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Lightweight camera for bird photography

A

AndrewG

pfm Member
I have become increasingly interested in photographing birds, but do not have the right equipment. I have a Nikon D810 used for landscapes with various lenses but nothing longer than 200 mm. I am interested in buying something light with an appropriate long lens. The Nikon P950 and P1000 have caught my eye, as has the Sony RX10 IV. One of these may fit the bill - long lens, lightweight, image stabilisation, etc?

I would welcome any thoughts on these or alternative suggestions. Although these might be a compromise over the very best options, I really don’t want to carry a DSLR, long lens and tripod.
 
FWIW my Mum - a keen bird/nature photographer - has gone from a big Canon DLSR with their IS/USM lenses > Olympus OM-D (EM5?) with a couple of their longer lenses > Sony RX10 IV, all due to her being unable to deal with the weight of the previous kit due to advancing age. She chose the Sony because she couldn't cope with the weight of a body plus multiple lenses anymore and liked the 24-600mm range, and has been pretty happy with it as far as I can tell.
 
There are some excellent bird photographs posted here, all minus tripod - have a search and drop the poster a PM for mor einfo', although details of what he uses are posted.
 
All down to the 'quality' question. Any camera with a 1" sensor (like the Sony RX10) may have a long lens that weighs near nothing, but how good are the results?

Generally, the smaller the sensor, the lighter the kit but the less good the resulting pic. Depending ofc on what you class as 'good'. If you own an 810 then you have a clear idea of how high quality can be. Here :
https://www.dpreview.com/sample-gal...x10-iii-real-world-samples-gallery/8887925990
are samples from Sony's RX10 111. Personally i think they are outstanding for that sensor and there won't be anything more convenient of getting more from 1" than this.

However....I have one caveat. I owned an Olympus OM10 for some time and was amazed at just how good that was too. If you wanted something a bit more 'pro' quality, to equal the build of the 810, then take a look at the OMD E M1 Mk111. Here are its samples:
https://www.dpreview.com/sample-gal...-om-d-e-m1-mark-iii-sample-gallery/5197505722

Add the Oly 75-300 (150-600 in real money) and it weighs less than the Sony, takes better pics, and will stand enlargement more easily, is better built but ofc, costs more.
Well you get what you pay for, so it is i think down to what you do want to pay for, but for me, it's a punch up between those 2.
 
starbuck said:
FWIW my Mum - a keen bird/nature photographer - has gone from a big Canon DLSR with their IS/USM lenses > Olympus OM-D (EM5?) with a couple of their longer lenses > Sony RX10 IV, all due to her being unable to deal with the weight of the previous kit due to advancing age. She chose the Sony because she couldn't cope with the weight of a body plus multiple lenses anymore and liked the 24-600mm range, and has been pretty happy with it as far as I can tell.
Click to expand...
Many thanks that’s useful to know. Although I could just about carry a heavy DSLR nowadays I really don’t want to, so I’ll take a closer look at the Sony.
 
Rockmeister said:
All down to the 'quality' question. Any camera with a 1" sensor (like the Sony RX10) may have a long lens that weighs near nothing, but how good are the results?

Generally, the smaller the sensor, the lighter the kit but the less good the resulting pic. Depending ofc on what you class as 'good'. If you own an 810 then you have a clear idea of how high quality can be. Here :
https://www.dpreview.com/sample-gal...x10-iii-real-world-samples-gallery/8887925990
are samples from Sony's RX10 111. Personally i think they are outstanding for that sensor and there won't be anything more convenient of getting more from 1" than this.

However....I have one caveat. I owned an Olympus OM10 for some time and was amazed at just how good that was too. If you wanted something a bit more 'pro' quality, to equal the build of the 810, then take a look at the OMD E M1 Mk111. Here are its samples:
https://www.dpreview.com/sample-gal...-om-d-e-m1-mark-iii-sample-gallery/5197505722

Add the Oly 75-300 (150-600 in real money) and it weighs less than the Sony, takes better pics, and will stand enlargement more easily, is better built but ofc, costs more.
Well you get what you pay for, so it is i think down to what you do want to pay for, but for me, it's a punch up between those 2.
Click to expand...
Again another very helpful reply. I have always bought Nikon gear over about 40 years or so, although I have recently bought a Sony RX100 VI to put in my pocket. However I have never even considered Olympus gear. Looking quickly at a couple of reviews, the OMD E M1 Mk III looks to be a great piece of kit, albeit at a price, but, as you say, you get what you pay for. I do like well built quality equipment!
 
Olympus designed and made it to be a lighter option of a Nikon D500 for sports and wildlife photographers. It's amazing how they have squeezed that 4/3rds sensor to produce those results. It's worth finding one to handle since the menues are not familiar to a Nikon user but otherwise? And Olympus glass is peerless, + you get a choice of all the Panasonic/Leica stuff as well.
 
It would be worth looking at the Pansonic G9 or G90. There is a good range of M43 lenses available and they are lightweight.

Some people find the Panasonic menu system more user friendly.

I'm happy with my G80.
 
AndrewG said:
I have become increasingly interested in photographing birds, but do not have the right equipment. I have a Nikon D810 used for landscapes with various lenses but nothing longer than 200 mm. I am interested in buying something light with an appropriate long lens. The Nikon P950 and P1000 have caught my eye, as has the Sony RX10 IV. One of these may fit the bill - long lens, lightweight, image stabilisation, etc?

I would welcome any thoughts on these or alternative suggestions. Although these might be a compromise over the very best options, I really don’t want to carry a DSLR, long lens and tripod.
Click to expand...
Try using the D810 with the 200-500 f5.6 vr lens, I used this combo before moving into D850 territories. Have a look at the below link. https://flic.kr/p/24dcFcY
 
cctaylor said:
It would be worth looking at the Pansonic G9 or G90. There is a good range of M43 lenses available and they are lightweight.

Some people find the Panasonic menu system more user friendly.

I'm happy with my G80.
Click to expand...

Likewise with my GX9 rangefinder format Lumix camera, definitely worth a look.
 
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