Digital Cameras for Bird Watching

Birds are notoriously difficult to great photos of. For avid bird watchers, are digital birding cameras the way to go?

Some photographers think so. Birds make difficult subjects because they are often spotted from quite a distance. In order to get a good quality shot, a lens capable of zooming must be used. However, it can be difficult to get a very close shot that looks crisp and clear when birds are often in almost constant motion. Digital birding cameras must not only be compact, lightweight, and able to withstand the elements but they must be able to zoom in without distortion and have a very quick shutter rate to capture quality photographs.

While a point and shoot camera will work well for capturing your children and household activities, it wont work for birding. If you are serious about capturing photographs of the birds you see, you will want to invest in one or more digital birding cameras that meet specific criteria. First, it is best to find a camera which is built to accept several different lenses. This will allow you to select the best lens for the type of photograph and subject you are photographing. Cameras should be well-built and as sturdy as possible. Digital cameras tend to be less durable than their film counterparts, but there are quality digital birding cameras which will hold up in outdoor conditions. While you want to make sure your camera is tough, size is also a consideration. The best digital birding camera is one that combines durability and compactness. In fact, many quality cameras are small enough to fit in the pocket of your pants or vest.

Make sure the digital birding camera you select has the ability to be set up to the specifications you need. You should be able to manually adjust the aperture. The aperture is basically where the lens opens. The diameter of the aperture is called the f-stop. You can become more familiar with these settings as you become more proficient with your camera, but you need to make sure that your camera allows you to set these yourself, rather than only having an auto setting. Adjusting these will allow the speed of your shutter to increase, which will let you take pictures much more quickly. You want the time that elapses from when you press the button to take the picture to when the camera actually takes it to be as small as possible. This will let you capture those birds who are in motion.

There are a few other things to look for when selecting a digital birding camera. Many cameras come with the ability to take rapid fire shots. You simply press the button once, and the camera will take multiple shots, one after the other. With a little practice, you can capture beautiful motion studies this way. Being able to adjust light settings is also crucial as you will not always be working in direct sunlight.

Although it may seem like common sense, perhaps the most important advice given to someone new to digital birding cameras is to be prepared. When going out into the field, bring plenty of spare batteries and memory cards. When you return home with your photographs, make sure you do a backup onto a disk or portable hard drive. Backing up your photographs is something that should be done each time you retrieve the photos from your camera so that you do not lose your shots if your computer should crash.

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