Best Digital Cameras For Wildlife Photography

Best Digital Cameras For Wildlife Photography

Best Digital Cameras For Wildlife Photography – Since the announcement and subsequent announcement of the new Sony a9, it has been named as a serious competitor in sports and wildlife. Over time, we’ve seen a lot of stories about it in the form of sports photos, so I was eager to take it out and see what the animals and birds have to offer. often shy away from it. Conversation. Here is a collection of my thoughts after going into the wild with the Sony A9.

When I knew I wanted to write an article about wildlife photography with the A9, I decided to stick with the Sony FE system and not use non-mechanical lenses through the mount. Since the recently released Sony FE 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6 GM was no longer available, I went with the next best option: the Sony FE 70–200mm f/2.8 GM and the FE 2.0x teleconverter. Yes, Sony makes the FE 70–300mm 4.5–5.6 lens, but I felt that for a 24-megapixel full-frame camera, the cropping space would be limited, and I know i want the extra 100mm. I ended up being pretty good at my review; I’ve never strayed from the 400mm ideal length, and wish it was a bit longer. Cropping in has always been necessary for my photos. My kit here is a Sony a9 with a 400mm f/5.6 lens, fixed for the two-stop light loss of the 2.0x teleconverter.

Best Digital Cameras For Wildlife Photography

Best Digital Cameras For Wildlife Photography

A “trick” I learned from Sony Artisan Patrick Murphy-Racey when I got the a9 back in April was to map the AE-L button to AF-On. The way the body is designed, the AE-L button happens directly above the thumb high back, usually your thumb is more comfortable in this place than physically. the AF-ON button. If you play the waiting game with animals and want your grip to last as long as possible, this is the way to go. Thankfully, this isn’t a big deal because all of these buttons can be configured through the menu system. The Sony a9 is better than the built-in buttons in my opinion, so I added these two to AF-ON. The default AF-on button is also good, because the tip of your thumb can be on the button, but the flat of your thumb can be hovered over the joystick to control the focus; It just feels natural in my hand.

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What’s The Best Camera For Wildlife Photography In 2023?

Another quick tip that I know other Sony users do is to set the shutter button (the round, open button found on most Sony lenses) to AF-on as well. If you’re a back-end user, the touchscreen controls on the a9 and a6500 will allow you to use them easily. You use the touch screen with your right thumb, your left thumb for the shutter button (which is programmed to AF-on), and the right thumb for the shutter button. .

Other settings I found useful were to map the target orientation and move the buttons to the best locations such as C1 and C2. . The new Sony Alpha cameras have powerful controls to suit every situation. And shooting 20 frames per second isn’t necessary 100 percent of the time, so a way to go back to one image and roll it out can be a huge time-saver in post-processing. Disabling automatic exposure/EVF switching and mapping to a button also helps in my opinion. While you’re at it, turn the viewfinder down to -2, because what you’re seeing is definitely not what you’ll find on this screen. ultra-bright OLED EVF display.

The a9 camera has some very helpful technologies like 120 fps frameless, silent shutter and 20 frames per second continuous shooting. In perfect harmony. For example, capturing conflicting birds, even if captured, I can still monitor them through the live EVF because lack of skin; They will not jump to another tree branch and get lost between frames. The silent shutter means that I can shoot at any time without giving them the reaction of the plane as a direct result. After all, 20 frames per second is like pressing data on a video camera, but knowing that each frame will be a high quality image, I can choose the best micro-expression at last.

I want to double talk about that slow motion camera too. Imagine being in the woods, no camera, all by yourself. You can hear the wind blowing in the leaves in the trees. You can hear birds chirping back and forth. A cracking sound in the distance piques your interest and makes you wonder what kind of animal it is. You know, the common plants that we outdoorsmen love. Now add compression to the a9 and guess what? Nothing changes. The camera is like an extension of you, not a mechanical machine screaming for attention as you shoot frames. For hours on the road I hear nothing but pure nature, despite the hard work of taking pictures. One of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a camera.

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The Best Cameras For Wildlife Photography

Now that I’ve established that I’m a nut or a weirdo, what’s the real deal with dropping nearly $4,500 on a Sony a9? Here are some balances of my thoughts.

Autofocus isn’t quite god-like. It’s impossible to read your mind, which is very clear when there is a great depth of branches and leaves between you and your furry subject, and the forest beyond. Focus selection is no different than other high-end cameras I’ve used. The main difference comes in the speed at which the focus is achieved. Even if you don’t pick up what you want, the process of getting it is quick. Branches – no; Another tree branch – no; A bird on a distant tree branch – yes. It only takes short presses of the AF-on button and it’s done before you even think about it. The hunt I used in other cameras is the same, but finding the focus takes a long time for each miss, in addition to the edge. Of course there was still the “F*&k it, we will do it live” approach on a few rare occasions and I switched to manual focus via the kick button on the lens.

However, if your case has a real divorce – oh boy. The A9’s AF lock is awesome. You will be shot down when shooting birds in the sky (bonus tip: panning mode 2 on your Sony telephotos). As you can see in the diagram below, a small bird flying towards you can be a bit much to ask for the a9’s lock-on AF and possibly an adjustable 2.0x telephoto adapter.

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Best Digital Cameras For Wildlife Photography

Another thing that stands out is the ISO performance. The forest is usually a strong shade, and the longer the calls and adjustments you have, the less your minimum is needed. Imagine shooting the FE 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6 GM with a 2.0x teleconverter; You have an 800mm f/11 lens there, mate. To increase your shutter speed, you need a boost in ISO for those birds. The Sony a9 can push its ISO to 204,800. Are the pictures better in 204 and 800? Eh. Is it good after taking an IQ hit from the teleconverter? Hey I’d say shooting on ISO 6 and 400 is my limit. There I set my auto-ISO limit to a9. Beyond that, the individual was really lost well and I would like to lose the exposure and increase the slider after the process.

From Portraits To Travel Snapshots, Here Are The Best Cameras For All Types Of Photography

In short, if you go all out on wildlife photography like promoting the use of a mobile blind in the forest, I think you will be another tree in the forest and the Sony A9. I can’t stress enough how amazing and quiet it is to have so much engine behind such a slow machine. There isn’t much difference here from the normal and signal-driven. It’s not a perfect camera, and we still have a long way to go, but it’s the best wildlife camera Sony has ever made.

Ryan Mens is a wildlife photographer specializing in birds. Plus reviews and news, Ryan

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