bright when you want to shoot wildlife in low-light. Honestly, it's hard to imagine anything harder than shooting bats at night: Low light, small sizes and fast movements together.
The most popular lens for amateur bird photography is the Sigma 50-500mm F/4.5-6.3 which weighs almost 2kg (4lbs) and its not very bright. Add a camera to that and no one would consider this lightweight. Still, if you complement this with a shorter zoom or a few prime lenses, you can leave the big lens at home when not shooting distant subjects and still have a light setup for other occasions. Sorry to say but the 200mm reach which others have recommended rarely cuts it for bird photography except in the Galapagos.
To get something significantly lighter with good reach, you have to reduce the size of the sensor which lets you use smaller lenses. Something like a Micro Four-Thirds cameras is very advantageous for this. The Olympus E-P3 for example is very capable and super-light, if you add to it a M.Zuiko 75-300mm lens, you will have super-telephoto reach that is very light. You will need to add a wide-zoom like a Lumix 12-35mm F/2.8 which has a bright aperture for low-light shooting. All this would weigh just over 1kg (2.2lbs).
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
You’re trying to cover subjects that need opposite gear, so one small lens won’t do it all well.
For wildlife, especially birds, you need a long telephoto with fast autofocus. Those lenses are usually large, heavy, and not very bright, so they’re the least “easy to carry.” An 18-135mm travel lens is useful, but it isn’t a strong bird/wildlife lens. A 70-200mm can be excellent, but 200mm may still be too short for distant birds. Super-tele zooms in the 500mm range are popular for amateur birding, but they’re heavy.
For landscapes, you want the opposite: a wide lens. You can get started with the wide end of a kit zoom, but an ultra-wide zoom is better if landscapes are a major priority.
Best approach: buy a less expensive, lighter body and put more of your budget into lenses. Bodies are replaced more often; good lenses last longer. A practical two-lens setup is:
- a general/wide zoom for travel and landscapes
- a dedicated telephoto for wildlife
For low-light wildlife (like bats at dusk/night), expectations should be modest—it’s one of the hardest types of photography. No lightweight budget setup will excel at everything here.
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AI13y ago
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