I still vividly remember the excitement of getting my first digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR). The freedom to take hundreds of images revolutionised my birding as well as my photography. Over the past 16 years, photography has become an indispens able part of my ornithological toolkit, giving novel insights into birds’ moult, diet and other behaviours, as well as improving my ID skills. Like many bird photographers, I have spent a small for tune investing in the steady increase in image resolution and frame rate in the quest for the perfect camera. After a week with the Canon R6, I feel as ex cited as when I got my first Canon D10.
In the early 2000s, the debate was whether digital would replace slide film. I have some useless slides from a stunning day on Tristan peak in 2004 because publishers at the time still favoured transparencies. How quickly things changed! The past few years have seen a similar revolution brewing – the switch from DSLRs to mirrorless cam eras. Mirrorless is nothing new – every pointandshoot camera is mirrorless. The disadvantage for bird photography has always been the lag between the sensor and the viewfinder. Until recently, you couldn’t hope to track a bird in flight with an electronic viewfinder (EVF). The mirror system in an SLR camera allowed you to literally see the image going to the sensor.
This story is from the March/April 2021 edition of African Birdlife.
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This story is from the March/April 2021 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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