Birdwatching Equipment

Equipment Required
While not necessarily required, it is a suggested practice to carry atleast a good paid of binoculars to ensure that you have a good experience. The equipment that we commonly used for birding includes binoculars, camera, a notepad, and one or more field guides.

Binoculars

Nothing else – except the birds themselves – is so important for good bird watching. You’ll see wildlife much closer, in more detail and you won’t scare it away.

On all binoculars, you’ll find two numbers with a cross between them: 8x30, 7x21, 8x40 are some examples. The first, lower number is the magnification, so an 8x pair will magnify eight times, or make things look eight times closer than without them.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the higher the number, the better the binoculars will be for bird watching. You won’t be able to hold steady anything above 10x at the very most, and 7x or 8x are better, especially if it’s windy. And ignore all variable-power (zoom) binoculars. They don’t let enough light in for bird watching.

The second number - x30, x21 or x40 in the examples - is the width of the largest lens(the lens in front), called the objective lens, in millimeters. So an 8x30 magnifies eight times and has an objective lens 30 mm in diameter. The larger the objective lens, the more light the binoculars let in and, usually, the more of any scene you have in view.

An ideal size for bird watching would be an 8x30 / 8x40 pair which will give you an ideal balance of magnification and brightness.

Camera
A bird watching camera is a wonderful tool used by bird lovers to gather beautiful and original photos of their beloved species. While some bird watchers prefer binoculars, there is nothing like a camera to capture those special moments that may be treasured for a lifetime. As technology advances from year to year so does your choice of a bird watching camera.

DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex)

If you’re searching for the ultimate image quality, the choice is easy: A DSLR is the way to go but no matter what DSLR body you have, the lens you use is the most important aspect of your camera. Ideally, a good startup lens should be atleast 300 mm on the tail end, preferably with Image Stabilization and atleast a minimum of 5 f stops. The lens you choose depends on your personal choice and comfort,

Super Zoom/Bridge Camera
An important factor to consider would be Portability.

When you need to crawl through bushes, scamper over rocks or click a picture in an awkward position at a certain distance, I would definitely not want to lug around a bag with 2 or 3 different lenses that along with being heavy and unwieldy, cost as much as a small car.

A bridge camera offers you the best of both worlds, its lightweight and the absence of different lenses makes it a very portable option. You get almost all the features of an entry level DSLR and sometimes more and its a lot cheaper as well.

While you may not get DSLR quality on your pictures due to the use of a smaller image sensor, the quality is still very good and more than adequate for birding.

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