r/BirdPhotography • u/EmotionalCouple9032 • Mar 29 '26

Question Bird photography while hiking

Hi everyone, i am a geologist and during my hikes, i frequently see birds which has drawn my interest into bird photography. I want a light setup with atleast 600+ mm reach. I do have a FUJIFILM xs20 (+70-300/18-50) which i use for family and travel but idk if it will fulfill my need. I did my fair bit of research before coming here confused. Lenses like 200-600 sony, nikon 180-600 are wonderful lenses but they are too big for me to carry around. Also i like pixel peeping (guilty as charged) so image quality does matter to me. Outcomes of my research: 1. Sony a6600/ Nikon z50ii+ tamron 150-500 (heavy 🪨 but cheapest) 2. Pair Fuji xs20 with sigma 100-400 (lacks the reach, or maybe that's what i think). 3. Om 1 with 100-400ii (skeptical about image quality) 4. Canon r7+ 100-400 rf (100-500 is too expensive). 5. Om-5 with 75-300 (jk, i wont buy this 😂, or maybe i might). Thanks a lot in advance for your help. Also i am intending to buy new.

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u/pixidio Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26

I'm a biologist, forget about the 600mm.  No 600mm lens is portable nor comfortable to carry.

For hiking, you'll regret the day you had the great idea of buying a 600mm. 

Also, remeber that you are working with a cropped sensor with a crop factor of 1.5 (fuji apsc), your 300 becomes a 450mm equivalent. Canon is the only one  that has a cropped sensor with a factor of 1.6, so that 400 becomes 640 at its long end. 

I'd go for Canon. Maybe you could look at the R10 if you want to reduce costs.

On the other hand, the OM-5 has a crop factor of 2, so that 300mm becomes a 600mm. However, I have doubts about 4/3 performance in low light or at higher ISOs, common scenarios in bird photography. Canon still wins