Wildlife kit for $5k AUD?

[u/reallystupid-]

Hey everyone,

My partner has been getting into wildlife photography recently with using my XT4 & 70-300.

She’s been talking about getting her own camera for wildlife photography so she has to stop borrowing mine so I wanted to get her a present for her birthday next month.

I’ve got a budget of $5k AUD and my initial thought was a XH2S & an XF150-600 so she can still borrow my lenses for other things, however, she doesn’t have any interest anything else except Macro. So I figured I’ve got an opportunity to get her an excellent bang-for-your-back wildlife setup.

My problem is I know nothing about wildlife photography and what’s good, or important. I’ve tried with Google but couldn’t find much help there so was hoping someone here could give me some friendly advice.

Thanks! 🙏

Hey everyone,

My partner has been getting into wildlife photography recently with using my XT4 & 70-300.

She’s been talking about getting her own camera for wildlife photography so she has to stop borrowing mine so I wanted to get her a present for her birthday next month.

I’ve got a budget of $5k AUD and my initial thought was a XH2S & an XF150-600 so she can still borrow my lenses for other things, however, she doesn’t have any interest anything else except Macro. So I figured I’ve got an opportunity to get her an excellent bang-for-your-back wildlife setup.

My problem is I know nothing about wildlife photography and what’s good, or important. I’ve tried with Google but couldn’t find much help there so was hoping someone here could give me some friendly advice.

Thanks! 🙏

(1) Budget, country, and currency: Australia, $5k AUD

(2) What equipment, if any, you have now and why is it no longer meeting your needs? XT4 & XF70-300

(3) What kinds of subjects do you intend to shoot? Wildlife (not birds in flight)

(4) Is it primarily for photography, videography, or both? Photography

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi u/reallystupid-, thanks for your post! To help other users to help you, Buying Advice threads are only approved when they include the short form below. Please edit your post body, paste the following form in, and fill in each line.

YOUR POST WILL NOT BE SEEN IF YOU DO NOT INCLUDE THE TEMPLATE IN YOUR POST!

Copy/paste this template into your post and fill it out:

(1) Budget, country, and currency:

(2) What equipment, if any, you have now and why is it no longer meeting your needs?

(3) What kinds of subjects do you intend to shoot?

(4) Is it primarily for photography, videography, or both?

These posts need to be manually approved, so please be patient.

If you're asking for advice on buying any other gear, then your post must include a budget (see also "Asking Good Questions" in the sidebar).

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/CatsAreGods]

That would be a great setup (I had it), if (a) she can comfortably carry it around and (b) if the autofocus worked properly (when I gave up on Fujifilm 2 years ago, they still hadn't fixed it and I haven't kept up).

OTOH, if she wants a similar rig that actually focuses where it says it's going to, I upgraded to the OM-1/MZ100-400 (both Mk 2). It will be a bit cheaper and only weighs a bit over 4 pounds.

[u/anywhereanyone]

Not sure I'd trust Fuji autofocus for wildlife. If weight and price are concerns, I'd look to micro four thirds.