What’s the best camera for wildlife photography? We look at some of the best DSLR choices on the market at the moment.
In this video, professional wildlife photographers Will Nicholls and Sam Rowley compare the Canon 1DX Mark II, Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 80D, as well as the Nikon D850, Nikon D500, and Nikon D7500.
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— KIT LIST —
Got your eye on some of the gear used in this video? You can find everything at the following (affiliate) links:
Canon 1DX Mark II:
Canon 5D Mark IV:
Canon 80D:
Nikon D850:
Nikon D500:
Nikon D7500:
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Canons lens selection is much wider with more specialized lenses. Also canon is generally less expensive than nikon. HOWEVER!!!!!!!! for wildlife where you cant get right in front of the animal, canons lenses loose so much MP. For example canons very popular 7D MK ii (20MP camera) with the 100-400mm mkii or 400mm 5.6 only give about 9 to no more than 15 perceived megapixels!! And in my opinion that's just not enough when cropping. I shall be switching to nikon as soon as my current set up sells.
Very good video!
Man this video was a letdown. Really lazy content. Ducks in the pond and cows? Wow!
So you went to Slimbridge and used the 1DX MKII to photograph static cows ?. Sorry but that is NOT demonstrating the capability of that camera!
5D is the king!!!
I’m using the Canon 5dsr and 1DX2 for wildlife. The 5dsr is amazing especially for animals that don’t move fast where you need more than 5fps. The 1DX2 frame rate, high ISO capability and never ending buffer are great to use and the build quality is top notch. For me as a Canon shooter they pair up great, but the Nikon 850 with battery grip seems like the perfect mix of both my Canons in one. High megapixel and high frame rate. If I was starting from scratch right now that’s the kit I’d go with.
80d? Why not 7d mk ii
ISO comparison is irrelevant unless you have actual incident light measured in absolutely candela. I have D800 and low light is pretty useless after iso 1200
I got the Sony gear Dump the mirror. There’s no going back.
Hello i need small help
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Any chance on a review of budget DSLRs for wildlife for those of us who cant afford the high end.
Where's Sony, Fuji, Olympus, …?
No issues with the D500, it's a beast, fast, with great dynamic range.
What camera do you think is overall better for wildlife. Nikon d500 or the nikon d810
these are dslr fan boys
Very clear: Canon 1DX Mark II with Canon 600mm 4.0 II. Or the Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm 4.0 FL. I can say that, we use both 🙂
Ok…so you have the 1DX Mk II but no D5…also D7500 is a baby D500 with 1 card slot
Hi Lads,
I own both a Nikon D850 and a D500 and it’s horses for courses. To be honest and at the price I don’t think you gave the D500 a fair crack of the whip for wild life. I photograph dog training on a regular basis and have posted close to 5,000 shots in the last year.
Please see….
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152398460@N04/albums
OK I am only putting them out at 2100×1500 pixels but the RAW files are much bigger if and when required.For this type of sports/animal work the higher frame rate and greater reach of the D500 DX format wins hand down over my D850. Not to mention the smaller and more manageable file size. Yes the D850 is the quality camera and my first choice for commercial work but give me the D500 every time for dog training.
Bob Bridges
My old Nikon D3s + Nikon 200-500 mm f5.6
Thinking to buy Nikon D7200
I use both Canon 7D MK2 and 5D MK4. Due to the image quality and high iso capability, the 5D 4 is my favourite. To be honest, I would prefer a compromise and still have the now discontinued 1.3 crop of the 1D series available. One thing I don't think you mentioned was the touch screen on the 5D4. The one on my mobile phone is terrible, so I was a bit put off when I read this was a feature of the 5D4. When I got the camera, I thought I would try it though and was instantly very impressed. Especially for wildlife, it makes it really easy to change settings without having to make much movement that might scare your subject.
Wildlife? Comparing of one shooting Canon and one on Nikon hmm
I use my Canon 70D for wildlife and the 5D Mk III for landscape and portrait work. Enjoyed the video.
Just because something is released later does not make it even close: Example. I own the 80D and 7D Mark II. I would never use the 80D for wildlife or sports if I have the 7D Mark II with me. Not does the 7D Mark II shoot at a rate of a shot every tenth of second it has a buffer to keep shooting whereas the 80D dies out quickly and only shoots at a shot every 7th of a second. In addition the 80D's focusing system is more primitive and does not offer the wide range of focusing options of the 7D Mark II. Very disappointed that homework was not done before throwing in the 80D without considering the far better for action shots of the 7D Mark II. Simple math will help. A bird, for example, flying at 40mph (a slow bird, Bald Eagles flying speed is 75-99 mph and that is far from the fastest, see https://youtu.be/MMsLVxcKh24 for perspective) is traveling at 58.67 feet per second. If it takes your camera longer to lock on to the bird with a less robust focusing system, shoots with less frames per second, and then dies out because the buffer is small you will lose out on many potentially great images.
It’s conceivable to me that they didn’t include the Nikon D5 in their review.
What about nikon d7200 ?
D500 & D750 for me. Love to see you guys do an "affordable" wildlife lens comparison. Usually shoot with the 300mm PF and 200-500mm Nikon lenses, but was blown away by the 100-400 Sigma I picked up recently. So much good glass about these days which you won't need a second mortgage for.
Unfortunately we never saw any shots of wildlife.
How big is the difference between Nikon D7500 and D500 in terms of high ISO capabilities? I am often shooting in forests so I struggle on low light. I am considering buying the D7500 and in time jumping to D850 but I would also consider D500 if the difference is big even though that would mean postponing the lens upgrade.