Best Digital Camera For Birding – Fast action is at the heart of Wildlife photography. Wild animals act fast and unpredictable. Most wildlife, including carnivores, are active during early dawn and late dusk. At the end of the day, low light conditions. Having a wide range of focal lengths is essential for photographing wildlife at a distance. Extreme weather conditions in nature. Furthermore, wildlife photographers strive to find a camera that is capable of taking stunning pictures in every possible situation in the wild.
Nikon has built the leading DX-format DSLR camera – the Nikon D500, with superb high ISO performance, faster frame rates, and fast and accurate focusing – even in low light.
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The Nikon D500 camera body weighs approximately 870g (30 oz) including the battery and XD card. It is a crop sensor DSLR (DX format) with a 20.9 MP CMOS sensor. The ISO range is from ISO 100 to ISO 51200. This ISO range is useful for getting better image quality even in low light. In addition to the high ISO performance, the frame rate and autofocus performance of the Nikon D500 are excellent. Frames per second for the Nikon D500 is 10 FPS. Autofocus is also fast and accurate in low light. The Nikon D500 is fully capable of focusing up to f/8 with focus points in between. These key features make the Nikon D500 great for Wildlife and Bird photography.
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This article is a hands-on review of the Nikon D500 from a Wildlife Photographer’s perspective. This review will help you understand how the Nikon D500 performs in the field.
Note: All wildlife and bird images were taken in natural forests with uncontrolled lighting conditions and in their natural habitat.
The image was taken with a Nikon D500 and a Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 lens with a bean bag. Pictures are taken from jeep safari or from safari boat.
AF-ON is useful in autofocusing with the back button. The focus area selection button is located next to the AF-ON button. The Nikon D500 has a touch screen and it can be tilted up to a certain angle.
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Osprey in flight. The focusing performance of the Nikon D500 for Birds in Flight is excellent. Exif : 1/800s , f/8 and ISO 450
Bird action is rapid and can be erratic. Wildlife movement is also fast when it occurs at dawn or dusk. The camera’s fast and accurate focusing is a must. With the 20K Multi-Cam Autofocus Sensor module, the autofocus of the Nikon D500 is excellent. The Nikon D500 focuses correctly (provided you choose the right focus mode and focus area mode).
I use autofocus with the back button to focus. There is a dedicated button for the autofocus back button, which is AF-ON.
Hare in the mess. The Nikon D500 accurately focuses on the main subject even in the cluttered forest.
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Deer crossing the safari track. The camera’s focusing performance on distant subjects is excellent. This deer is crossing Safari road. The distance between the deer and our car is about 100 meters
The color of the peacock. The Nikon D500’s color rendition and image quality are superb. Exif: 1/100s, f/5.6 and ISO 720
The colors, tonal range, and dynamic range of the Nikon D500 images are excellent. The Nikon D500’s metering is fantastic. It evaluates and produces the correct image exposure.
For most of my wildlife images, I use Matrix metering. For some complex lighting situations, such as glare or darkness, and if the animal is dark or bright, I switch to Spot metering mode. Matrix metering will give you great exposure.
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The elephant in its kingdom. The colors and details of the elephant are accurate. Exif: 1/1000s, f/5.6 and ISO 2200
The Nikon D500’s dynamic range is improved over previous versions of DX-format Nikon cameras. If it’s bright enough, I set exposure compensation to +0.3 or +0.7. Exposure compensation shifts the histogram to the right. It helps to bring out the details and enhance the colors in the image.
The Nikon D500’s dynamic range is wide. The camera can capture eyes and feathers in the dark. Similarly, the Nikon D500 captured the crest marked on the head perfectly.
Image quality and low-light ISO performance are much improved in the Nikon D500. The camera’s ISO ranges from ISO 100 to ISO 51200. Under controlled or laboratory-tested lighting conditions, Nikon D500 Images may look less noisy. However, when you’re shooting with the Nikon D500 in real natural light and jungle, you have to be realistic when choosing ISO.
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I use the maximum ISO up to 6400 in most cases, and in some rare wildlife moments I increase it to ISO 12800. In the woods, especially early in the morning or late at night, the ISO goes up. to 6400 would be useful. With ISO 6400, I was able to get sharp images with excellent dynamic range. Color is also good. These images are perfectly usable for large prints and web-sized images.
Meanwhile, if you increase the ISO to ridiculously high such as ISO 51200, you will still get the image, but you will have to apply Noise Reduction in post-processing. In addition, the image loses fine details. If you are going to print photos, choose a reasonably high ISO in the available light.
The Nikon D500 has improved high ISO and low-light performance. Up to a maximum ISO of 6400, images are great. Sharpness and color are excellent, noise is low, and it’s manageable in post-processing.
Sambar deer at ISO 6400. In the near dark forest. Light noise is visible in the image.
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Eaglefish on perch. Auto white balance for the Nikon D500 produces accurate color temperatures and tones.
The Nikon D500’s auto white balance is accurate. The camera produces white balance without any change in color or tone. All color temperatures look correct.
In addition to Auto White Balance, there are other white balances such as Daylight and Shade. All give good results.
For wildlife and bird photography, I recommend choosing Auto White Balance. It will help to reproduce the correct white balance of your images. If you want to add creative effects, you can always adjust the raw image in post-processing.
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The DX sensor, outstanding autofocus performance, high ISO performance, best fps (10 FPS) and travel-friendly size make the Nikon D500 perfect for wildlife photography and birds.
What do you think of the Nikon D500 camera? Please let us know in the comments below!
Is an engineer, wildlife and nature photographer from India. He is also a writer and lifelong adventurer. Through his articles, he teaches about digital post-processing and nature photography. He shares field techniques for nature photography, post-processing, and wildlife photography stories on his website. In both wild and backyard birding, trail cameras that take photos and videos of birds visiting your backyard can be absolute game-changers!
One thing I’ve noticed is that there aren’t any really exhaustive guides on tracking cameras specifically designed for bird watching.
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I was also curious about the price of these, so I did a bit of research online and here is what I found:
When it comes to trail cameras, there are plenty of uses for it both for wild bird watching and backyard birding.
This Spypoint trail camera is an advanced camera that can be used for the practical purposes of backyard bird hunting.
This bird feeder camera is definitely for those who want a simpler camera that works really fast.
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Given its simplicity, there is very little that can go wrong with this camera. In my experience, some other cameras tend to lose functionality due to faulty buttons or screens, but this trail camera is less likely to do so due to its plug-and-play nature. .
The great thing about this trail camera is that there’s a free monthly plan if you just want to take up to 100 photos in a month – that’s about 3 photos per day.
For the first month, you will receive an unlimited number of photos. However, if you later want to take more photos, you can always pay a small fee to increase the number of photos the camera can take in a month. The increments are $4 for 250 photos, $7 for 1000 photos, and $10 for unlimited photos.
If one day you want to transfer this camera to a camera for security monitoring purposes, it can also be a good choice.
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The camera comes with a camouflage pattern and is great for being inconspicuous and inconspicuous to both humans and birds.
This is the best bird feeder camera for lazy backyard birders who just want to plug the device in and let it record.
You can simply place the trail camera near a bird feeder or on a tree where you see birds roosting, set up your app and wait for the picture to be taken. You can then check your app for the captured photo.
Also, if you enjoy keeping wild birds, this camera can be a great way to monitor bird nests and their activities without disturbing their lifestyle. Much
