A New Beginning!

Hello all. Its been a while!

I have learned a ton from my old t3i and i have been given graces from my wife to upgrade my camera!

What do you guys recommend for wildlife/ nature/ bif photograghy?

I was thinking a 5d mark 3 but maybe there is something better (around 3k) since i have been out of the loop of whats good...

Forgottenalarm wrote in post #17728855
Hello all. Its been a while!

I have learned a ton from my old t3i and i have been given graces from my wife to upgrade my camera!

What do you guys recommend for wildlife/ nature/ bif photograghy?

I was thinking a 5d mark 3 but maybe there is something better (around 3k) since i have been out of the loop of whats good...

Cant go wrong with the 5Diii still but the 6D is only $1399 with the rebate for the next few days which is a steal. You also might want to consider the 7Dii if you want a higher FPS and newer tech than the 5Diii.

So 7dii has edge for crop sensor and newer processors but from what I'm reading it lacks in the image quality side during low light/ high iso environments. Coming from a t3i anything is a plus. Especially since it looks like I'm also getting a 100-400 is usm ii. BIF looks like it will be good either way, it's the low light (GBH in a swamp or pond under trees without artificial light) that may still give me noisy images with 7dii unlike the 5diii.
Eh, choices! Anyone else in the nature/wildlife area? I don't have experience with either camera.

7D2

Get both the 6D and the 7D II for just a little more than the 5DIII.

If wildllife/nature/bif is to be your primary shooting interest, I think a 7D2 is perfect. That's largely what I shoot and if I didn't also shoot a lot of indoor live music, it's definitely the body I'd get. I think I'll be getting a 5D3 for the low light performance and pretty good AF/burst, but if low light wasn't a regular for me, I'd grab up a 7D2 for the magnificent AF/burst.

Jason

I have a 7DII and a 5DIII, for wildlife and nature I'll take the 7DII everytime. the AF and tracking is fantastic.

Forgottenalarm wrote in post #17729390
So 7dii has edge for crop sensor and newer processors but from what I'm reading it lacks in the image quality side during low light/ high iso environments. Coming from a t3i anything is a plus. Especially since it looks like I'm also getting a 100-400 is usm ii. BIF looks like it will be good either way, it's the low light (GBH in a swamp or pond under trees without artificial light) that may still give me noisy images with 7dii unlike the 5diii.
Eh, choices! Anyone else in the nature/wildlife area? I don't have experience with either camera.

In a really low light swamp, attempting to capture a bird in flight, with a F5.6 lens, you'll be shooting easily at ISO 6400+ and the 5D3 isn't much better than the 7D2 in that camp (barely over a partial stop of ISO improvement). You will get noisy images with any camera in this environment, assuming it's low enough to need 1/800s, F5.6, ISO 6400 (and that's for a big slow bird, like a heron or egret, faster or smaller birds will blur with that often at full speed). I shoot in dark swamps a lot, most of those shots are perched shots of birds, few can really be in flight in truly dark swamps.

That said, if I were shooting in a dark swamp, I'd probably get a 1DIV instead frankly for it's higher ISO appearance and robust build. Granted, if you're spending $2k on a 400 MKII and $1.5k on a 7D2, for swamping, I'd frankly keep the T3i and spend that $3.5k on a super telephoto with F2.8 long before worrying about a new camera!

Depending on budget, you may want to consider a Sigma 120-300 F2.8 OS, if you really are shooting low light. Or a used 300 F2.8L (non-IS) if you can find one. Those would be a lot more suited to that kind of stuff.

I use a big long slow lens in dark swamps here in Florida. I live at ISO 1600 as a base starting point with a junk sensor. But I don't fear high ISO. It's all about getting the exposure right and the noise just doesn't show up as obvious. Shooting like this all the time, if I had a choice between a new camera or faster telephoto, I'd frankly rather have the faster telephoto! An F2.8 telephoto would be my first choice, every time, no matter what camera I was using. If that kind of glass is in your budget, I'd go there, before worrying over a camera. Just a thought!

Examples at ISO 1600 with a lowly 650D sensor (I shoot in dark swamps under canopy):

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/mT68​HJ

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nyPo​G8

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nyPo​fA

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nR1Y​iR

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nyPn​Ki

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/pN9M​Ud

I already sold the t3i and old gear minus the 50 prime lens I had. All my gear sucked for what I wanted. I never got more then a handful of sharp pics with the 150-500 sigma. Even in tv/av/auto. This morning i ordered a 7d mark 2, 100-400 L mark 2, and a canon 1.4 mark 3 teleconverter.

Very nice pics! May I ask where in Florida you are at? Wife is trying her hardest to get me to agree moving towards fort myers.... anything by there good for wildlife?

Thankyou all for your input! My gear will be in tomorrow!

Forgottenalarm wrote in post #17738042
I already sold the t3i and old gear minus the 50 prime lens I had. All my gear sucked for what I wanted. I never got more then a handful of sharp pics with the 150-500 sigma. Even in tv/av/auto. This morning i ordered a 7d mark 2, 100-400 L mark 2, and a canon 1.4 mark 3 teleconverter.

Very nice pics! May I ask where in Florida you are at? Wife is trying her hardest to get me to agree moving towards fort myers.... anything by there good for wildlife?

Thankyou all for your input! My gear will be in tomorrow!

Heya,

I'm in central Florida, Gainesville area, well to the West really. I spend most of my time near Cedar Key and the Lower Suwanee Basin. Otherwise, I like the Payne's Prairie area and the surrounding water bodies (rivers) that feed around there, like the Sweet Water Branch and Alachua Sink.

There's wildlife (birds) EVERYWHERE in Florida. Doesn't matter where you move to in this state, it's full of stuff. Especially if there's water near by, guaranteed birding (and likely lizards too!).

Very best,

If you spend time in Cedar Key then you must be familiar with very talented high school classmate EveryMilesAMemory.

MalVeauX wrote in post #17750485
Heya,

I'm in central Florida, Gainesville area, well to the West really. I spend most of my time near Cedar Key and the Lower Suwanee Basin.

So far (two and half short years), my most bountiful photography trip was in your neck of the woods - Steinhatchee and surrounding areas. Great wildlife, landscape, sunsets, astro, etc. I'm trying to convince the wife to take another trip up there this winter.

By the way, impressive shots with the T4i!

Those are amazing shots... shows that it is the photographer and not gear that brings out quality.

Forgottenalarm wrote in post #17738042
I already sold the t3i and old gear minus the 50 prime lens I had. All my gear sucked for what I wanted. I never got more then a handful of sharp pics with the 150-500 sigma. Even in tv/av/auto. This morning i ordered a 7d mark 2, 100-400 L mark 2, and a canon 1.4 mark 3 teleconverter.

Very nice pics! May I ask where in Florida you are at? Wife is trying her hardest to get me to agree moving towards fort myers.... anything by there good for wildlife?

Thankyou all for your input! My gear will be in tomorrow!

Somewhat late to this thread, but I thought I'd chime in. I am near Fort Myers (Cape Coral area). Lots of birds out here to photograph. Depending on what particular species you preffer. Bald eagles in their nests are somewhat easy to spot as well as burrowing owls.

Great place to capture bird pics is Din Darling nature preserve in Sanibel (about 15 minutes from Fort Myers).

Hi all! I spent some time down there and my wife and I like Sarasota. We spent some hours at myakka park and loved it! Messed around with the new camera and lens between getting the house ready to sell and wow! A huge difference in clear images!