What is a good dslr for wildlife photograpy?

Question

i would like it to have a very high zoom 500mm+ that also has a high megapixel with any other perks for a price range of about £250-320 tipping it

Answer 1

Well, most any DSLR will work about the same for wildlife photography. The important part is going to be the lens: you're going to need a fast telephoto of about 300mm or more.

To find ANY good 500mm lens for 250 pounds would be amazing, not too mention getting a camera with that as well. There are very few 500mm lenses in production, and since they are all very difficult to make, they're all expensive. You could get a good 300mm for roughly 500 pounds.

I'm sorry, but what you're looking for - for that budget - just does not exist.

For you, I recommend getting a good Nikon or Canon starting DSLR (the D40 or D60 or the Xt or Xti) and - if you're set on wildlife - a good telephoto zoom that goes into the 300mm range to go along with that. You could invest in a teleconverter, and while it will degrade the quality of your lens, it will multiply the focal length to 500mm or 600mm. It will not be nearly as good as a real lens, but it's a lot less expensive.

Answer 2

As with any sports or wildlife photography, the camera you need to buy will be determined more by the availability of long lenses for the body than the brand itself.

Most wildlife photographers use prime lenses like the 400 mm f/2.8 and 600 mm f/4 .. they are much faster than zoom lenses in those focal length ranges and thus can be used to capture animals at dusk and dawn when they are more active.

As you do your research, you will find that even entry level DSLR cameras like the Nikon D40 and even a good used lens in those focal lengths are very expensive.  You seem to have picked a area of interest in photography that uses the most expensive photo gear.  You can get started with a camera like the D40 and a 70-300 mm zoom but in the end you will really have to plan on spending more like a few thousand pounds to get the shots you want.

You are correct in choosing a DSLR rather than a P&S.  Not only are the sensors up to 15 times smaller on P&S cameras, but they also suffer from shutter lag ... something that can be disastrous (missed shots) shooting wildlife

Answer 3

The Olympus SP-570 UZ with the 20x zoom and 10MP or Panasonic DMC-FZ18 w/ 18x zoom & 8MP are right up your alley.

If you go for the DSLR, just the body itself will consume all your budget. The 500mm lens will cost you a lot more, if you choose the brand name fast lens.