Which body is the goto for wildlife

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DrAdam

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Just wondering what everyones thoughts are with regards to the 'goto' camera body for Wildlife (particularly bird photography). I'm guessing the Z9 would be good, but for a more budget conscious choice what would people go for? I see a lot of youtubers on the Sony A74. I also see comments about the AF system on the Z7ii etc not being that good?
I'm wanting to get a new body but not sure where to start.
 
Hi, Sony A7 iv or Nikon Z ?
I moved from Canon DSLR and at the time chose a Sony A9 now use a Sony A7 iv with 20-600 lens, bought the A7 iv mainly for the eye detection and on birds close to camera and static it IMO works great as does the tracking option for BIF, cannot give opinion on Nikon Z as never used one but my son uses the Z6 and is very happy with that. Russ.
 
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With bird photography it’s not just having a body it’s about the combination of a good lens and body. For birds in flight the AF has to be good for tracking and the AF motors in the lens have to be fast to respond. For static birds AF is less important other than accuracy. My point is look for the lenses you need and then the body to pair it with.
 
It all comes down to budget, most if not all Canon mirrorless have great bird AF, a friend uses the R5 and gets amazing shots. Im Sony and the A1 is great as is the A7iv and A7RV. For Nikon the Z8 and Z9 are the way to go. Great to have choice.
 
I use Sony A7iv with great result, really works well. Personally pair it with 200-600mm. For travelling have paired it with even the 70-350mm which is an APS-C lens and still come away with results I have loved.

If can afford it Nikon Z8/9 with some of the teleprimes makes for an amazing wildlife setup. I know someone who uses Z8+400mm f4.5 which works incredibly well. The AF tracking itself is about as good as my A7IV IME but Z8 has much higher frame rate with blackout free shooting which will give you more keepers overall.

Canon R5 looks amazing but no native RF lenses I like for wildlife. So canon is out of the question for me.
 
Thanks for all the input.

As it's something I'm just starting to take an interest in my lens choice was going to be the 150-600 Sigma.
I'll take a look at the D500. We currently have a D7100.
 
The Nikon Z 180-600 lens is a surprisingly good lens for the money... paired with a Z8 would be quite the kit (I use it on a Z9).

But with a lot of people turning to mirrorless, the D500 should be a bargain; I would pair it with a 500mm PF (or a 300mm 2.8 + TCs for more money)... I would buy used if possible.
 
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DrAdam said:
Thanks for all the input.

As it's something I'm just starting to take an interest in my lens choice was going to be the 150-600 Sigma.
I'll take a look at the D500. We currently have a D7100.
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you can also probably afford a D850 if you can afford A7IV.
if you already have lenses it may make sense to go with D850 with nikon 200-500mm or 500mm f5.6 PF

if you need to buy new lenses anyway then worth considering mirrorless (regardless of the mount).
 
D850 AF is not up to D500 capability. :)
 
DrAdam said:
I'll take a look at the D500. We currently have a D7100.
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I went from D7100 to D500. On its won the D7100 was quite an accomplished camera for wildlife, but it's not anywhere near as capable as the D500. Mine is paired mostly with Nikon 200-500, and more recently the 500/4. Kit is only limited by operator.
 
The D500, used, still commands strong money imo from the usual used camera websites.

The Nikon 200-500 seems to be a similar price to the Sigma.
 
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nandbytes said:
I thought they were basically the same (as far as AF is concerned)
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I've used both with Nikon 500 f4, Sigma 150-600 and Nikon 200-500 and although the D850 has advantages (inc higher Mp count), in actual use in the field it doesn't match the speed and accuracy of AF that the D500 provides.
 
gramps said:
I've used both with Nikon 500 f4, Sigma 150-600 and Nikon 200-500 and although the D850 has advantages (inc higher Mp count), in actual use in the field it doesn't match the speed and accuracy of AF that the D500 provides.
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My experience was similar. They have the same AF module and specs, but the D850 just seemed slower.
 
gramps said:
I've used both with Nikon 500 f4, Sigma 150-600 and Nikon 200-500 and although the D850 has advantages (inc higher Mp count), in actual use in the field it doesn't match the speed and accuracy of AF that the D500 provides.
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sk66 said:
My experience was similar. They have the same AF module and specs, but the D850 just seemed slower.
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I guess the processor might be stretched dealing with high res readout and tracking.
I wonder if you shoot D850 in APS-C mode does the performance improve (assuming the camera is clever enough to only read middle of the sensor instead of reading the whole sensor and then binning data)
 
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OM1 paired with either with 100-400 or 300mm pro
 
nandbytes said:
I wonder if you shoot D850 in APS-C mode does the performance improve (assuming the camera is clever enough to only read middle of the sensor instead of reading the whole sensor and then binning data)
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Nope. :)
 
nandbytes said:
I guess the processor might be stretched dealing with high res readout and tracking.
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Yeah, probably stressed a bit.

I wonder if you shoot D850 in APS-C mode does the performance improve (assuming the camera is clever enough to only read middle of the sensor instead of reading the whole sensor and then binning data)
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The sensor is read out row by row regardless of what is retained; you can't read out only the center area (currently). The 153pt AF area already only occupies the DX crop area, so you don't lose any AF points; you also do not get something greater AF point density... nothing really changes.
 
AF system on the D7100 wasn't too bad at the time of introduction. I thought it was pretty good - much better than the K-3 and K-5 I had at the time - however ISO performance was dire compared with the Pentax, as was the buffer. It was the 200+ shot buffer on the D500 which sold me that camera.

If the D7100 still works well why not use the money for a higher performance lens? For the Sigma - go for the Sport rather than the Contemporary or look at say the Nikon 200-400/4 or an older version of the 500/4 ... One of the benefits of the D7*00 range was its lens compatability.
 
Canon R5 for me, together with the 800 RF and 100-400 RF and 70-300 L are my main wildlife kit, I am toying with a Nikon Z7 and Leica SL2 and a bit of micro 4/3. Overall though, R5 is undisputed.
 
Now that the Z180-600 is out now there will be more F200-500s for sale than there were 6 months ago. The trade-in I got for my 200-500 wasn't as good as I was expecting. I suppose the same will apply to the Sigma and Tamron 150-600s too.

My recommendation would be get to see if the retailer will let you use the lens before commiting. We bought a lens (150-600C Sigma) based on our experience in the shop (it felt good and worked well, handling wise OH was happy with it) and when we used the lens for the purpose intended couldn't get on with it...
 
welshwizard645 said:
Now that the Z180-600 is out now there will be more F200-500s for sale than there were 6 months ago. The trade-in I got for my 200-500 wasn't as good as I was expecting. I suppose the same will apply to the Sigma and Tamron 150-600s too.

My recommendation would be get to see if the retailer will let you use the lens before commiting. We bought a lens (150-600C Sigma) based on our experience in the shop (it felt good and worked well, handling wise OH was happy with it) and when we used the lens for the purpose intended couldn't get on with it...
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We have a local shop that I'll hopefully be able to use.
I've always had my eye on the Sigma as it seems to be the go to - and early on it seems to be about the best value. But I'll take a look at the 200-500. When I mentioned the 500mm PF my OH didn't give me much support :p
 
I go in my body ;)
 
D500/D7500 with 300PF and 1.4TC in my pocket works for me. 300PF is small and light with good results IMHO
 
If you can stretch for it the 500 PF is a great lens for size/capabilities. Sell the D7100 and do some man maths!
 
DrAdam said:
I finally have a D500 heading my way. It should be here tomorrow or weds...

Now to identify the right lens :-D
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Doc the go to body the right body is def the one in your hand when one is in the right place at the right time I know you are sorted but hell I just thought a definitive answer might be fun. ;)

Regarding lens....and( the above) I don't shoot nik so can't really help much,

Honestly I'd ask questions of meself and base my choice on that.......mainly birdz...........big bird small birds? a biggy how close can I get? how strong am I? Do ya want to hand hold or is a tripod your thing how much light do I shoot under can I work with really high ISO? Zoom or prime

Buddy if one can't carry the gear ,too heavy , one is miserable if one can't get close categorically one needs reach....so one can miitigate reach so some extent with what togs call field craft, but one can't do that in many circumstances.

Adam there is a whole plethera of choice in all this, I guess what I'm trying to get out is you need a tool for a job, simplicity.you need the right lens tool) for your style of making images You need to meld that tool to your specific needs.

Mate I largely shoot with one lens in an ideal world, for wildlife, I'd have probably 3 or 4 lenses.................... but I can't afford that hell I couldn't afford what I have.............. just crunched hours to make it possible.

I bought what I honestly thought suited my needs. It is silly sharp if I do my bit, I rarely measure up to my gear but if one is picky about one's images then that is no bad place to be.

Adam go slow on lens choice if you can't have many.......... really think about what you personally need. the images you want to make, tailor the glass to you.(y)

Bless ya for being a Dr
take care
stu
 
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