Birding and Bird Photography

Immature red shouldered?

 

Loggerhead shrike: viscous little guys that impale their prey on spikes or fences and are pretty much tiny birds of prey

 

Red bellied

 

A very wet Red Shouldered (through a window via a 35 year old lens).

 

Nice capture!
I feel it’s pain….. lol

 

Hey everyone! New to the hobby and have found this thread helpful.

What is a good entry level camera set up. Budget probably around $500.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

Ever heard of B&H photo or Adroama photo in NYC both are reputable have reasonable prices good service/internet prescience and both have a great used camera section with good return policies.
You might get more bang out of your buck there, unless you find a steal on CL or a pawn shop…?
Now what to get…. Well personal preference and your application, like do I want high res (megapixel), changeable lens or new mirrorless… ect Changable lenes can change the application macro to portrait to .., …, landscapes,.. , wildlife.. then your $$$ spent should be focused there and upgrade bodies as they come within your budget. I know its a lot to think about but just have to ask yourself what I want to do with it and get out of it then see what fits into your budget..
Hope I didn’t lead you down a yellow brick road….hehe

 

A great website to soak in is:
https://www.kenrockwell.com/
He dose a great job of reviewing new and old models and is on point with his opinions. Good luck

 

Ok last one…

Or you can use your phone’s camera or a point and shoot camera and use a product like Phone Skope to attach to a spotting scope or binoculars and spend your $$$ on good glass there and come away with some great pics..

ok something to think about ​

 

Appreciate all the insight! Will definitely take a deeper dive on options.

 

flashback:
Behaviorism, a facet of some raptors is
“Kleptoparatism” here a senior juvenile BE captured a trout and everyone’s empty tummy wants some. The mature BE definitely makes its presence established but eventually some lucky juvenile runs off with it! Lol
Been waiting for the Osprey theft to occur but this just happened and I’m not complaining.

edit: Beautiful Wyoming

 

I started with a mini super zoom from Nikon , then Sony point and shoot because of good stabilization and worked up to a mirrorless Sony apsc with a zoom lens. Sony hx80 has a great 30x zoom with decent quality for the price in a pocket size. The interchangeable lens camera setups can be very pricy and complex for beginners so if you’re on a budget to start and don’t know if it’s a hobby you’ll like investing a lot of time and money in over the long haul yet I’d start smaller and work your way up over time. I’ve seen some people take amazing photos with a phone and other people take horrible photos with a setup costing 5k or more. There’s a lot of great cameras and brands and none of them are perfect but I’d start with a low to mid level point and shoot with a decent zoom. Start with the auto setting then experiment with different settings as you learn more.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/digital-cameras/point-shoot-cameras/abcat0401001.c?id=abcat0401001

 

Brown thrasher

 

Green heron

 

Black skimmers

 

Evening is coming out. The tree swallow flapping around. Can't get a goot pic.
These guys are causing a ruckus though

 

Tomorrow ill try to get better pics. Trying to sneak up on some blue birds...

 

Don’t look at me, I’m hideous!

-Baby Moorhen-

 

Motmot

 

Marabou stork