Bird Photography?

Question

I am wanting to get my mom a nice camera for her bird watching hobby. I am not too sure what to get, and I don't have a lot of money.

So if anyone has suggestions on what is a good affordable camera for bird watching, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Go to KEH.com and buy a used Panasonic Lumix FZ30. While it won't be quite as good as a $1000 DSLR with a $2000 white lens, it actually won't be so bad and you might be surprised. You can find one of these for around $300 used in excellent condition and it has a 10x zoom (about a 400mm lens) and lots of bells and whistles including a scene mode for this sort of thing. Also 8mp, so you can crop some.

For those naysayers who might claim this can't be used for bird phtography - here are a few shots I took with a similar, but much older camera that only had 2mp (an Olympus UZ-2100 with a 10x zoom):

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/1822817-L.jpg

http://www.olphoto.net/photos/1869488-L-1.jpg

Answer 2

Hey, Tony, those aren't bad! I'm sure any non-pro would be happy to have pics like that in the album!

How big her bird photos will be depends on how close the birds come to her look-out post. If they come to feeders that are relatively close, she may get some good images. If the birds are a hundred yards away, then she will get bird "dots" unless she gets a looooooonnnnggggg, expensive lens.

If you're getting Mom a long zoom digicam, be sure to get her a tripod as well. Even with image stabilization, it is hard to handhold at 10x. Anything shorter than a 10x zoom or the equivalent will be useless for birds unless they are in a cage.

You might want to ask her what she'd like for her bird hobby. Unless she is into photography, she might find that trying to capture good bird photos is frustrating. Of course, she may really enjoy the challange

Answer 3

No camera on it's own is good for photographing birds. The lens is what counts and the ones for photographing birds are really expensive.

The best answer is a digiscope (bird watching scope) with a camera mount and a digital camera.
Although this is the cheapest and probably best answer it is nonetheless not cheap.

Why not consider getting something else she can use - a really good bird book, suitable clothing or something like that.

If you buy her a cheap camera or telescope she will thank you mightily but it won't be much use.

It is the thought that counts with presents - not the money spent. A cheaper present well thought out will, I am sure, be much more appreciated.

I am a bird photographer - just one of my lenses costs much more than most people spend on a very good camera system!!!

Answer 4

If you have $300, you can get a Sony H2 and a Memory Stick. This camera comes with a powerful 432 mm (equivalent) telephoto lens and Image Stabilization. I have seen many fine bird pictures taken with this camera, and have taken some myself! Look at

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1009&page=1

Here's another web page with some prices:

http://imaging-resource.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=17744353/search=Sony

You can also look at Best Buy and Circuit City.

If $300 is more than your budget right now, perhaps you can think of a different gift. Birdwatching really needs a camera with a strong telephoto lens. (Sorry..)

I hope you find something nice for your Mom.

Good Luck

Answer 5

I suggest you buy a Pair of Binoculars, instead. [assumption is that your mom does not have one, already.]