The ULTIMATE Guide to Beginner Bird Photography and Digital Cameras!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks so much for watching! Here are some of the videos, sites and products I mentioned: Video and Web Links OM-1 Mark II Full Review Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5C3ZGijoayEoJI Panasonic Lumix FZ-80 Full Review Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fma2mYudoqimbck Photography Tips with Duade Paton: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXO2Y6iZnqaYgc0 Capture the Atlas Website: capturetheatlas.com/exposure-triangle-explained-photography/ Capture the Atlas KZbin: www.youtube.com/@CapturetheAtlas Gear Links (As Affiliates we do earn from qualifying purchases) OM-1 Mark II: explore.omsystem.com/om-1-mark-ii?olycmp=aff-om1m2_campaign-influencer-derek_sallmann-yt_link-om1m2_pdp Canon R5: amzn.to/4j0e1dE Sony a7 iv amzn.to/3PmTwdJ Sony a1: amzn.to/4h3J073 Nikon Z8: amzn.to/4a4oG35 Nikon Z9: amzn.to/4akj6Kd Panasonic Lumix FZ80: amzn.to/4j1zEu3 Looks like there's an updated version called the FZ80D! amzn.to/4a4peGb Topaz Photo AI: www.topazlabs.com/topaz-photo-ai

[@neeleyfolk]

And don't forget to get the birds to sign the consent form, I find that the hardest part.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Finally, someone who gets it :p

[@Kellysher]

Your channel is my go to for bird watching! I’m 3 years into doing bird photography. I’d love to get my hands on the OM system and try it out. Looks interesting! There is a lot to learn in the beginning. For me, working weight (lens and camera together) and cost were considerations. Cameras may change, but you’ll have lenses for a long time. So buy the best glass that you can afford. I spent a chunk of money up front, but my gear will last a long time. The canon RF 100-500 lens is amazing. It’s a higher end L series lens. Light, sharp, you can do macro type photos due to minimum Focus distance, landscapes at 100mm and of course wildlife.The R5 is my camera, and there are many in the used market now due to the R5ii out. In late 2025 Canon will release the R7ii, which I will likely get, making the lens effectively @720mm. For me, the Nikon Z8 with 180-600 is also interesting, but that Canon lens is too nice for me to move. Happy shooting!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Love it! There’s so much good gear out there! Would definitely recommend trying the OM stuff at some point

[@Kellysher]

My tips on bird photography…..don’t get too hung upon gear. Whatever you’re using should be enjoyable to carry, use and process. There will always be someone with bigger better equipment. It doesn’t mean they know how to use it to create good images! Study what you can control. Your angle, getting low, moving for better backgrounds, DOF. Using atmospheric conditions like fog. Develop your knowledge of the birds and the environment. Good fieldcraft and understanding bird behavior will result in better photos. I hope to see more about fieldcraft and bird behavior in the future on this channel. Thanks for sharing your expertise!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Great tips! Thanks you for sharing yours too!

[@Beryllahawk]

FABULOUS beginner info - which I feel like I can say confidently because I sure am a beginner still hehe! Really appreciate how careful you are explaining some of the different concepts without going too far into the details. I've gotten overwhelmed plenty of times trying to read up on technical and exacting things like this, you're making it MUCH less intimidating and easier to get my head settled around that basic information. Thank you for so much hard work!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You’re welcome! You can do it!!

[@captain1697]

Love this!! I use a Kodak Pixpro FZ45, which is a point and shoot camera about the size of your fist. I can still get good photos (I put the camera in my binos to get close up pics), so sometimes it’s about working with what you have!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Nice! I’ve also seen some solid digiscoping setups get really good media

[@markshen3280]

Derek, good morning 🌅 to you HONG KONG 🇭🇰 SAR. Thank you 🙏 for your suggestions on various cameras 📷 and camera functions, as well as weight, usage, durability, cost, their abilities, …….etc. May I please ask, in your opinion, which one camera 📸, is the best brand at the most affordable , and very reasonably priced camera 📸 ?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

It’s really subjective and I feel like most people have a different brand they’re partial too. It’s more which group of brands is the best and for mirrorless I’d say Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony, and OM-SYSTEM. Affordability all depends on what model you get. It’s a wide range.

[@markshen3280]

Thank you 🙏 for your suggestions on various brands of cameras 📸 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@thepotato333]

YESSS!!! I was literally about to look for a bird photography video🫡

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@thepotato333 we’ve got you covered! 🫡

[@hspg]

Great photo at 7:38! And this is a really good video breaking down all the basics on entry level bird photography gears. I bought an R7 to go with my older Canon lenses and I've been enjoying the combination a lot.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks! I was really proud of that one. I took it at The Biggest Week in American Birding in Ohio.

[@hspg]

@@BadgerlandBirdingI especially like the blurred willow leaves in the background providing a hint of the habitat while not distracting from the subject matter

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@hspg Totally agree!

[@KevinKeltner]

I love my mirrorless cameras. Silent shutter, it focuses real quick

[@GaryKFroehlich-jh5mm]

Derek, Nice intro, and useful info for beginners, but regarding ISO… Back in the days of film, you had aperture and shutter speed to control exposure. Different film types were made with different sensitivities to light. A standard was developed for how that sensitivity was measured, and in the U.S. it was developed and specified by the American Standards Association, or ASA. Films became colloquially referred to by their ASA ratings-ASA 25 film was slow (not sensitive to light, requiring slow shutter speeds) and it was fine-grained (thus high resolution), ASA 400 was fast (very sensitive to light, allowing fast shutter speeds) but had larger grain structure (which reduced resolution). Other countries had different standards organizations (e.g., DIN in Germany). So eventually it was decided to go with a single definition of film sensitivity, which was developed and specified by the International Standards Organization, or ISO. Low ISO films required lower shutter speeds (fine grain), and high ISO films allowed fast shutter speeds (coarse grain), but one standard value applied internationally. With the advent of digital, the sensitivity was a property of the image sensor. However, the electrical signal could be amplified, allowing the use of faster shutter speeds (or smaller apertures). The terminology from the film days was carried over (even though it was no longer directly applicable), and now cranking up the ISO means turning up the gain to amplify the signal (and the noise). Just FYI.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

@@GaryKFroehlich-jh5mm oh interesting! Thanks so much for the insights and history!

[@__cm__]

Great stuff

[@melissas4874]

The lens is ALWAYS more important for many reasons. I have owned a canon T3i DSLR for 15 yrs and recently purchased a Canon R7 mirrorless. Canon has an adapter so I can reuse my older telephoto and macro lenses (this only works for EF-S to RF though). So if you stay with the same system, you can often use the same lens if you upgrade the body. Some lenses may also hold their value more than the camera body. So if I decided to move from Canon to Sony, I would expect selling my lenses to give more of a trade-in value than my T3i. Many cheaper telephoto lenses may have issues at the full length of their range so it's better to do some research, borrow a lens to test at its limits, etc before you buy since it's an investment (or it won't be). I assume this is no different than considering a cheap or expensive pair of binoculars. The "glass" and it's quality determines what we are able to see in both cases. JPEG or RAW? If your camera can accommodate 2 cards, then both? To me RAW is for preserving what the sensor detected with no editing from the camera's software. My decision is usually based on what I'm doing - so when I went to Alaska I used RAW because I wanted to make sure to preserve the sensor images in case I got home and there was an issue I couldn't see right away. Or when I worked on a photobook project with some friends, we all had different camera manufacturers so we used RAW images for the book. For editing images? Depending on what one wants to do with them investing in a cheap monitor calibrator may be worth it. Having RAW images is kind of useless if you don't have a monitor calibrator.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Great thoughts!

[@KevinKeltner]

With mirrorless you can buy an adapter so you can still use youre ef, ef-s lenses

[@Melanittanigra]

do you know if there is any noticable loss in quality when using an adapter?

[@cathco9]

​@@MelanittanigraThere is none. I used an R6 with the EF 100-400 mm L II with the Canon adapter. The lens worked great with the camera. Just be aware that you wouldn't want to use very old lenses.

[@HumblingBored]

This helped me out a lot thank you! I'm going to save up for a while, I want to be able to film hummingbirds in slow motion.

[@tomellis1857]

Manual w/auto iso is popular now w/ denoise software. Compressed raw if you will EVER edit. Good mirrorless setups focus far faster than cheaper rigs

[@markwhitesell4491]

Good review video and how-to basics. I've been using the same setup as yours - OM-1 mkii with the 150-600 and would never consider using anything else. It's so powerful and easy to use. Also, if you ever come to the Seattle area and want to visit some local birding hotspots, let me know. There are lots of "hidden" hot spots around here. :)

[@garymeredith2441]

Derek something I can never stress enough and Duade Patton even talks about it too and that is how to dress for bird photography how many times are we going to go out and see people dressed in a white T-shirt with blue jeans and they wonder why they can't get close , dress in camouflage . This way you are putting less stress on the bird and you're making it easier on yourself because you can closer to the birds they will not notice you as much .

[@shubisharanraghavan2296]

Hey Derek, So I actually also use the Lumix FZ80. Right now I'm debating on whether or not I should upgrade; I've gotten plenty of good photos using this, and it's easy on me since I can just grab it and go, but I feel limited due to the zoom capabilities. What's your setup for your Lumix? And if applicable, what did you upgrade to from this?

[@BadgerlandBirding]

I mean I love the Zoom capabilities on the LUMIX. I’ve been using the OM-1 Mark II with their 150-600mm which is basically a 300-1200mm equivalent with the 2x crop and I’ve really enjoyed it. Since they made the OM-1 Mark II you could probably get the OM-1 cheaper and it’s a solid camera. That setup is the only thing I’ve found that get a similar reach to the FZ-80. There are a bunch of other great cameras out there though like the Canon R5, Nikon Z8 and Z9, Sony A7 iv. Depends on your budget too!

[@BadgerlandBirding]

And honestly I normally shoot in auto with my FZ-80

[@ErictheHalf_bee]

I've been into cameras longer than birds, and I gotta agree with you on the lens. I've seen firsthand what putting a premium lens on a basic body can do vs. putting a basic lens on a premium body. The lens makes all the difference. Elsewhere on YT, That Nikon Guy has done a few videos putting that to the test, and his results speak for themselves. If you have the choice, splurge on good glass. As for the weight of that great lens, try using a monopod. Not quite as stable as a tripod, but it does offer plenty of support and great mobility while keeping your weight down. And as far as edited photos, everything I shoot goes through Lightroom and/or Photoshop; it's not finished otherwise. If someone complains that it's Photoshopped, my reply is "so what's your point?" (Who here remembers Night Court?)

[@melissas4874]

Well JPEG images are edited from RAW by the camera. Even people using their smartphones are receiving images that have been "edited" somewhat by the programming of their camera. I do try to do the minimal amount of processing possible just because I find it boring. I'm just glad people are out of the horrible HDR phase where everything just looked completely unnatural. I just didn't know how to tell people their editing sucked. LOL

[@Kynurse76]

I received the Canon EOS R7 for Christmas and I haven’t figured out how to turn it on yet. I’m going to have to actually read the manual 😂. I’ve never taken photos with anything other than my iPhone so I’m overwhelmed 😅 thanks for the vid

[@BadgerlandBirding]

You can do it!!! It’s probably not as complicated as you think :)

[@garymeredith2441]

The number one thing you have to remember since you now have a camera , study the birds then use your camera like a pair of binoculars and slowly approach the birds , don't rush the birds use your camera slowly .

[@Kellysher]

There are so many ways to set up these cameras. Check out Simon d’entremont, Duade Paton and Jan Wegner. I have to warn you, bird photography is addictive. Happy shooting.

[@Kynurse76]

@@Kellysher thanks I will!

[@MartinLeslie]

When I was looking for a birding camera recently, I tried out Lensrentals for the Nikon Coolpix P950 (doesn't have the insane reach of the P1000, but still enough) and the Canon R10 + RF 100-400mm lens (about US$1500, although you can look for refurbished/used). I definitely think getting something light is great unless you really work on your arms at the gym, or like to use a monopod/tripod. I ended up buying the Canon setup and am very happy with it, but I did end up also buying the RF 600mm f11 lens which is also light and relatively cheap, but has a bit more reach for shorebirds, waterfowl etc. Whether an interchangeable lens system is a plus I'm not sure - it lets you have more options, but might just lead to you getting into photography and spending a lot more money 😄. The quality of image you can get and the autofocus capabilities is very impressive, even for a more entry-level crop-sensor camera. I would have been interested in OM or Panasonic but they didn't seem to have anything as cheap and light as what Canon offered (which is surprising, their sensor is smaller so they should be able to be lighter)

[@melissas4874]

The sensor itself doesn't necessarily decide the weight. I just bought an R7 and once I put a lens on it there is not a huge weight difference between it and my Canon T3i with a telephoto lens. The lenses are what is heavy.

[@MartinLeslie]

@@melissas4874 For sure, but if you have a smaller sensor you can potentially have a smaller diameter on the lens, and a shorter lens because you have a bigger crop factor. But I think the choices of materials etc seem to be a bigger factor.

[@BadgerlandBirding]

How do you liked the 600mm?

[@MartinLeslie]

@@BadgerlandBirding I like it, but it's certainly not as flexible as the 100-400. The minimum focusing distance is about 15 feet, sometimes a goose or deer will be too big, it takes some practice to find the bird without being able to zoom. But it certainly does the job of getting a good pic of a duck that's a bit further away. It's not a big expensive prime (canon also have a 600mm f4 for $13000, the 600mm f11 costs like $800) but I like having it.

[@garymeredith2441]

​@@MartinLeslie The 600 F11 the big drawback to that lens is the close focusing so if you're going to use that lens much get yourself the too extension tube set from B & H you get a 12 mm and a 20 mm extension tube and that will help on your close focusing .

[@johnhartley3596]

Wish you had included price ranges for each category of cameras

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Pricing for things like this is challenging because of how much and quickly it changes

[@jameschetwynd]

That’s a huge lens Have Nikon coolpix p510 $280 great photos 42x optical 24-1,000 rated

[@BadgerlandBirding]

Very cool!