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What kind of camera by Canon is best for bird photos

ws
Apprentice
I like to go birding and found it enjoyable using my sons Canon 5T, some pics were good and others I needed sharper resolution. Would an EOS 70 D be marked improvement? Is this model restricted to specific lenses, so if are there restrictions to the lenses it can use?
13 REPLIES 13

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

For birds-in-flight, a camera with a fast continuous burst speed and a good buffer size will help.  

 

A 70D would be an upgrade... a 7D II would be an even better upgrade (much better focus system, faster burst speed, etc.) 

 

The other consideration is the lens.  While it's nice to have a 600mm lens to capture shots, the angle of view through a 600mm lens is very narrow.  So if the bird goes out of frame (and it will) you'll have a hard time re-acquiring your target.  So it's NICE to have a zoom that lets you drop the focal length to an angle of view that isn't so tight... find and re-center your subject, and then zoom back in to focus and shoot.

 

There are a couple of 150-600mm lenses on the market (by Tamron and Sigma -- neither of which I have any experience using so I wont bother to comment or recommend a particular lens.)  Canon makes the 100-400mm lenses but in longer focal lengths the zooms tend to get very expensive (the 200-400mm with builting 1.4x extender is the longest "zoom" they make and the rest of the super-telephoto lenses are primes.)  The Tamron and Sigma 150-600mm lenses seem to be popular among the birding photography crowd.

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend
Almost always the better lens is the best solution. All the lens you are considering are poor for what you want.
A 70D is not going to have a great deal better sensor than the T5 has. It does have better AF no doubt.
If it was I, I would buy a lens like the Tamron 150-600mm super tele first. Learn to use it and later get the 70D. If you truly love this hobby maybe consider the 7D Mk II. It is a absolutely fantastic camera upgrade over the 70D and vastly better than the T5.
EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend
BTW, I would get up close and personal with a good post editing program. Like Photoshop Elements. That will impact your photos more than anything.
EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!
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