The ULTIMATE Guide to Beginner Bird Photography and Digital Cameras!

Bird Photography can seem overwhelming, but I break down everything you need to know, including digital cameras, getting the right exposure, bird photography tips, and more! This video is especially for beginners with little to no knowledge about taking photos, but does also cover some more advanced tips and bird-specific tips!

Video and Web Links

Gear Links (As Affiliates we do earn from qualifying purchases)

Cayer FP2450 Fluid Head Tripod, 75 inches Aluminium Tripod
Derek's lighter tripod

Andoer Video Tripod Aluminum Alloy 67 Inch
Derek's heavier tripod

Nikon D5300
Derek's vlogging and macro camera

Rode VideoMicPro Compact Directional On-Camera Microphone
Derek's external microphone for Nikon D5300

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Special thanks to our members Liz McQuaid, Sarah Coffey, Barbara Cole, Chris Slagle, Sally, and Sarah!

All other photos and videos by Derek and Ryan Sallmann

0:00 Intro
0:29 Compact Cameras
1:14 Bridge Cameras
2:58 DSLR Cameras
3:47 Mirrorless Cameras
4:15 Best Mirrorless Cameras
5:18 Autofocus and Crop Sensors
6:27 Zoom and Lenses
9:06 OM-SYSTEM Cameras
10:23 Photo Composition
16:33 RAW vs. JPEG
17:24 Editing Software
17:49 Bird Photography Tips
20:59 Closing

#Birding #BirdWatching #BadgerlandBirding

[BadgerlandBirding]

Thanks so much for watching! Here are some of the videos, sites and products I mentioned:

Video and Web Links

Gear Links (As Affiliates we do earn from qualifying purchases)

[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!

[neeleyfolk]

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

[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.

[thepotato]

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

[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!

[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!

[captain]

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!

[markshen]

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 📸 ?

[melissas]

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.

[GaryKFroehlich-jhmm]

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.

[KevinKeltner]

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

[markwhitesell]

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. :)

[shubisharanraghavan]

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?

[tomellis]

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

[KevinKeltner]

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

[Kynurse]

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

[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?)

[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)

[garymeredith]

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 .