Thread: Camera Options

I have been a photography hobbyist for longer than a shooter, here are my advice:

1. avoid long zoom all in one cameras unless you are absolutely sure of its limits and can accept it. wild life photography almost always involve insufficient lighting and these long zooms all have tiny sensors that do not get enough light.
2. for wildlife photos, All modern DSLRs (say, made since 2010) produce more or less than same image quality for the same sensor size (as in APS-C vs APS-C). in other words there has not been much improvement in IQ for about 6 years (only true for wildlife photos)
3. DSLRs still have the best battery life, best view finder, and the best AF speed, which are all quite important for wildlife shoots. Mirrorless system cameras (like Sony E and FE series, Fuji, Nikon 1 series) are good for other things, but not for wildlife.
4. there is no such thing as perfect balance of size and performance. some people can make do with 18-105, some people cannot accept its image quality. you cannot take other people's advice on this. I have been using a Canon 70-200 F4 IS, when I bought it it was 1900 new, it is now about 1400 new. To me I would not go lower in the image quality department. this lens is also quite light at about ~700g.
5. Currently I use a 4 years old Nikon D600, it is full frame and very good for my purposes. I have no telephoto lens in the moment. If I was to buy one today I will probably get the 300 F4 PF or the 200-500 F5.6.