The Buyers guide to...Best cameras for bird photography

It’s pricier than anything else on this list, but the Canon EOS R3 looks set to be one of the best cameras for bird photography you can buy. The R5 and R6 were significant introductions for Canon last year, but the R3 takes things up a notch with the ability to shoot at 30fps, a new Eye Control AF method of AF point selection and excellent AF tracking.

The 24.1MP full-frame backside-illuminated stacked CMOS sensor inside the Canon EOS R3 has been developed by Canon and is paired with the Digic X processing engine that is also found in the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III, R5 and R6.

This sensor and processor combination enables a native sensitivity range of ISO 100-102,400, with expansion options taking the available settings to ISO 50-204,800. In addition, the Canon R3 starts up in just 0.4sec and the shutter lag is just 20ms, but the latter can be extended if it needs to match with another (slower) camera for some reason.

When the mechanical shutter is in use, the Canon R3 can shoot with a shutter speed range of 30-1/8,000 sec, but when the electronic shutter is in use the range extends to 30-1/64,000 sec. It will be very interesting to see the results with fast-moving subjects when the electronic shutter is in action to see if Canon’s clips about rolling shutter are borne out.

It’s also possible to shoot raw or Jpeg files at up to 30fps with full exposure metering and autofocus (AF) tracking when the electronic shutter is selected. That’s perfect for bird photographers who need to capture split-second moments silently.

What’s more, the R3 is the fastest-focusing R-series camera to date at just 0.03 sec, and it can focus in conditions as dim as -7.5 EV.

Read our Canon EOS R3 Review

Another powerhouse camera for bird photography, the Nikon Z9 is expensive, but it offers everything you need from a camera and put it into a compact (yet twin-gripped) weather-sealed body. A resolution of 45.7Mp promises to capture a high level of detail without over-stretching the camera’s noise control.

There’s also 20fps full-resolution shooting for raw files, 30fps for Jpegs and 120fps shooting at 11Mp, paired with what looks like an excellent AF system. Like the Z7 II, there are 493 AF points but there are 405 Auto-area AF points, which is five times more than the Z7 II has.

The Z9 also draws on deep-learning artificial intelligence (AI) to enable simultaneous detection of up to nine different types of subject including people (eyes, faces, head and upper body), animals (whole bodies and heads and eyes for cats, dogs, birds and ‘other animals’) and vehicles (cars, motorbikes, ‘planes and trains). The subject tracking can also be customised to suit your subject.

This is truly a camera that’s designed to get fast-paced action sharp as well as capturing fine-details.

Read our Nikon Z9 Review

The OM-D E-M1X is a doubled-gripped mirrorless camera. It uses Olympus’s Pro Capture mode for shooting stills of very fast action. Thanks to the dual processors, there’s also no blackout in the viewfinder when this is in action.

In Pro Capture High mode, the shooting rate is 60fps, but the focusing is fixed at the start of the sequence. Switch to Pro Capture Low, and you can shoot at 18fps with continuous focusing.

Pro Capture mode is designed to help you record fleeting moments that are easily missed. To that end, when it’s activated the camera starts writing images to the buffer as soon as the shutter release is half-pressed. Once the shutter button is pressed fully, the 35 images that were buffered immediately before it was pressed are recorded along with 100 from immediately after.

There’s also a standard sequential shooting mode that uses the mechanical shutter. When this is in action, the maximum shooting rate in single AF mode is 15fps for 143 raw files. In continuous autofocus mode, the maximum is 10fps for 283 raw files.

A High Res Shot mode also delivers larger and more detailed images. The 50Mp Handheld mode captures the images quickly but then takes a little longer to render the final shot than the Tripod mode. Comparing the results with standard images reveals a nice jump in the level of detail.

Similarly, the 80Mp tripod mode delivers impressive results. It gives a significant boost to the size of print that you can make. That compositing also has a beneficial effect on the dynamic range as there’s more detail visible (and extractable) from the shadows.

Read our Olympus OM-D E-M1X Review

The Panasonic Lumix G9 is Panasonic’s flagship Micro Four Thirds stills-camera and it sits alongside the GH5 at the top of the company’s G-series interchangeable lens camera line-up.

Like the GH5, the G9 is a mirrorless camera with a Four Thirds Type sensor and a Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Panasonic says the camera is aimed at enthusiast outdoor and wildlife photographers.

While the GH5 is largely known as a video camera, it’s also a very capable stills camera. The fact that the Panasonic Lumix G9 has the same sensor and processing engine, but has been tuned for stills rather than video is, therefore, good news for photographers. It also feels like a high-quality camera, being light yet sturdy with a good-sized grip while the touch-control is accompanied by a healthy array of physical controls.

The G9 has the same 20.3Mp sensor and Venus 10 processing engine as the GH5. However, Panasonic tells us the G9’s sensor and processor have been tuned very differently to suit the G9’s stills-shooting focus. To boost detail resolution, the sensor also has no optical low-pass filter.

While 20Mp images will suffice for many situations, the G9 also has a High Resolution mode that enables 80-megapixel images to be created in JPEG and raw formats in-camera. In this mode the camera takes a sequence of 8 images in quick succession, shifting the sensor a little between each shot. These images are then merged to create a single larger image with more detail.

This is a tripod-only mode and it takes approximately 4 seconds to process the image – that’s about half the time that the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II takes in its Pixel Shift mode.

Panasonic has also given the G9 a very high-quality electronic viewfinder, an articulating touch-screen and a blistering continuous shooting rate. Further good news is that the AF system can keep up with the frame rate so you can shoot sport and action.

• Read our full Panasonic G9 review

The Nikon Z6 and Z7 are great, but not all photographers want a full-frame camera. The Nikon Z50 offers that alternative for Nikon users wanting a mirrorless camera, and it has plenty to offer experienced photographers thanks to a solid build and a comprehensive feature set.

Its autofocus system is excellent and is capable of capturing fast-moving subjects in pin-sharp focus, even in gloomy conditions. Further good news is that the Z50 has both Subject Tracking and Eye AF modes. Eye AF is a must-have feature at the moment and it’s incredibly useful for portraits and social event photography.

Subject Tracking works in Auto-area AF mode and it’s useful for subjects that move erratically. Pressing the OK button in Auto-area AF mode activates a tracking point which is visible on the screen and in the viewfinder.

You then position this box over the subject and press the OK button again to start the tracking. As the subject moves, the Z50 tracks it around the frame, keeping it sharp in Continuous AF mode.

Inside the Nikon Z50 is a new 20.88Mp APS-C format sensor which is paired with the Expeed 6 processing engine. Together, these enable a native sensitivity range for stills of ISO 100-51,200 with expansion settings going all the way up to ISO 204,800. Meanwhile, the video range is ISO 100-25,600.

Thanks to the Expeed 6 processing engine, the Z50 can shoot at up to 11 frames per second with continuous autofocusing and exposure metering. This rate is achieved in Continuous High Plus mode while the maximum rate in Continuous High mode is 5fps.

The Nikon Z50 also delivers great video, capturing 4K at 30fps and Full HD at a range of frame rates.

Find the best deals on the Nikon Z50 at Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Read our Nikon Z50 Review: updated for Vlogging

The popular EOS R6 combines the speed of the Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the full-frame sensor appeal of the Canon EOS 6D Mark II in a mirrorless body.

The Canon EOS R6 has a Dual Pixel CMOS AF II sensor and claims an autofocus speed of just 0.05sec. The whole sensor is covered with 6.072 AF points, all of which are available for selection. There’s also face, eye and animal AF tracking available, which combined with the 12fps (frame per second) maximum continuous shooting rate with the mechanical shutter and 20fps maximum shooting rate with the electronic shutter, is likely to appeal to keen wildlife, sport and action photographers.

What’s more, the EOS R6 is a low-light supremo. Its AF system can function at down to -6.5EV, which is incredibly low. Shooting in dim conditions can also necessitate slow shutter speeds, but that’s OK because the Canon R6 has 5-axis in-body image stabilisation built-in. This works in harmony with the stabilisation in Canon’s IS lenses (except the RF 600MM F11 IS STM or RF 800MM F11 IS STM) and is claimed to offer up to 8 stops of shutter speed compensation. That’s a new high for the photographic industry.

Really, the R6 autofocus system is nothing short of amazing. It transforms photographing wildlife, people and pets.

Read our Canon EOS R6 Review