Beginners Bird Photography Setup - What to get?

[szekiat]

I feel the need to correct you glenn. Digiscope can and does produce excellent shots even for enlargement purposes. It is not popular in sg and the states but over in the uk and europe, i've seen pros who do it with great success.
http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=68876&sid=57c7de12a12116d220cb373a47e7c2a6
Scoped flight shot of a relatively fast subject. And he's not even using any of the top scopes. Scoping is cheap, and SG normally affords enough light for you to use a scope. Like all equipment, it is a skill to use it and there is a learning curve. I started off birding using a 400mm f2.8 with associated converters but i am still a crap photographer. Money is not everything.
Skf, has brought up a key point in that the d70 is really value for money at the moment. Another option is of course the s2pro and d100 at a slightly higher price. As for glass, don't discount getting a scope but if not, any of the 3rd party 500mm zooms are quite useful too. The 500 f4p is a great lens, but not really that cheap.

 

[Garion]

Like all equipment, it is a skill to use it and there is a learning curve. I started off birding using a 400mm f2.8 with associated converters but i am still a crap photographer. Money is not everything.

Fully agree. It is still much better to start off using the humblest equipment and learn the skills and experience early on, rather than spend thousands on the big glass and pro bodies and then produce mediocre results. With shorter glass, learning to get closer to the subject, let alone get decent looking shots at all, is an invaluable (and often painful) learning experience. In short bird photography is tough. The declining nature reserves and natural spots in Sg only make it much tougher, just to put it simply there are fewer and fewer choice spots to shoot wild birds outside of parks and nature reserves nowadays. Equipment is just one small part of the equation, knowledge, passion and drive play an even bigger role. Before you jump wholesale into the big glass, take a good hard look and ask yourself if you are REALLY into it long term. Else, you will be just wasting your hard earned cash.

 

[glennyong]

thanks szekiat for the information. :thumbsup:

maybe its just that those results i see from a digiscope is not really good from another fellow birder which influenced my perception about digiscopes. i know leica setup of the digiscope is great. but those setups i see from nikon scopes and nikon cps, the results arent that as i expected. but as i said its a influenced perception from a fellow birder.

garion is right about not spending all the $ into a big glass when its probably just a so called "infatuation" with bird shooting.

i do see people getting decent results with a 300f/4. afs. and a 50-500 bigmas..

singapore is having lesser secluded spots for birding. and most areas are protected or inaccessible.

if the thread starter dun mind, he can try going for bigma primes.... but gotta test a few copies before getting a sharp one.... its cheaper anyway...

 

[Maltese]

thank you all for the ideas and suggestions. There are of course numerous ways that I've thought of and was really glad that many shown me a different view. I'm particularly interested in testing out the digiscope but szekiat I can't get into the link. Do you mind posting some of the photos or setups equipment that you have encountered before. I very much wanted to get one for myself as I'm not a avid birdie but wouldn't mind investing a bit to go into another photography expertise.

Like what many had mentioned, long teles are almost only good for birdies or long distance nature shots and its definitely not a cheap investments. The person who is going into it has been a keen bird viewer for decades and wouldn't mind getting a 600 or even a 1200 if all earthy aspects are met i.e money, weight, requirement, place to store etc.

Once again, thank you all for your time in sharing your experience.

 

[szekiat]

i think scopes are a good introduction and it also allows you to just observe the bird. Good for bringing family on trips as well as they can just look through the scope.
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/63476257-O.jpg
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/65438822-M.jpg
Really good stuff if u ask me.
As for setups, they range from the nikon ones pointed above, the high end zeiss/leica/swarovski ones that run into 3K for a new set. The shooter above uses something called the skywatcher 80ED which is slightly under 1k. Its an astronomy telescope converted to shoot on his d70

 

[chngpe01]

This discussion is getting out of the ambit of Nikon and I will move it to General Discusssion

 

[DeSwitch]

Can Canon body use Digiscope? How does digiscope work? Thanks.

 

[longkangman]

Can Canon body use Digiscope? How does digiscope work? Thanks.

No I have not found one with the nikon digiscope dslr adapter attachment for canon.

But I think it is possible with a nikon to canon adapter add-on since nikon provide a Fieldscope Digital SLR Camera Attachment FSA-L1 which is a F-mount so it is possible. But FSA-L1 is very expensive. :bigeyes:

Check this url http://www.nikon.com.sg/pagearticle.php?pageid=91#FSA-L1
warning do not use it with ED50 etc. YMMV