Top 5 items Every Wildlife Photographer MUST HAVE!
In this tutorial Angie Birmingham walks beginner‑to‑intermediate wildlife photographers through the essential gear they need to shoot quality wildlife images without overspending. She begins by stressing the importance of buying from authorized dealers (B&H) and avoiding gray‑market pitfalls. She then guides viewers through choosing a photographer type, camera formats (DSLR, compact, mirrorless) and sensor sizes (full‑frame, APS‑C crop, Micro‑Four‑Thirds), highlighting key specs such as megapixels, custom dials, 4K video, and battery life. Specific camera recommendations are given for crop‑sensor (Sony a6700, Canon R7, Nikon Z50) and full‑frame (Sony A7 IV, Canon R5, Nikon Z8) models, with price and performance snapshots. Lens selection follows, covering versatile telephoto zooms (Sony 200‑600 mm, Canon 100‑500 mm, Nikon equivalent, Sigma 60‑600 mm) and standard zooms (24‑105/24‑120 mm) while explaining focal‑length conversion, aperture impact, image‑stabilisation, weather‑sealing and the “glass over body” philosophy. Practical field accessories are reviewed: high‑speed SD/XQD/CFexpress cards, spare batteries, padded camera inserts (f‑stop bags), tripods/monopods (ProMediaGear recommendation, need for ball or gimbal heads), and the importance of a park pass and mentorship. Throughout she stresses budgeting, renting gear, testing lenses, and balancing weight versus convenience. The video ends with a call to action to get outside, practice, and subscribe.
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Did you know that according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an estimated 20 million Americans enjoy wildlife photography? Wow, 20 million of us crazy photographers running around out there. But I'm not going to sugarcoat it. If you want great wildlife images, you need good gear. But it can be hard to know exactly what to get without breaking the bank. But don't worry, today I'm going to show you the most essential pieces of gear that you must have in your bag without wasting your hard-earned money. Let's go ahead and dive in. When we were starting out, I wish we had someone to point us in the right direction, because Jeff and I wasted so much money on gear we did not need, and we had no idea about the gray market until we had an issue with one of our cameras. We sent it in to get it repaired, Under what we thought was warranty, and we get an email from the company saying that it's gonna cost over $1,000 to fix our camera. So, moral of the story is to always check the manufacturer's websites to see if they are listed as an authorized dealer if you buy from any other dealer than B&H. B&H is our go-to dealer. Today I'm going to go over a few essential must-have gear, but before we discuss that, we have a few items that we need to consider before buying any gear. First, you need to decide what type of photographer you are or want to be. Type number 1 is you just want to take some photos while on vacation or maybe of family and friends, and then share them on social media. Type number 2, you want to be a better than average photographer, maybe even hang a photo or 2 up in your home or office. Type 3, you would like to go all the way to pro, sell images on a website, hang images in art galleries, and maybe even get published in a magazine. Okay, so let's get started on the gear. So first off, you're gonna need a camera if you plan on taking pictures. So let's go over the different types of cameras. First off, you've got DSLRs, you've got compacts, you've got— and mirrorless cameras. So DSLRs, um, They're the heaviest and the bulkier out of all of them. Then you've also got your little compact point-and-shoot cameras. The advantage to them is that they are very portable, easy to use, and often more affordable and ideal for those people who prioritize with convenience. The cons is that you have less control over the settings, lower light performance. And then you have the mirrorless cameras, which are the cameras pretty much a lot of people are shooting now. They're all are getting rid of their DSLRs and they're going to the mirrorless cameras. And the reason why is because they're compact, they're lighter, They shoot fast shutter speeds, excellent image quality, and the biggest pro is that you get to see what your image is gonna look like before you even click the shutter. They're great for travel and everyday use. The only bad thing that I can think of for mirrorless is that the battery life tends to be a little shorter than your other cameras. But that's mostly due to the viewfinder because it's constantly on, and that's why your, your batteries don't last as long. But if you turn off the LCD screen on the back and you avoid looking at all of your pictures that you just finished taking, your battery will last a little longer. Inside your camera, you have a sensor that is the sensor. It's where the image is captured. And you have full frame, crop sensor, Micro Four Thirds. Full frame cameras are based on 35mm. So basically, if you have 100mm, your lens is equal to 100mm on your full frame. Okay. And they are typically better in low light. Crop sensor cameras is a smaller sensor than your full-frame camera, which also means that it's magnified. So a 100mm lens on a Sony or Nikon becomes 150mm, and Canon, it becomes a 60mm lens. They are usually a little more compact than your full-frame cameras, but they also typically don't do as well in low light. But there are denoise programs out there that will fix that problem. And then next up we have Micro Four Thirds. This is the smallest sensor of the interchangeable lenses, which means that everything is magnified times 2. So if you have a 100mm lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera, it now becomes a 200mm lens. They are usually the most compact in the mirrorless lineup. I have never personally used one, but because they do have that smaller sensor, I would assume that they're probably not as good in low light as your full frame. But once again, you've got denoise programs that fix that problem. And another thing to keep in mind when choosing your camera is image quality and resolution. So megapixels, um, they don't always mean a better photo, but they typically mean that your photo will have greater detail and you'll have the ability to crop crop in more on your images. So if you're a long ways away, you can do like a 50% crop and you're 50% closer. But for a hobby photographer, look for a camera that's around 16 to 30 megapixel sensor. That range offers a good balance between image quality and size. One more thing to keep in mind Is you wanna have customization of knobs. So on the Sony cameras, see if I can get this to come into focus. Yep. How about here? You've got this round wheel here, which I have mine set to ISO, and then you have a round dial right here. Which is my shutter, and then you have one up front here which is my aperture. So I have 3 rings or dials that I have programmed so that I can run all 3 manual settings. And that's a really good thing to look for on your cameras because as you grow as a photographer that will be invaluable. It'll save you from having to go into the menu system to change your ISO or your shutter or your ISO or your aperture. Sorry. One more thing to consider is that when you're out there in nature, you're probably going to want to dabble a little in videography. So you might want to make sure that your camera can offer at least a 4K video recording. That way you get the best quality. Let's jump into some camera selections. We'll start off with the crop sensor cameras. First, we've got the Sony a6700. Then we got the Canon R7, and we got the Nikon Z50. Z50 comes in at the least But it also has the least amount of megapixels. But they— And Canon actually has the best frames per second and up to frames, so it'll shoot 224 frames before it buffers out. And they all do 4K video. So let's move on over to the full-frame cameras. Okay, so on the full-frame cameras, we've got the Sony A7 IV, which is 33 megapixels, 10 frames per second, and will shoot up to 1,000 pictures in RAW. They all have built-in stabilization, and Sony only shoots 4K video, and that one comes in at $2,298. The Canon R5 comes in at $2,899, but it has 45 megapixels, shoots 12 frames per second, up to 180 images before it buffers, and it does shoot 8K video. And the Nikon Z8 comes in the most expensive at $3,497. And it has 45 megapixels, 20 frames per second, and up to 1,000 photos in RAW before it buffers out. And it too shoots in 8K. So let's pair these cameras up with some lenses. I did not do any of the crop sensor lenses that would be What they call APC lenses. I did all full-frame lenses, and that way you can put them on either a crop sensor camera or a full-frame camera. So you got your, your Sony 200-600, which comes in at $1,898, and its f-stop is 5.6-6.3. It has image stabilization, and it's a little bigger than the Canon lens, as you can see here, but it also has internal zoom, so it does not extend when you zoom out. And that one comes in at 4.65 pounds. The Canon is $2,699. It has an external zoom. It's 4.5 to 7.1, and its packed size is 8.2 inches by 3.7. But this is also a 100 to 500mm, so you have a little more reach there on the low end and a little less On the upper end. Alright, and now over to the Nikon. This lens here was just released, so it may be kind of hard to get, but it also comes in at the lowest price, and it too is an internal zoom, and the weight is pretty comparable to the Sony. And same with the size, and it too is 5.6-2.63. All right, so let's jump on over to some lens options. This is if you still have some money in your budget. This lens here, I threw this in here because it has such a great range. It's 60-600mm. And you can get this in Sony, Nikon, or Canon. It has image stabilization. Its packed size is 11 inches by 4.7, and it comes in at 5.5 pounds. The advantage to that is that you have 60mm to 600mm. This lens is an incredibly sharp. This is the one I use, and also quite a few of my friends use it as well. So if you don't go with the Sigma 60-600, you'll probably need to get another lens for doing some landscapes. You can do 24-105 with Canon or Sony. And those are all typically pretty much the same specs across the board. The only difference is, is $101 between the Sony and the Canon lens. And then you've got the Nikon lens, the 24-120mm, which comes in at $1,097. It's the cheapest of all, and It's about comparable size-wise as well. So as I was saying earlier, I was referring to the lenses as 100mm. That's because lenses are measured in millimeters. This is important when you select your lenses for wildlife. It determines how much of the scene will be captured and how large the individual elements will be in your final image. For wildlife, a longer focal length is preferred. We all like big lenses, as it allows you to capture more detail in your photos from a safe distance, and you're also not disturbing the wildlife. But one thing to keep in mind though, a lot of people think that the big lenses, the 600mm, You can see a rock on the moon, but in reality it's the same amount as the more compact lenses like this. This is a 600 at the long range, and just because you have a 600mm lens doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to be able to reach out, you know, half a mile down the road and take a photo. Because you have Mother Nature's environment that messes up your photos. You've got heat waves, and yes, you get heat waves even in the cold weather. I've had heat waves coming off the snow. Then you have haze, you have smoke, you have fog. All those elements, they affect the outcome of your image. They make it just look like hell. But that's part of it. All right, so let's go outside. I'm gonna take some photos at some different focal lengths and I'm gonna share them with you. Here we've got Mac the jackalope. He is reporting to duty. Isn't he cute? All right, we're gonna go hang him up over here on the fence and get started. So I'm going to do a photo at 100mm, 200mm, 400mm, and 600mm, and I'll share them with you so you can see what the difference is. 100mm, 200mm, 400mm, and 600mm. And another thing that I was referring to was the aperture or f-stop. That affects your lens's ability to gather and control the depth of field. A lens with the widest aperture of, say, example, f/2.8, it's going to let in a lot of light. It's going to be a very large opening. This will allow more light into the camera, which is especially nice for wildlife photography during dusk and dawn. When of course they're most active. And a white— and a wide aperture also helps you achieve a blurred background, which is also called bokeh, which everybody loves. That nice soft background, like kind of like behind me, nice soft background. Well, another thing to think of is think of your lens as an investment. They do not get updated as often as your cameras. My philosophy has always been to get good glass and a camera body you can afford, because the glass and the photographer is what makes the photo, not the camera. All these cameras are perfectly capable of taking a great photo. But lenses and photographers is what holds them all back. So while I was outside, I snuck in a couple extra pictures. I took one at 400 at f/2.8 and one at 400 f/6.3, just so you could see the difference between the two. So almost every lens built these days for wildlife have image stabilization. That helps you shoot at slower shutter speeds and from moving vehicles to a certain extent. Image stabilization is a very nice feature to have. It helps you reduce the blurriness in photos when taken at long focal lengths. That's a mouthful. Or in low-light conditions. Oh, and Also, another nice thing to have is— let me show you— is weather sealing on your lenses. It's a little rubber seal right here, right along the edge of your camera lens. I don't know if you can see that or not. The weather sealing helps protect against dust, moisture, water splashes, just ensuring that your gear remains safe in very tough shooting conditions. One thing you need to take into consideration as well is how long you're going to be walking around with your camera, whether you're going to need a tripod, and also you need to balance quality with convenience. Based on how far and long you plan on carrying your equipment. The heavier the setup, the less likely you are to take it with you on your adventures. Budget also plays a role in choosing your lenses. While higher-end lenses offer superior image quality and performance, there are also many budget-friendly options that perform exceptionally well for wildlife photography, like this one here, 60-600. It's basically a 70-200 lens and a 200-600 lens built into one lens for under $2,000. You need to decide on a budget that works for you. Keeping in mind that investing in quality glass is more important than your camera body. Next up, number 3, you're going to need memory cards. Without these, you're not taking any pictures. And depending on the kind of camera you have is which memory card you're going to need. Typically all of them take your SD cards, but they also— the The newer cameras also take CompactFlash Express Type A and Type B, and some run XQD cards. So when buying your cards for your camera, make sure you get the manual and read it so that you can make sure you've got the right card and it's compatible with your camera. Then number 4, something else I recommend Is extra batteries, because one battery is not going to last long enough in the field. I would get at least one, maybe 2 extra batteries, and I don't recommend buying the off-brand batteries. If you do have to buy the off-brand batteries, Watson is probably the best of the batteries. But one way you can conserve on your battery power is stop looking at all your photos you just took. Okay, so number 5, now you're gonna need a bag to put all your gear in to keep it safe at home and while you're on the road. So most everybody already has a backpack or a messenger bag at home already. What I recommend doing is just buying a camera insert. They're known as f-stop bags. They just sit right down inside your backpack. They got handles on them, they got zippers, and they're completely padded. And then later down the road, you know, maybe invest in an actual camera bag. But most of the time I'm running around in a backpack that's not even designed for Camera photography or cameras, and I just have the f-stop insert in it. Okay, so now we're going to kind of touch on tripods. I typically handhold most of the time, and if I'm not handholding, I will go to a monopod unless I'm doing landscapes or I'm standing in one spot for an extended period of time waiting on an animal to do something. Then I'll pull out the tripod. When I was starting out, I wish I had someone who would have told me about the differences of the tripods because Jeff and I wasted a lot of money on tripods. If you think you need to buy a tripod, my first recommendation is ProMediaGear, not just because I'm one of their ambassadors, but because it's a high-quality product Made here in the U.S., and the customer service is outstanding. I've had my tripod now for, I want to say, over 10 years, and it looks brand new and works like new despite all the traveling and extremely hard climates it's been in. There are a few tripods that I would recommend if you decide to purchase one. Most upper-end tripods do not come with a head on it, so you will need to buy a ball head or a gimbal head. So make sure you check the specs on your tripod before you purchase it so you know if you need to purchase the additional head or not. So one of my final tips would be for you to go out and get a state or national Park Pass, or what the heck, get both. Because if you don't get out there and go shoot, you're never going to learn how to use your camera. So get out and click that shutter. And my last tip is find yourself a mentor. Find a local photography group, sign up for workshops or private classes. It will make the learning process less painful. And just remember, choosing a camera setup doesn't have to be hard, but it is a significant step in your wildlife photography journey. Remember, the best lens is not always the most expensive one, but the one that suits your photography style, need, and budget. But if it does not fit your lifestyle, then it will get left at home and you will not take any pictures. Take your time, do your research. If possible, test out different lenses before making your decision. There's places online to rent lenses. I'll leave a link below for you, and a lot of the local camera stores also rent gear. Your local camera stores are going to be your least expensive place to rent gear from. So just get out there and go shoot. That's all I can tell you. Go out and click that shutter. Click, click, click. Well, I hope you enjoyed this video. I hope it wasn't too long for you. I covered a lot in this video. And don't forget to like, subscribe, ring my bell, do all that stuff. And here's another video right here that will cover some beginner tips on how to use your new camera. See you next time.
