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If you are interested in wildlife photography, it’s all a pleasure to know that selecting a good camera becomes trickier for wildlife photography. It’s challenging to capture these animals’ beautiful movements and activities in a picture retaining the same reality and beauty. One just cannot be satisfied easily. It doesn’t matter much whether you are a professional photographer or doing it just for recreational stuff.
Keeping that in mind, we have a few suggestions for you regarding the cameras and features that you should consider while selecting the camera. We tried our best to keep the cameras as affordable and as best as it can get, even though we all know that outdoor cameras come a bit on the pricier side.
First let’s have a quick analysis of some good cameras and their interesting features:
Table of Contents
Best Affordable Cameras for Wildlife photography
Canon EOS Rebel T5i DSLR Camera
Now we have an affordable camera on the list. Probably the one you would admire. We are sure because we have seen people already using this camera for wildlife photography and Car racing. It can capture fast-moving objects. With this camera, you wouldn’t miss some best innocent activities of the adorable beasts.
Yes, 18 mp might sound a low resolution, but you can take a chance for yourself having tried it once when it works for others. The exclusive features make up the 30 fps frame rate ( 5 fps for the viewfinder and 60 fps for live view shoots ).
Further, you get an articulated LCD touchscreen and multiple manuals, and automatic settings. What makes it worth it is the good ISO with which even night captures will be very professional. It is affordable, lightweight, and comfortable to use even for a beginner. With that, if it’s not the best, it’s worth every penny you pay for it.
Pros:
- 18 mp sensor
- High Autofocus
- 30 fps frame rate
- High shutter speed
- Lightweight
- Comfortable grip
- Sturdy build
- Standard ISO
- Affordable
Cons:
- Lacks a few modern upgrades.
Canon EOS 80D
80D is the improved version of Canon. It’s a perfect day time shooting camera from Canon for Wildlife photographers. Usually, it isn’t easy to get affordable options for wildlife photography. But this one is entirely suitable for a budget-friendly option.
The camera is lightweight, and it has to be portable, for which it weighs 1.4 pounds. It is capable of taking detailed pictures with a 24 MP sensor.
The 45 Autofocus makes it easier for you to spot and focus on your subject from a distance. The ISO is a pretty standard one. And you can shoot with this camera at a 7 fps frame rate. The build is solid and sturdy. It allows a firm grip. The camera is waterproof and dustproof, which means minor weather changes are least to disturb you.
Pros:
- 24 mp sensor
- 45 Autofocus
- 7 fps frame rate
- Standardized ISO
- Lightweight
- Waterproof
- Dustproof
- Comfortable grip
- Solid build
Cons:
- ISO could be further improvised.
Nikon D7200
We all have witnessed now or before the outstanding instrumentation of Nikon cameras. Nikon is a brand known for its cameras, and it is excellent to introduce Nikon D7200 to the list. This camera is seriously a good one for taking wildlife pictures.
The best part of this camera is the APS-C Sensor and 24 mp resolution of the recording. It comes with a remote control facility where it allows you to connect it to your smartphone and then operate it from there. The camera comes with a 51 AF and 6 fps frame rate. You would be glad to know that the battery would last up to 1110 shots.
The inbuilt Wi-Fi connectivity lets you circulate your data well. That’s how the camera is going to work. And we can assure you that the camera beautifully allows you to capture nocturnal animals’ movement during the night time.
Pros:
- 24 mp sensor
- 51 Autofocus
- 6 fps frame rate
- Lightweight
- Dustproof
- Comfortable grip
- Solid build
Cons:
- Standard Image stabilization could be established.
Panasonic LUMIX GH5
We know the camera does not come with “All the Wow Modern Upgradations “, but what you get is an affordable camera with some perfect features to fulfill your purpose. Ultimately, we cannot deny the fact that photography is an art of the artist.
Even if you have some best-upgraded instruments, you cannot hit the target without that inner creativity! And if you have confidence in your skill, this camera will best suit you. Because this camera comes with a fast frame rate of 30 fps, 20 mp resolution, 225 AF, and most surprisingly, 4 k and 6 k video and image quality.
It comes with good enough Image stabilization. You can capture every graceful movement of the cute animals. A good ISO ensures perfect night captures too. What else you need, especially for the affordable amount you pay? The build is Weather-resistant, and it can tackle minor weather jerks. It comes with a Joystick control for the same purpose. Also, it does not produce much noise to disturb the flow of the actions of the animals.
Pros:
- 20a mp sensor
- 225 Autofocus
- 30 fps frame rate
- High shutter speed
- Joystick support
- 4 k / 6 k image quality
- Lightweight
- Comfortable grip
- Sturdy build
- Standard ISO
- Affordable
Cons:
- Lacks a few modern upgrades.
Sony Alpha 99
DSLR lovers are going to be overwhelmed with this camera. It has fantastic AF and settings. The camera is a beginner as well as professional friendly. It hardly unfits any hand. The camera is costly, to be honest, but that’s a personal choice of the purchaser. We may say that something from such a brand and highly equipped could be pricier.
The camera has an ISO range between 100 and 25600. Hence, you would fall in love with the camera when it takes some best nocturnal shots. The frame rate is 6 fps with a high shutter speed. The picture resolution is 24 mp.
And the best part is that the camera has a full-frame sensor. It comes with an SLT mirror design. The camera is weather-resistant, which means it’s very suitable for wildlife photography. The inbuilt GPS is the topping on the cake. Starting from connectivity options to recording features or battery life, everything will keep you happy about this camera.
Pros:
- 24 mp sensor
- High Autofocus
- 6 fps frame rate
- High shutter speed
- Lightweight
- Weather tolerant
- Comfortable grip
- Solid build
Cons:
- Could be more affordable for the features it provides
Sony A7 III
Keeping it short for this camera, this is a balanced camera. Everything is balanced and good for your photography. It is affordable and equipped with some required features for wildlife photography. The resolution is 24 mp, and it comes with a full-frame sensor. The battery wonderfully lasts 710 shots. It carries a 10 fps frame rate, standard ISO, 4 k or 6 k image quality, 4 k video, touchscreen settings, and for a premium touch, it is made a mirrorless camera. As you see, the image quality is sharp and precise; a fast shutter speed makes your camera all time ready for shots. 10 fps frame counts for an accelerated shoot and spontaneous clicks with details of objects in motion. The camera delivers clear images even in low light conditions.
Pros:
- 24 mp sensor
- High Autofocus
- 10 fps frame rate
- High shutter speed
- 4 k / 6 k image quality
- Lightweight
- Comfortable grip
- Nice build
- Standard ISO
- Affordable
Cons:
- Needs some practice to use.
Canon 7D Mark II
We remember this camera being reviewed as a good action camera by some users. The reason could be the sharp picture quality by the camera. It has a high Autofocus and 5 fps. With the shutter speed being high, the camera is always ready to use. The ISO ranges between 100 to 16000 and up to 51200. The resolution is 20 mp, and the camera weighs 1.3kg. The build is strong and sturdy, with the camera being weather tolerant. There are two drawbacks, one is the heavy weight, and the other one is probably the “noisy clicks”. A noisy camera can disturb the natural flow of animals in general. It might be a concern because Animals have better hearing power than humans.
Pros:
- 18 mp sensor
- High Autofocus
- 5 fps frame rate
- High shutter speed
- Comfortable grip
- Sturdy build
- Standard ISO
- Affordable
Cons:
- Lacks Wi-Fi connectivity.
With that being the list, let’s wrap it up for this article discussing some features that boost cameras’ performance, especially for wildlife photography. In case you want to look for a camera all by yourself, you may go through this guide and invest accordingly.
- Resolution: We cannot stress more than a high resolution is the most crucial feature for wildlife photography. You cannot always be close to dangerous targets. And hence, you need the best resolution to capture mini details of the targeted subject. Higher the megapixels, the closer you get to your target, even from a distance.
- ISO: let’s understand it in a better way. If you take a higher ISO, the camera would be better for taking day pictures. If you are interested in taking nocturnal shoots and capturing the animals’ bright night eyes, you should look for a low ISO range. You cannot choose separately for the low or high ISO. What you can instead do is that you can select a wide ISO range from low to high, and you will have a good all day long shoot.
- Zoom: Zooming and Cropping is a constant activity for a wildlife photographer. A good Optical and Digital zoom definitely marks a good camera.
- Frame rate or Speed: Let’s understand this with an example. Suppose you capture the flight of a bird. Would the bird wait for your camera to be ready and you to shout a “cheese”, it would pose for you? No. It will fly in a fraction of a second. So look for the fastest capture speed that you can afford. Go for a higher ‘fps’.
- AF: The Autofocus has to be good. Because again, no animal is going to pose for you. Your camera should have a brilliant AF that focuses even on objects in motion.
- Comfortable grip and solid build: Comfortable grip is again essential for you because you might get stuck in a situation where you are making haste. And you absolutely cannot afford to slip and to fall off your camera and to break it. That would be next to plan a suicide for your investment. Always invest in grip and build. Find what is comfortable and not just stylish.
Conclusion
Animals are innocent animals, and as a sane human, you love to captivate their innocence as it is. But to keep it simple for you, we have mostly added affordable cameras to the list. So if you are tired of the “civilization”, you may take some rest in the lap of nature for a while without investing much.
With these points in mind, you are good to go with your passion and profession of Wildlife Photography.
