As you might expect, this Component covers the most contentious subject matter and has been the most difficult to write – the internet is full of
conflicting advice on which photographic equipment to buy, so where do we start?
Always bear in mind that wildlife photography places special constraints on your choices – a good "general-purpose" camera is not necessarily a good
camera for wildlife. In this Component, I will draw your attention to the "wildlife-specific" issues that you should consider before making a
purchase. I cannot tell you which equipment to buy – I do not know your budget, or
what equipment is available at the time you are reading this. And even if I did, I do not know your personal constraints – if you plan to chase your
subjects through mud and water in all weather conditions, for instance, you will need equipment that is appropriately sturdy. But, I can equip you to look for the right things and to ask the right questions. That is the core
objective of this module.
Be aware also, that there are gems of information in this Component on how to use your equipment properly and effectively. This information is vitally important, irrespective of the equipment you will be using in the
field – make sure that you know it well.
When researching which equipment to buy, beware of outdated, or inappropriate advice. For instance, it is widely believed that lenses are
more important than cameras, and this is frequently stated on forums – "spend more money on lenses and less on cameras!"
Although this was sound advice in the early days of film, where a camera was not much more than a light-tight box for holding film, it does not apply in the digital age. Nowadays, your camera contains the image
sensor, and controls the autofocus – it is a vital part of the chain of equipment. The camera is an especially important component in wildlife
photography, which demands fast, accurate autofocus. This Component splits into three neat components:
Almost all wildlife photographers use a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) for their work, so that is what we will look at in this component. Although
many great wildlife photos have been taken on fixed-lens "point and shoot" cameras, DSLR's allow lenses to be changed and that is a big advantage in wildlife photography.
The picture on the left is of a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera,
with lens attached. The one on the right is the same camera, without any lens. Interchange ability of lenses is the main reason
why wildlife photographers use this type of camera. However, when the lens is removed, the delicate camera internals are exposed and they are susceptible to dust, so be very careful to
avoid dust and wind when changing lenses in the field.
Of the are many camera different manufacturers, Canon and Nikon dominate this market, largely because of the wide range of lenses that
they make for this type of work. You may consider purchasing from other camera manufacturers, by all means, but remember that they are much
smaller in the market than the abovementioned giants and tend to make "everyday" cameras, not specifically designed for our kind of work.
However, they may also represent better "value for money" through offering fewer features. That being said, be aware that most wildlife
photographers use either Canon or Nikon. Avoid getting into the debate of which brand of the two is better – Canon or Nikon. It is a heated debate, and one that yields very little benefit in the end. Both manufacturers are
in continual battle to hold top honours and they tend to leap-frog each other to achieve it.
When choosing a system, take time to speak to photographic outlets that specialise in wildlife photography – these people will understand your requirements far better than "general" dealers, and many will have
cameras that you can try out in the shop. Whether you choose to buy Canon, Nikon or another brand, the information provided below is intended
to be "generic". For the record, I personally use Canon equipment. I have either owned, or
used all of the cameras that Canon have made recently for this market segment, and the same goes for their specialised wildlife lenses. I have
also reviewed equipment for Canon, so I can speak from real field experience. I have an equal respect for Nikon equipment, and use it from time to time, but do not know it nearly as well as I know Canon. That is
not a slight on Nikon – I strongly believe that it is better to know one camera well, than to know different ones less well. The better you know
your equipment, the more likely you are to perform well in extreme conditions.
From this point onwards, I will use the abbreviation CN to refer to "both Canon and Nikon". CN typically make two ranges of DSLR cameras – one
aimed for studio use, and one aimed at sport, journalism and wildlife. The studio range of cameras tends to be slightly slower to use, but deliver better image quality. In wildlife, we need all the speed we can get, so we
prefer the range that is optimised for speed. Each range splits up into three further levels – "professional", "consumer" and an in-between range,
termed "prosumer". Consumer cameras are aimed at serious hobbyists, who are unlikely to use
their cameras heavily, but who demand good performance and image quality. These cameras are lighter, smaller, not as robust, and not
intended to see as heavy usage as the other ranges. They represent good value for money, and if your usage is light (less than about 5'000 photographs per year) and you will not use the camera in harsh conditions,
these cameras are a good option. They do not handle abuse well; they do not work as well as the other ranges when coupled to the most expensive
lenses and although they are capable of excellent image quality, they do not operate quite as fast – especially in low light – as the other ranges.
Some people like the small, lightweight construction of these cameras, while others find their feel to be "flimsy". Their "life-expectancy" is around
50'000 shutter actuations, and cameras in this range have many "automatic" settings to make picture-taking easy for the inexperienced
user. At the other end of the scale, the professional range represents the best
technology that the manufacturer has available, at an appropriate increase in price. This range is strongly built, designed for use in extreme weather
conditions and has a duty-cycle (life expectancy) of about 300'000 shutter actuations.
Besides the obvious drawback of price, these cameras are bigger and heavier than the other ranges – although the "bulk" feels fine when you first hold the camera, it can become a burden if you walk long distances
with your equipment. The ergonomics of these cameras is aimed at the professional, and there are no "automatic" settings for the inexperienced
user. The prosumer range fits between the other two and is intended to give
"professional performance" at "consumer prices". In essence, this range does not have the extremely rugged build quality of the professional
cameras, and this reduces the price substantially. On the other hand, these cameras offer better build quality than the consumer range, a higher life-expectancy (typically double) and more professional features. The
prosumer range is extremely popular amongst wildlife photographers.
This photograph shows three camera bodies in the Canon range
that are popular with wildlife photographers. All are shown without lenses, as most (but not all) lenses that fit one body will fit the others. The consumer camera on the left, is a small, lightweight
unit made of plastic. The prosumer camera is slightly larger, heavier and more rugged, while the professional camera is much
bigger (mostly due to its bigger battery) and more sturdy, with full weather-proofing.
Choose your camera based on its intended purpose – for light use, the
consumer range is fine, but the demanding user may find the professional camera to be best. Neither one is a good investment (cameras, computers and cell-phones never are), and their "value" is best measured in terms of
how much you use the equipment. My camera equipment is worth substantially more than my car, but I use it more.
At this point, I need to talk about one important consideration which applies to all DSLR cameras – sensor size. In the "olden days" of film
cameras, most cameras were designed to take "standard 35mm" film which was readily available at many shops. The picture taken by these
cameras measured 24mm by 36mm. Nobody wanted a camera that took pictures of any other size, because other sizes of film were hard to get.
When DSLR cameras were first made, it made sense to equip them with sensors that measured 24mm by 36mm, so that these cameras would be "direct equivalents" to their film counterparts – using the same lenses.
Digital cameras which use 24mm x 36mm sensors are termed "full frame" cameras, meaning that their picture area is fully the size of their film
predecessors. Because sensors are costly to produce, manufacturers quickly introduced a range of cameras with smaller sensors, at an appropriately lower cost.
These are termed "cropped sensors", and a camera with a "1.6 crop factor"
means that if the sensor was 1.6 times bigger (linear), then it would be full frame. It seems strange to measure sensor size in this way, but there is a very good reason for it, which we will see later. Right now, all you need to
know is that bigger sensors are more expensive to produce and – all other factors being equal – bigger sensors deliver better quality. Lenses
designed for full-frame cameras can be used with crop cameras, but some of the image produced by the lens is not recorded by the sensor. This is best explained visually.
The following diagram shows how different cameras with different image
sizes will see an image.
Black Full Frame
Red 1.3x Crop Factor
Yellow 1.5x Crop Factor
Green 1.6x Crop Factor
Make sure you understand this diagram – it is important in understanding the next point, which is a key concept. If you took this scene using a full-
frame sensor, you would get the picture bordered in black. If you used a camera with a 1.3 crop factor, taking the same picture from the same distance using the same lens, you would get the picture framed in red. A
1.5 crop factor would give you the picture bordered in yellow and so on.
Now here comes the important point – and explains why the crop factor is measured the way that it is:
Using a smaller sensor will effectively magnify the image, and the crop factor represents the degree of magnification.
If you like to understand theory, crop factor is an important concept in digital photography. If you are not a theorist, you do not need to
understand the explanation here – all you need to know is that if your camera has a crop factor of 1.5, then images will be magnified by 1.5
when compared to full-frame cameras. The reason this is important to us, is that in wildlife, your subjects are usually far away, so magnification is good. If the photographer next to you is shooting with a 300mm lens on a
full-frame camera, you can use a 200mm lens (which is smaller, cheaper and lighter) on a 1.5 crop camera to achieve exactly the same image in
There are a number things you should know about lenses. I will start with
the most important specification to the wildlife – focal length.
Focal Length Speaking simply, the focal length tells you how long a lens is, and the
longer a lens is, the greater the magnification it produces. Simply put, the focal length of your lens determines how big your subject looks in
the viewfinder. Saying the same thing again at a practical level: - if the animal looks too small in your viewfinder, you need a lens with longer focal length.
Broadly speaking, lenses are grouped into three categories, based on their
focal length –
Standard
wide-angle telephoto
A "standard" lens is one which has (roughly) the same field of view as the
human eye – this is the lens that most people want to use, because it "captures what you see with the eye". The actual length of a standard lens depends on the sensor side, as discussed in the last section, but it is
defined as the length of the diagonal of the sensor. So, for a full-frame sensor, which measures 24mm by 36mm, the diagonal is just over 43mm,
so the focal length of a standard lens for a full-frame camera is 43mm, which is rounded up to 50mm. A 1.6 crop factor camera has a sensor size of 15mm by 22.5mm. This gives a diagonal of 27mm. so a 27mm lens on
a 1.6 crop camera will produce an image with the same field of view as a 43mm lens on a full-frame. In reality, manufacturers only make lenses at
fixed intervals, so a 28mm lens on the crop camera would be roughly equivalent to the 50mm on the full-frame.
Lenses that have a shorter focal-length than a standard lens (termed "shorter" lenses) are referred to as wide-angle. They can see a wider field
of view than the human eye can see. They are popular in landscape photography, for photographing expanses, but are not of much use in wildlife photography, as you need to get very close to your subject to use
them, which is usually impossible or at least undesirable. For our purposes, we do not need to know anything about wide-angle lenses.
Lenses that are longer than standard – called long, long-focus or telephoto lenses are important to us, because they have a magnification factor,
which is usually desirable in wildlife photography.
The most frequently asked question about long-focus lenses is "which focal-length should I buy?"
There is no clear-cut answer to that question, because it depends upon the size of your subject and its distance. But, you should get in to the habit of
planning your picture at the time that you take it – not later when you process it. Ideally, the picture you see in the viewfinder should be exactly the picture that you show after you have processed it – that way, you are
maximising your picture quality. In reality – especially with wildlife – we end up enlarging a portion of the photo, and discarding the rest.
If you have to discard more than half of the area of your photograph during processing, that should be a matter of concern to you, as it
indicates bad shooting technique – use a longer lens, rather, and do less cropping in processing. It helps considerably if you train yourself to pick
the right length lens at the start of the job. Here are two tips that I find helpful –
Firstly, I "know" what picture a given lens will produce, and
Secondly, I can "calculate" what lens I need. When I hold my arm outstretched, with my thumb straight up, my thumb
roughly shows the height of the picture I will get with my 400mm lens on a full-frame camera. So, in just a second or two, I can visualise if the 400
lens is the one I want to use for the shot, allowing me to "know" what field of view to expect from the 400. If I am looking through the viewfinder of the camera, and the lens I have on is the "wrong" length for the shot that I
want, I try to "calculate" the lens that I want. If I want the subject to be three times the height that it is in the viewfinder, I need a lens that is
three times the focal length of the one that is on the camera. Let’s turn that theory into practice – please do this exercise with me,
because it is simple when you get the hang of it, and immensely useful in the field:
Look around you and choose an object – I can see a watering-can outside.
If that was an animal, what lens would I need to photograph it? I hold out my arm, thumb up and compare my thumb to the can. I imagine a viewfinder rectangle as high as my thumb, because that is what I would
see with a 400mm lens. Is the can taller than my thumb? If so, I need a lens shorter than 400mm. So, I imagine a thumb "twice as high", which
would be my view with a 200mm lens. Since my hand is about "two thumbs long", a "hand at arm's length" frames the view as seen with a 200mm lens.
Practice this, and you will get it quickly. But remember, this "rule of thumb" (literally) is for full-frame cameras, so you need to apply your crop factor. If a 400mm lens is "right" for a full-frame camera, you need
400/1.6 – about 300mm on a 1.6 crop camera.
One last point regarding lenses and their focal length; – the longer the focal length of a lens, the heavier it becomes, the more difficult it is to use and the more expensive it becomes.
After focal length, the next important descriptor of a lens is its aperture,
also known as its f/number. For instance, one might say "This lens is a 300mm f/4 lens, while that one is a 300mm f/5.6" and you would be
referring to two very different lenses, although they both produce the same magnification (as they are 300mm).
You probably know already that the aperture of a lens is a numeric setting that you can make to vary the brightness of an image – f/4 is twice as
bright as f/5.6, which is twice as bright as f/8. Apertures are variable, and you set aperture for each photograph, just as you set shutter speed, so why classify a lens by its aperture? The answer is that when used to
describe a lens, the f/number refers to the maximum aperture of the lens.
The context of "when used to describe a lens" is important, and when you appreciate it, statements like this make sense: "Please set the 400mm f/5.6 lens to f/8 and the 300mm f/4 lens to f/5.6". This request is exactly
the same as saying: "Please set both the 40mm lens and the 300mm lens to one stop smaller than maximum aperture".
The statement in bold print above would be more precise in this form:
"This lens has a focal length of 300mm and a maximum aperture of f/4, while that lens has a focal length of 300mm and a maximum aperture of
f/5.6". Both of these 300mm lenses could be set to f/8 (because it is smaller than its maximum aperture) and the two lenses would then
produce identical pictures (assuming all other optical properties of the two lenses are the same). Both could also be set to f/5.6. But only the first lens could be set to wider than f/5.6 – it could be set to f/4, which is twice
as bright.
The maximum aperture of a lens is an important parameter for a number of reasons: - first, it affects the diameter of the lens, its weight and its price. A 300mm f/4 lens will be roughly the same length as a 300mm
f/5.6 because both lenses are rated as 300mm long. But, the f/4 lens will be much wider in diameter – nearly 1.5 times as much, to give it one stop
of extra brightness. This means it has more glass, more weight and more expense.
The maximum aperture of a lens also affects how bright the image is in the viewfinder, because a lens is always kept at its widest aperture for
maximum brightness in the viewfinder and best focus – the aperture that you select only becomes effective at the time you press the shutter. Because wide aperture lenses are brighter, they tend to work better in low-
light situations. This is important to the wildlife photographer, as many animals are most active in low light.
Pictured above from left to right are three zoom lenses from Canon
- the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens, the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L Lens and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 Lens. The lens on the left is the
shortest focal length in the range, so it is also the shortest physically. The two white lenses have the same focal length, but the one on the right is physically bigger, as it is one f-stop brighter.
Zoom Lenses A fixed lens (also known as a prime lens) is one where the focal length
cannot change. By contrast, a zoom lens is one which has a variable focal length. A 100-400mm lens, for instance, is a lens whose focal length can be made to vary between the limits of 100mm and 400mm. The
adjustment us usually made by rotating a ring on the lens barrel, or sliding the barrel in and out. People often confuse telephoto lenses with zoom
This photograph shows three different orientations of the same
lens - a 24-105mm zoom lens. On the left, it is fully retracted, which corresponds to 24mm. In the middle, it is fully extended to 105mm, and on the right, it has a lens hood mounted, while in the
extended position.
The benefits of zoom lenses are obvious – their flexibility can be a great advantage. There are no real disadvantages of a zoom lens per se, except that a zoom lens is more complex to make than a fixed lens of the same
focal length, and will be a bit heavier and perhaps more expensive.
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques used to reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera during exposure. It is particularly
helpful in long lenses, which magnify not only an image, but any camera shake as well.
Canon was the first manufacturer to introduce the technique, so the name that they associated with the process – image stabilization – has also
become a generic term. Nikon call their version Vibration Reduction (VR). Both Canon and Nikon build their stabilization into the lens itself – when a
gyroscopic mechanism in the lens detects camera movement, it moves some internal optics in the opposite direction to counter the movement and
keep the image stable. Some other manufacturers have built image stabilization into the camera itself, and move the sensor to compensate for camera technique. These manufacturers are quick to point out the obvious
benefits of this approach – you buy the stabilization once and it works with all lenses. Canon and Nikon argue that by incorporating IS into each lens,
they can optimise its performance with that lens. Whichever system you prefer, the benefits of stabilization are unquestionable, and IS systems are less prone to the adverse effects of camera shake.
IS systems should be thought of as a parachute – to be deployed in an
emergency. A photographer who "relies" on IS to get a sharp photograph will develop sloppy technique which is never a good thing. However, a photographer with good technique will find that IS delivers good results in
extreme conditions – like low lighting situations. Although IS is a benefit in most situations, it is not appropriate in all pictures. For instance, if you
are panning your camera – purposefully following a moving subject in your viewfinder, then IS should be switched to "panning mode" or switched off completely.
One of the big steps in progressing from an "amateurish" wildlife photographer, to an exceptional one, is realising the importance of the
background in a photograph. Many top photographers will argue that the background is as important as the subject itself, and the remarkable thing is that this remains true even when the background is out of focus.
Bokeh (pronounced "okay" with a "b" in front of it) is a term used to
describe the "quality" of the out-of-focus region of a picture. Sometimes it can be harsh and distracting ("bad" bokeh) and sometimes it can be soft, "creamy" and pleasing on the eye. A "good" bokeh is rarely noticed by the
untrained eye, but watch out for it – it makes a huge difference to the subliminal impact of the photograph.
Bokeh is actually a characteristic of a lens design, and (you guessed it) the more expensive lenses tend to have better bokeh. Fixed focal length
lenses tend to have better bokeh than zooms, and out-of-focus regions far behind the subject tend to have better bokeh than regions closer to the
subject. Also, wide-aperture lenses give the experienced photographer a greater control over bokeh, as bokeh is linked to depth-of-field.
Train yourself to look at out-of-focus regions of a photograph and to appreciate bokeh – good wildlife photographers make extensive use of
carefully-planned out-of-focus backgrounds to give a photograph impact.
Now here is a picture which illustrates why many wildlife photographers (including myself) desire lenses with good bokeh. I
was walking quietly past a dam, when I heard a group of nestlings start chattering. The mother thick-billed weaver had just flown in to
feed them. The nest was deep in the reeds and I could not get a clean shot, so I chose a wide aperture for narrow depth of field and relied on the quality bokeh of my lens to render the out-of-focus reeds as
unobtrusive. Unfortunately, the photo did not quite work, as there were too many reeds, and some were in front of the mother. Notice,
however, that the out-of-focus areas have a soft, calm quality to them, which is particularly helpful when there are cluttered surroundings.
A filter is a precision cut, optically flat piece of processed glass in a protective metal surround. The surround is threaded and screws in
to the front of your lens. This diagram is an exploded view showing how a filter mounts to a lens.
When I started photography decades ago, I was taught to handle
equipment delicately and with the utmost respect. Optical equipment is made to the finest degrees of precision, and you can expect performance to degrade if those levels are not maintained. Furthermore, glass surfaces
do not wear, so lenses will deliver as-new performance over many years, if properly cared for.
That initial training has served me well over the years and I have experienced very little trouble from my well-maintained equipment.
Nowadays, consumer equipment is often made of plastic, and although it is extremely well engineered, it does not handle abuse well – like being
dropped, or accidentally sat on. Professional-grade equipment is made to a higher mechanical standard and will tolerate greater levels of physical pressure.
In particular, pro-equipment is weather-sealed and can work in rain
without failing. This is nice to know, if you get caught in the rain accidentally, but if you constantly subject your equipment to this treatment, it will require professional maintenance more frequently, and
that is expensive. An expensive, professional-grade lens of mine picked up some dust in its focusing mechanism recently, and had a gritty action
when I turned the focusing ring. Problems like this need to be caught early, as dust is immensely abrasive and will cause irreparable damage if the grinding is allowed to continue for too long. A service by the agents
returned my lens to its pristine original condition, but cost nearly 10% of the cost of a new lens, and it was a very expensive lens to start with.
So, rule number one is "keep your equipment from harm at all times and handle it gently".
The second rule is "Do not point your camera at the sun."
Doing so can cause irreparable damage to your equipment, in a matter of a few seconds. This is especially true when using long lenses, as we often
For this reason, it is a good idea to get into a good "working habit", like
a) when carrying your camera around your neck, always point the glass
downwards, to keep it away from the sun and out of the rain,
b) when carrying your equipment on a tripod, always point the lens down
c) when your camera is on the seat of the car next to you, throw a soft towel over it – besides keeping the sun off it, it will keep the dust off
it too.
Rule number three is to avoid dust. That is impossible, of course, but you should remember that dust is your number-one enemy out in the field – it
is extremely abrasive and damaging to your equipment.
Different filters are made for different purposes, but in wildlife photography, we use filters mainly to protect the lens - the
coloured filters designed for creative photography are not of relevance to us. Filters are made in different diameters, and you need to purchase the diameter that matches the diameter of your
lens. You do not need to purchase a filter from the same manufacturer who made your lens - it is usual to purchase a filter
from a manufacturer who specialises in filters, like Tiffen, Cokin or B+W. Filters differ widely in quality and hence price. The telephoto lenses typically used in wildlife photography usually
require good filters in order not to distort your image. Most manufacturers have a professional range, which represents their
Try and keep the front element of your lens clean at all times. It is true that a few specs of dust on, or in a lens will not degrade the performance measurably, but a very dirty lens will. This is especially noticeable when
shooting into the light, where dirt tends to cause flare. Personally, I try not to clean my lens out in the field, as the conditions are usually less than
ideal. So, I start off the day with a clean lens, and if it picks up debris during the day, I clean it off at night when I get back to base.
The way that you clean a lens depends on the dirt that it picks up – dust, oily grime and water marks all require different techniques to clean.
Dust is the biggest killer of photographic equipment, as it is both hard and abrasive. Never ever rub a lens with a cloth or lens pen if either have dust
on them. The grains of sand in dust are stronger than steel and will scratch the lens – the finer the particles, the easier it will be to scratch the
lens. If a lens has any dust on it, use a lens brush, suitable compressed gas or soft cloth in a gentle, lifting action to remove all traces of dust.
Oily grime needs a solvent to remove it – never use methylated spirits, or any other alcohol with additives in it, as these additives will stick to the
lens. Avoid harsh solvents, like nail polish remover, as these will almost certainly attack the plastics. A reputable lens-cleaning solution is best. Do not rub the cleaner on to the lens, rather wipe it on gently. If the solution
leaves "drying marks" on the lens, take these off with a lens pen, which is a custom-built cleaning tool. A lens pen is also good for removing drying
marks left from rain or mist. Ocean spray leaves a salty film on the lens. First, wipe off the salt using a wet cotton swab to dissolve the salt and finish the dry lens with a lens pen. Use distilled water when possible, and
grit-free cotton wool (bought as surgical cotton wool). Do not use pressure when cleaning.
One sure way to keep the front element of your lens clean is to protect it with a suitable filter, like a "haze" or a "UV" filter. This is merely a disk of
optical-grade glass that screws in front of the lens. It protects the lens from dirt and flying gravel. I like the idea of filters and never use my
lenses without one – if a filter becomes scratched or damaged, simply replace it, which is much cheaper than replacing the lens. However, to
present a balanced viewpoint, some photographers strongly oppose the use of filters, arguing that they can only degrade image quality.
Personally, I get excellent results when using filters and feel that their benefits outweigh the disadvantages. I always use good filters from
reputable makers, and on my expensive lenses, I use professional grade filters. They cost two to three times the price of standard grade filters.
One last point: - lenses of wide diameter do not support filters. Filters can only be made in diameters of up to about 80mm – beyond that, the thin,
flat glass that is used to make them becomes too fragile and vulnerable.
Although it is common to buy a lens that is made by the same company that makes your camera, third-party vendors also make lenses that will fit.
You cannot couple a Nikon lens to a Canon camera, because it has a different lens mounting. Even if you use an adapter, the autofocus
mechanism would not work and neither would the image stabilisation. This is because each manufacturer uses their own, proprietary system.
Some lens manufacturers, like Sigma, Tamron and Tokina, specialise in making lenses to fit cameras made by major manufacturers, so you can
buy, for instance, a certain Sigma lens for a Canon, or Nikon or another brand. You might consider purchasing a third-party lens for any one of a
number of reasons: for instance, the third-party manufacturer may make a lens that your manufacturer does not – for instance, Sigma make a 50-500mm zoom that is popular amongst wildlife photographers, while most
camera manufacturers do not make a zoom that quite covers this range.
Third party lenses may also better value for money than proprietary optics. But, there may be downsides to buying third-party goods: their autofocus and image stabilization might not work as well as proprietary lenses, and
their build quality is often inferior. However, third-party lenses are an attractive alternative to many buyers, and you should consider them.
Which Lens is Best? The two most frequently asked questions in this specialisation are: "Which
lens is best for Wildlife Photography?" or "Which lens should I buy?", so I will consider these issues under a heading devoted to the topic. I cannot
answer the question, of course, any more than I can tell you which vehicle to buy, as I do not know your needs, your budget or your enthusiasm. But, I can offer some helpful advice.
The first thing to realise is that there is no "ideal lens for wildlife
photography" – the lens that you would use to photograph an elephant at close range is very different to the one that you would use to photograph one in the distance, and the lens you would use to photograph
an elephant an one distance is quite different to the lens you would use to photograph a hare at the same distance.
So, narrow your search by choosing a focal length first. A lens in the range of 70-300 mm is extremely popular for wildlife. Longer lenses are
more suitable for birds and smaller animals, but beyond 300 mm, lens prices start to rise rapidly. Next, choose the aperture that suits you –
wider is better, as wide lenses are bright lenses which can be used in lower light and are more versatile. But, wide lenses are more expensive, cumbersome and heavier, so they may not be the best choice for you,
