Wildlife Photography

[mdees88]

Any thoughts on the Canon EOS 6D Mark II as a wildlife photography camera?
I've been looking at a lot of different cameras and set-ups, and this one seems to be reasonably within my budget.

Is there a particular type of wildlife you think you would shoot most often (songbirds, insects, etc.)?

What lens/lenses have you picked out?

I've never used a 6d II but I think it would be a decent wildlife camera based on the specs. It's a full frame camera, so it has it's benefits, but you lose the extra reach you get from the 1.6x crop factor of an aps-c sensor camera.

 

[Everose]

Is there a particular type of wildlife you think you would shoot most often (songbirds, insects, etc.)?

What lens/lenses have you picked out?

I've never used a 6d II but I think it would be a decent wildlife camera based on the specs. It's a full frame camera, so it has it's benefits, but you lose the extra reach you get from the 1.6x crop factor of an aps-c sensor camera.

Thank you for your help! Unfortunately the camera isn't available anymore so I'm actually shifting gears and looking at a more modest set up. I'm moving and after thinking about it I think I want to wait to buy something that could potentially get lost or damaged, also I want to think about it more and quit waffling between Nikon and Canon

But also to answer your question:

Is there a particular type of wildlife you think you would shoot most often (songbirds, insects, etc.)?

Lots of reptiles, deer, some birds, the occasional fish, and definitely insects.
The only birds I care to photograph are large birds of prey, and some granivorous birds. For the most part I photograph reptiles close up.
But that's 1/4 of what I plan to do. I love low light, macro, and astrophotography, and my camera has to double as a vlogging camera.
So if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear em.

 

[mdees88]

Thank you for your help! Unfortunately the camera isn't available anymore so I'm actually shifting gears and looking at a more modest set up. I'm moving and after thinking about it I think I want to wait to buy something that could potentially get lost or damaged, also I want to think about it more and quit waffling between Nikon and Canon

But also to answer your question:

Lots of reptiles, deer, some birds, the occasional fish, and definitely insects.
The only birds I care to photograph are large birds of prey, and some granivorous birds. For the most part I photograph reptiles close up.
But that's 1/4 of what I plan to do. I love low light, macro, and astrophotography, and my camera has to double as a vlogging camera.
So if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear em.

I can't really help in the Nikon vs Canon debate. I'm a Canon shooter so that's all I can comment on. I do think you get a little more bang for your buck with Nikon.

I think the lens you choose is a lot more important than the camera. I would reccomend spending 75% of your budget on the lens.

I have been very happy with my previous DSLR and I feel like it's a great camera for the money. It was a Canon 80D. I bought it used and I recommend buying used so you can spend more on your lens. It has a flip out screen so it should work well for vlogging. It doesn't shoot in 4k though.

Seems you like to photograph what I do. From your animal choices, I feel like you will need a pretty long lens. At least 400mm on a crop sensor camera. Shooting in low light means a fast lens which means $$$.

I'm not sure of your budget but you can get a used 80D for $400. If it happens to come with the 18-55 kit lens this will cover vlogging and macro photography with the addition of a set of kenko extension tubes ($50). For astrophotography (milky way) a rokinon/samyang 14mm f2.8 would be a great budget option for around $200.

The lens for wildlife is the hardest choice. The best choice (in my opinion) would be a Canon EF 100-400 F/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (the "II" means version 2), but it will run you $1200-1500 used. It does decent in low light and is very sharp. I'm thinking that might be more than you want to spend, so if that's too much you could get the original (version 1) Canon EF 100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS USM for $600-800 used.

I'm not the biggest fan of using 3rd party lenses lenses for wildlife because they typically do not autofocus quite as well or as fast as native lenses, but sigma makes a 100-400 and a 150-600 lens. Many people use them and get very good results so they would be worth looking into for more of a budget option. The 150-600 is very big and heavy so you definitely want to hold one before buying. Even the canon EF 100-400 lenses are quite big and pretty heavy so I would recommend trying one in a store before buying. If you are serious about wildlife photography, you really need a long, fast lens and any of them will be pretty big and somewhat heavy.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

A little bit of summer.

 

[Aliceismad106]

A family of buzzards stay in the wooded areas around our property. This is the tallest (dead) tree that isn't "in the woods" This baby comes all the time to stretch out in the sun and breeze.

 

[azurbanclucker]

 

[azurbanclucker]

 

[azurbanclucker]

Some shots from this morning at the 9th hole. Featuring a Mallard, American Wigeons, and the Canadian Air Force.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'll not try to keep up with those of you using fancy expensive cameras but I spotted this Great Blue Heron at the edge of the pond behind the barn yesterday. I've not seen one this time of year but a little research says they are year round residents here.

Nikon Coolpix 610, 60x optical zoom (258mm) through the kitchen window so not the best quality

 

[casportpony]

The fox is back, which means the turkey vultures are back. Here are some from this morning.

Spoiler: Standing by dead duck