Birding Tools of the Trade: Advanced

 

When heading out with just some binoculars and a birding app (as described in the first part of this series) frustrates you because you aren't able to identify some far-off birds, or they don't hold still long enough for you to get a good look, perhaps it is time to consider some more advanced equipment.  I'm talking spotting scopes and cameras!

Spotting Scopes

 

 Spotting scopes are essentially a portable telescope.  They have an upright image and are pretty simple to use.  A tripod is required to use one effectively.  Like binoculars, they have a magnification and a diameter as the two main specs.  Typically, a scope for birding will have a magnification in the range of 20X to 60X which is great for birds that are too far away to get a good look at with binoculars.  Diameters range from 50mm to about 100mm with 80mm being the most common size.

Some scopes have a straight viewfinder and others have an angled viewfinder.  I recommend the angled version for birdwatching.  It lets you use a smaller/lower tripod which tends to be more stable, and it is easier to view if you are looking at a bird up in a tree.  The straight models work best when looking at the horizon.

Some scopes have a fixed eyepiece that gives you a single magnification level.  Others have a zoom eyepiece that gives you a range of zoom, such as from 20x to 60x.  Still other models have replaceable eyepieces that let you select a particular eyepiece for the magnification you want.  For birding, I am satisfied with zoom eyepieces and have found that for practical use, 60X magnification is about the most you can use with an 80mm diameter scope.  At 60X the image is starting to get pretty dim and soft.  If you routinely need 60X or greater zoom, a fixed eyepiece and larger diameter scope would help improve the performance at these higher magnifications.  

For reference, here are some practice digiscoping images I took through my spotting scope with my cell phone camera.  The image on the left is of some mailboxes approximately 40m away with the scope eyepiece set to 20X zoom.  The image on the right is with the scope zoomed in to 60X magnification.  

As with binoculars, waterproofing is highly recommended so you don't have to worry about using your scope in the rain.  Another nice feature is a two-speed focus system.  This lets you have course control to quickly get the focus to an OK level and a fine control to dial the focus in more precisely.  

Also like binoculars, there is a wide range of pricing.  I believe there are some great performing, inexpensive scopes out there.  I used a cheap Bushnell 60mm scope with a 15x-45x zoom for many years.  I recently upgraded to this scope (commission link) which has excellent specs and is a great value, especially considering it has ED glass.  The mailbox images above were taken with this scope.

Given their size, weight and tripod requirements, carrying a scope when you are out hiking is a serious commitment.  They are more suited to birding close to your vehicle.  If you do plan to hike with a scope, I recommend getting a smaller scope and using a carbon fiber tripod to reduce weight.  Carbon fiber is also a must if you are going to use it in cold weather.  Aluminum tripods suck the heat out of your hands like they are made of ice.

Cameras 

I find photographs to be a huge help in learning to identify birds.  I spend a lot of time sitting in front of my computer with a guidebook studying and comparing photos from my birding excursions to identify what they are.  This sounds easy, but often it is still a challenge!  Unless you have field markings of every bird you are likely to encounter memorized, you are going to be stumped in the field.  Sometimes you only have a short time to view a bird.  If you can snap a photo of it, you have a much higher chance of making a positive identification when reviewing the photo.  This, also, is easier said than done.  It turns out getting a good photograph of a bird in the field can be a difficult challenge.  What follows is my experience-based advice on how to capture birds on film.  Or rather capture birds on bits, but "film" sounds better...

Types of Cameras

Not all cameras are suitable for shooting birds.  The camera on your cell phone IS NOT going to cut it.  Don't believe me?  Go ahead, give it a try.  I'll wait.  Unless you are taking a picture of a human-acclimated seagull that is close enough to steal your lunch,

 you won't have enough zoom or sensor resolution to get a useful photo of most birds.  (Note: this seagull photo was NOT taken with a cell phone camera) A cell phone isn't totally useless for photos, however.   See below on digiscoping.

A point and shoot camera is marginally better, but still not adequate.  Even if you have one with a decent zoom, it can struggle to focus on a bird when mixed in with tree branches and you end up with leaves in focus and a blurry bird.  So, what should you use?

DSLR

A DSLR is the top-of-the-line option for bird photography.  There are lots of good models from a handful of manufacturers and any of them will take great pictures.  I happen to use a Canon.  Mine is an older model 6D with a full-frame sensor.  I usually pair that with an image stabilized 100-400mm Canon lens.  There are better lenses out there (both faster and with longer focal lengths) but the 100-400 is a good compromise in size/weight/cost.  My 100-400 is an older model with a push-pull zoom that I really like for birds as it allows for quick movement between 100mm when locating a bird in the viewfinder and zooming in to 400mm to snap a shot.  

The downside is this lens isn't very fast, so I generally have to shoot at a higher ISO than I would prefer.  For this reason, I selected a full frame sensor camera instead of an APS-C sized sensor.  The larger pixels on the full frame sensor have lower noise than the smaller pixels on an APS-C so I prefer it.  Still, and APS-C sensor will work great as well and has some advantage in increasing the effective focal length of a given lens.

Bridge Camera

 

 I recently added a Sony RX10 IV to my stable of cameras.  This is a bridge camera which bridges the gap between point and shoot cameras and DSLRs.  It has a smaller sensor than DSLRs and a fixed lens like a point and shoot, but all the features and controls of a typical DSLR.  That fixed lens has a 8.8mm to 220mm zoom (24mm to 600mm in 35mm equivalent terms).  This is a tremendous range and a longer reach than my 6D with 400mm lens in a smaller and lighter package.  It has the ability to manually focus the lens to help sharply capture a bird jumping around in bushes and leaves.  The picture quality and sensor noise is nowhere near as good as the DSLR however.  I bought this camera to bring with me on birding walks where photography isn't my primary objective, and I don't want to carry the weight of a big DSLR and lens.  This camera takes good enough pictures for identifying birds when I run across something I can't ID or a rarity that I want to get proof of.

Mirrorless DSLR

I also have a mirrorless DSLR that I tried to use for birding, but I never really took to it.  I expect with the right camera and lens combo, this could work.  My combo didn't work great- it didn't have an easy manual focus, so any bird mixed in with leaves and bushes was nearly impossible to focus on.  Mirrorless DSLRs also drain batteries more quickly than a DSLR due to the constant LCD screen use and I found I had to change batteries at least once on any given outing.  There may be some options out that that last longer than my Sony Nex5n, so you shouldn't necessarily rule these out.  They have large sensors like a DSLR and can therefore have great image quality.  Paired with a long zoom lens that allows for manual focus, this could be a good setup that is smaller and lighter than a traditional DSLR and lens.

Lenses

The advantage of a DSLR or Mirrorless DSLR is that you can change the lens.  For most bird photography, a telephoto lens is required.  300mm focal length (in 35mm terms) is a good starting point and there are a number of affordable lenses that can reach 300mm.  Going longer than that starts to get more expensive pretty quickly.  Image stabilization (either in the lens or in the body) is pretty widespread these days and is a big help in getting sharp images at long focal lengths.  

Quick Tips

This post is already too long to get into details on how to use your camera to capture good bird pictures.  I'll try to tackle that in a future post.  Here are some quick tips to help you get started:

• Avoid blurry pictures by using a tripod if available.  If not, use a fast shutter speed
• Lock focus to the center point (which typically is the most sensitive) and aim that right at the bird.
• Learn to tweak focus manually and quickly.
• Practice.  Develop muscle memory of all the most used settings so you can quickly adjust your ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focus point, manual focus, exposure compensation, etc.  Sometimes you only get a fleeting glimpse of a bird and need to fire off a shot as quickly as you can.

Digiscoping

 

 I'll end with a few words on Digiscoping.  Digiscoping is taking a picture through the eyepiece of your spotting scope or binocular by holding a camera up to it.  There are adapters for many cameras and scopes that help hold a camera in place over the eyepiece.  Using a cell phone to take a picture through a spotting scope is a cost-effective way to zoom in on a bird without requiring a huge, expensive lens.  My personal experience with digiscoping is the picture quality is not great.  I'm no expert, however.  I have seen some digiscoped pictures that are incredibly good.  As with everything, it takes practice to get good.