Fast camera recommendations for birding/action

[TareqPhoto]

Hi all,

I have some old cameras i was using for sports and they're fast for birds, but because they are old models i am thinking about to upgrade them to something new, so what are your recommendations for birding/wildlife and sports/action cameras?

The cameras are 1DX/1D3/30D.

[TareqPhoto]

John, thanks for reply!

I have many cameras but all are old, my main landscape and Portraits is Sony A7R which i will replace to another Sony latest one and also Hasselblad digital medium format, but my first cameras were all Canon such as 1DX which i still have and want to replace it, and 1D3, 5D1, 30D, 1Ds3/1Ds2, i believe i will replace them all, in fact my A7R replaced all my Canon full frame, i use 1DX for sports, but it is outdated anyway.

The only lens i have for sports are EF 300mm f2.8IS mk1, 70-200 f2.8IS mkII, 135 f2 and 85 f1.8, other lenses aren't much of use such as 100 macro and 100-400 mk1, i stopped photography back in 2015-2016 due to many issues in my life, and now i am trying to upgrade to latest i can for another decade maybe, i don't do much of photography so i am not after new models always, but i think like 8-10 years is long enough to hold anything and time to upgrade for another long time, and i will try to get back to photography and sport photography also.

[Waddizzle]

You still have not stated a budget.  I recommend the R3, to you.  Older L Series lenses may not be able to take full advantage of the highly advanced AF and subject tracking features in camera bodies with Dual Pixel AF image sensors.  Expect degraded performance if you do not disable the advanced tracking features.

[TareqPhoto]

The budget depends on my situations financially, i mean if i manage to sell my 1DX and 1D3/30D at good prices and i save more then i could go up to $3500-5000, but if i sell my house [second one] then i can afford $10k easily, but i try to make a list for now so i know what i decide later when the time is coming with budget.

From the list it sounds only my 70-200 mk2 is compatible, in this case either i buy another prime lens for R cameras or just keep my 1DX or upgrade it to 1DX3 and buy another camera of R series for my 70-200, i don't think i will replace ALL my equipment only to go newer and don't do much photography, i was trying to upgrade one by one, first i have to let 1D3/30D go first with appropriate upgrade, then later i can think about letting 1DX go.

[ebiggs1]

A little different take, but any of the new R series are up to this task of birding and BIF. It does not take a super camera to do this. I would advise to look more in to the lens than the camera made. Personally I would prefer the best lens I could get over the best camera. You can have the best camera in the world and stick it with a mediocre lens and cripple it.

Secondarily, make sure you use raw format and get a good editor. If you don't do that part you can pretty much forget good bird or BIF photos. Both of these are not budget dependent if you get Canon's free editor DPP4 and raw is a simple camera setting. Of course if you decide to go the best in class editor and get Photoshop there is a monthly fee.

[TareqPhoto]

I am still not doing birding or BIF at all, but i am willing to start this in my rest of life later, i only depends in cameras i use for sports so it is the same to be used for birding, 1DX was and still my workhorse until now, i know people used to use even slower camera than this in long time ago in the past such as D2 from Nikon or 1D mk1 and 1D2 and 20D and 30D and 7Dmk1, so whatever camera i upgrade to it will definitely do the job, but i have to choose which one rather than getting 2-3 and sell one later.

As for lenses, i was thinking that will be Phase/Stage 2 after buying the camera body, for now i have 70-200 mk2 as my latest lens i bought, it is still holding its performance strong, while for my vintage 300 2.8 mk1 it is time for new one, i don't know if i can go to something like 500-600 lenses, but i can get a zoom lens for that 500-600mm end, and i saw some new zoom models that are nice enough and can be affordable more over excellent primes, i dreamed in the past about 400mm f2.8 and 600mm f4, now the dream is gone forever, even if i sell my house i don't think i have to run to buy 400 and 600 and leave them for dust, also if i can make staged photography of birds then i can use manual optics, i have telescopes that can go to any focal length, even 2700mm, i have two telescopes that can be used like lenses, one with 540mm focal length and the other is 700mm native [f6 and f6.6], for birds in still they can be used, speed isn't important, only BIF i need AF magic, and i used manual through years with experience, with practice on some spots i can manage manual focus, my garden has a lot of trees brunches i can focus on, and with f6-f8 it will give enough DOF and BG isolation.

[TareqPhoto]

The point is, if i can't wait a big budget then my maximum budget i can spend for a body this year is around $2000-3000 maximum and only brand NEW, if i manage to sell my cameras i might increase it a bit to $4000-5000 but not sure, so i won't stress myself to have a very latest expensive bodies yet while i am not back into photography, this season sport photography is gone for me, but i will talk with them later so they can manage access for me to do next season, that will start in Sept-Oct, so i hope by that time i could have something upgraded, not necessarily everything, i have another hobby or interest to fund also.

[Waddizzle]

R6 Mark II with the BG-R10 battery grip.

[TareqPhoto]

Ok, i will try to look at enough images of sports and birds done by R6 Mark II if possible, if it is same as or even better than 1DX or R3 or R5 then i am sold.

Thank you very much

[ebiggs1]

"... such as D2 from Nikon or 1D mk1 and 1D2 and 20D and 30D and 7Dmk1, ..."

Your own words prove you don't need the latest greatest. Believe it or not we even did birding and BIF well before even those oldies were on the drawing board.

"R6 Mark II with the BG-R10 battery grip."

This is a very good suggestion.

[TareqPhoto]

I know that, but this is life, we keep going, i don't see people here using like iPhone 4 or 5 or even 8, and also old cars, so same with cameras, in fact i hated my 1D3 because of 1DX, i even sold my 1D2n because of 1DX, it was big difference, even from 1Ds2 to 1Ds3 was a difference, so i just can't stop now, i already didn't buy another fast camera since 1DX for over 10 years and A7R also my last camera i bought for photography, so i feel like i can upgrade now if possible but not as a must.

The prices of R7 and R6II are manageable, so i will think clearly about it, i wanted R7 because of the crop factor, i always crop my images from 1D3 and 1DX, and both has less mp, but it sounds that R7 has less votes here or in general, i saw more images from R5 or even RP than from R6 Mark II.