Bird photography - Nikon body

I think the lack of consensus proves none of the camera options are turkeys and the photographer is more important... (which I realise is a comment that doesn't help in an equipment sub-forum!)

I guess the equation does change if you have the chance to own both a D4 and a D800 and you can decide on the day which is more suitable, than if you can only afford a single full-frame. (as a shooter of a 7D, I'm tempted by a 1DX not the impending 5Ds)
 
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The W said:
I think the lack of consensus proves none of the camera options are turkeys and the photographer is more important... (which I realise is a comment that doesn't help in an equipment sub-forum!)

I guess the equation does change if you have the chance to own both a D4 and a D800 and you can decide on the day which is more suitable, than if you can only afford a single full-frame. (as a shooter of a 7D, I'm tempted by a 1DX not the impending 5Ds)
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I have, D800 AF sucks in comparisson.
 
The W said:
I think the lack of consensus proves none of the camera options are turkeys and the photographer is more important... (which I realise is a comment that doesn't help in an equipment sub-forum!)
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This constant "it's the photographer not the equipment really does get me"

……. lets say i'm a crap bird photographer but I get some good images because I have a Nikon 300mm f2.8VR, Nikon 600mm f4, etc.

OR I'm a great photographer but can only produce crap images of birds because all I have is a Nikon 35mm f2.8 manual lens

The thread is about equipment not my or any photographers ability

as far as I am concerned without the correct equipment I would not be able to take the shots that I take, no matter what my skill level is

Let limit it to "I need a camera body as part of the equipment I use to take images" - which of the current Nikon bodies, new and used, over £1k suits the job in hand the best"
 
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BillN_33 said:
The thread is about equipment not my or any photographers ability

as far as I am concerned without the correct equipment I would not be able to take the shots that I take, no matter what my skill level is
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And there in lies the dilema Bill, if you and you alone are happy with the shots you take with the equipment you have then no amount of anyone telling you "this is best" or "that is best" will help you, sometimes you just have to go on gut insticct, what works for me might not work for you and vice versa, people can only relay to you their own experiences.

That said, The D750 is a belter of a camera though, but if you want the extra pixels for cropping then the D810 kicks the D800 into touch in every single aspect. (except pixels of course)
 
Gary Coyle said:
And there in lies the dilema Bill, if you and you alone are happy with the shots you take with the equipment you have then no amount of anyone telling you "this is best" or "that is best" will help you, sometimes you just have to go on gut insticct, what works for me might not work for you and vice versa, people can only relay to you their own experiences.

That said, The D750 is a belter of a camera though, but if you want the extra pixels for cropping then the D810 kicks the D800 into touch in every single aspect. (except pixels of course)
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Morning Gary, I agree, that's why I have stuck with the D300/D7100 so far and concentrated on other more important areas to seek improvements in my bird shots - but as I said in my opening post I would like to see better quality shots at high ISO values, for obvious reasons, (higher shutter speeds - more shots in bad light), without compromising the noise levels, particularly in shadows, dark areas and the bg, plus I would like to improve my chances of capturing more BIF shots so would like a better AF system, (than that of the D7100/D300)

On balance I think that the D750 is the way to go although I still like the DX opportunities of a 24mp sensors …….. and DX is what I am used to

It will also give me "some change" towards considering the new Nikon 300mm f4 PF
 
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Gary Coyle said:
Never, because it never focussed quick enough ;)

Seriously, while you might well get some decent pics, but the AF of the D800 is woeful compared to the D3, D3S, D4, D700, D750, D4S and any Canon equivilant
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The focusing on the D800 isn't no where near cameras you listed for sure my D3 is alot more reliable for focusing, but the D800 is still very capable focusing for most birds in flight, if you have a look on my flickr 99% of the images are taken by the D800 and most of my shots are BIF...
 
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Hi Bill

This may or may not help!

I have a
D3x - fast reliable focus but not ideal for wildlife at a distance as 24mp doesn't go far.

D800 - mine has never had 100% reliable focus. It's been back to Nikon and went from utterly unreliable to a bit vague. It sometimes needs written notice to focus. When it works it is stunning.

D810 - fast reliable focus, faster frame rate - turned the D800 into my ideal camera.

I could have traded the D800 against the D810 but it was worth sod all so my 80-400 lives on it and they're very happy together.

The D810 works superbly on my 600mm f4.

cheers, cw



 
BillN_33 said:
I should have added "on here" - but it was implicit I thought
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You asked a question , I answered, if you want to know more detail, then you should have specified originally.

So what, exactly would you like to know?

If Chris likes your post so much, then perhaps he could spare me the effort and answer for me.
 
fracster said:
You asked a question , I answered, if you want to know more detail, then you should have specified originally.

So what, exactly would you like to know?

If Chris likes your post so much, then perhaps he could spare me the effort and answer for me.
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It just made me chuckle Ade - you have been blessed with Olympic standard sarcasm.

This is another "what should I do?" thread and for once I thought I could offer something constructive.

cheers, cw
 
fracster said:
You asked a question , I answered, if you want to know more detail, then you should have specified originally.

So what, exactly would you like to know?

If Chris likes your post so much, then perhaps he could spare me the effort and answer for me.
Click to expand...

Whilst taking a few shots of an Anhinga rufa on holiday I met a man with one arm and one eye, he had lost his right arm and right eye in a fishing accident five years ago whilst out at sea on a Tuna boat. He had heard that the D750 was lightweight, very good in wet conditions, (his interests are Charadriiformes), and capable of producing eye popping images. In conversation he asked me if I knew anyone with a similar disability that had purchased a D750 in the UK as shooting with your left eye and left hand is a specialise skill that takes some effort, but, being an ex member of the SA Armed Forces he was quite resourceful and had adapted his shooting style to cope with his disability.

As this is quite an eclectic forum I thought that if I asked on here there may be someone who has experience of such and would be able to offer advice that I could pass on, a few images of the shooter in action would also help…………… this is such a simple request that I assumed that it was implicit in my posting.

I am sorry that I was not too clear in my original request but presumably you can now bring your considerable intellect and experience into play to help such a dedicated bird photographer.
 
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