Bird photography questions

Hi,
I am very new here and have been using a point and shoot for a few years, my S5 IS and have finally bought my first used DSLR, a 300d. I am very very new to photography in a sense that I am trying very hard to learn all the ins and outs of it and want to make this a serious hobby. Taking nature/wildlife photography is really my favorite and birds are pretty high up on my list. It is a part of nature that I can capture in my backyard or close by in a forest preserve without having to spend a lot of money traveling to the local zoo to get shots although the zoo is my favorite place to visit.

Since I am just getting started and still learning everything about ISO, shutter speed and aperture I have been reading stuff on this message board like crazy and I am taking a basic intro photography non-credit class at my local college. It's still kind of confusing knowing what shutter speed and aperture to use for different kind of photos and situations.

I really want to get serious with taking good photos of birds and would like some suggestions as to the type of lenses that i would really need for some great close ups like I have seen posted here.

I know my Rebel is old, from 2003 but I wanted to know is it more about the length of the zoom lens or the actual body of the camera that can get these great shots I am seeing from all of you?Or, is a big zoom lens the absolute most important thing to start with?

I bought a Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS lens from someone on this board and it's being shipped to me today.

I already know that the 250mm lens will probably not be enough for very close bird shots because my S5 IS has a longer zoom on it that can go all the way to 432mm I believe, but I know the quality of the S5 IS cannot get me the shots I am seeing from your DSLRs.

Can some of you offer your suggestions as to what kind of lenses I would need to get some halfway decent bird shots and if you think that my old 300d body is capable of producing some great shots with a decent lens.

I am almost considering buying a powershot SX 30 IS for it's super zoom function, goes out to 832mm from what I have seen but again, I don't think the image quality would be the same as a DSLR, am I correct on this? I don't think I could ever afford a DSLR lens that went all the way out to 800mm.

Any tips on lenses that are not going to cost an arm and a leg for a DSLR would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much for any help you give me.

The first thing someone told me when I bought my first digital camera back in 2007 was invest your money in a decent lens. I always buy "L" lens's and I have never been dissapointed.

With birds and wildlife in general the closer you are the better...the less you have to crop an image the more detail you will have and the better the image will look on the web or in print. If you have a speck in the viewfinder no amount of cropping will bring out the detail.

You can invest tons of money on camera gear but I know a couple of photographers that have more invested than I have in cameras/lens's and they still don't take better pictures. It's really not the gear...it's who's operating it and knowing how to use it in each situation. This comes with practice and finding out what works and what doesn't in each situation and learning from it.

Some of my better images at the start came from my basic Rebel XT (350D) and a 400mm f/5.6L lens. I don't know what your budget is and how much you're willing to invest in your hobby but the one thing I can't stress enough is try to have fun doing it and try to learn something from each outing....don't expect to become a pro overnight.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll get more advice from other members.

My advice at this point in your evolution is to worry more about learning than acquisitions. Keep plugging away at that. It might seem confusing now but eventually it will make sense. Along that route you'll learn much more about what equipment you'll eventually want to purchase. Enjoy your time shooting. Let things progress at a natural pace. Don't try to rush it.

Thanks so much for your replies so far! I'm very excited about Spring finally being here and getting the chance to be outside again and take more photos. I guess a lot will be by trial and error at first and I think the first thing I need to do now that Spring is here is get my bird feeders back up in the yard and get my camera ready!!

"Just getting started" that 55-250 lens is going to be fine on your 300D. Wait till you have completed your course and learned some techniques before springing for higher $ gear. Your feeders should give you the chance to get closer. Keep the bird in the sun and the sun behind you and learn about exposure and soft backgrounds. You will be amazed at the way your images improve with experience. Sure, a 400mm is better but you'll have plenty of time to upgrade. Be sure to post some examples this spring.

You can spend a bunch of money on equipment and probably cover up a little for what you haven't learned yet. But, if you stick with your camera and the 250 while you are learning, you will find out how to wring the best possible shot out of your equipment. When you get to the point where nothing you change, in either the camera or the computer, improves the quality of your shots,... it will be time to start spending obscene amounts of money on 'better' equipment for your hobby.

The 300D and the 55-250mm will be an excellent way to start. When I started a little over 2 years ago I was like you: I didn't know the first thing about photography nor did I know anything about the lens(es) I would need/want, so I bought a 40D and the Tamron 55-200mm, which is the cheapest little telezoom around. That lens forced me to work hard to get good results and after a year and a half I upgraded to the Canon 300 f/4.
Duane is right in that it isn't the equipment that makes a good photographer. So start with what you have now, try to work the 300D and that 55-250 to its limits, become the best photographer you can be with it and then in time upgrade. Then, when you upgrade, you will know what you want/need and you'll be able to use it properly.

Good luck!

luciddreamer wrote in post #12064258
My advice at this point in your evolution is to worry more about learning than acquisitions. Keep plugging away at that. It might seem confusing now but eventually it will make sense. Along that route you'll learn much more about what equipment you'll eventually want to purchase. Enjoy your time shooting. Let things progress at a natural pace. Don't try to rush it.

This is the best advice you could possibly get. Understand the camera and the lens from your current combination - it's good enough to get very decent photographs - and then you yourself will know what more you need.
Don't expect award winning photographs from the first click. Though your camera is capable, you yourself might not be ready yet. In certain respects your point and shoot might be better than your current camera lens combination.
If you want to stick to bird photography keep seeing as many bird photographs as possible and try to analyse the shots to understand why X looks nice and Y looks bad. Among other things, a good bird photograph should have catch light in the eye. Try to capture that as much as practicable.

Thanks so much everyone for all your suggestions!! I'm really getting excited now about my purchases so far and I can't wait to get started. My 55-250 lens will be here in another day and now I'm just waiting for some time on the weekend to see what I can start with. We have some very nice nature preserves out in the suburbs where I am and I'll be out at the feed store this weekend getting my bird feeders all set up.

I also think I'm going to spend some time reading the online book that someone posted as a sticky in this section. I read a few chapters yesterday and that book is pretty amazing.

Once I can get a better understanding of what shutter speed and aperture settings to use for each situation.

Right now I get very confused about which combo to use for different situations and I get a little panicky when I have to try and figure out if I want a large or small aperture and why, and the same thing with the shutter speed decisions. So I figure a lot of it will be by trial and error.

I'm definitely keeping my point and shoot as I love that camera and will probably even get a tele-converter lens for it like "Kenn3d" has on his. He was very nice and gave me some tips on his lens and the point and shoots he uses. So I was very grateful to him for that advice.

Some good advice on here for you already.

A few brief things I'll add about equipment:

- focus on your fieldcraft rather than obsess about equipment - taking the time to set-up a photograph with the equipment you have can go much, much further toward getting a quality image than just having focal length

- I'll specifically mention - forget the Powershot with "super zoom" point-and-shoot - you would be wasting your money. The smaller sensors in these cameras in combination with really long focal lengths will not give you quality images - the laws of physics will tell you they will be noisy and no where near as sharp as what you will get from a true SLR. If you want the technical explaination (about this and many other topics related to the physics of modern photography), I'd suggest Roger Clark's excellent site

If you are serious about bird photography, the definitive references are Art Morris' Art of Bird Photography Volumes 1 and 2. If you absorb and practice everything outlined in there, you will be well on your way.

If you want honest, constructive critiques of your bird photographs that will help you develop (rather than the token "Oooh - they look great!" you're going to get from your friends), I'd suggest having a look over at the "Eager to Learn" forum at BPN.

Best of Luck!