High Magnification Lenses Used In Bird Photography Require Special Care For Sharp Images

^{Note: This tip comes from pages 2-3 in Tobie Schalkwyk’s free eBook - Bird Photography: Keeping It Stable}

I’m quite confident that I do not need to convince anyone of the need to keep things stable for bird photography.

Those who need to hear this most urgently probably have high-zoom bridge cameras and (in general) take images for recreational purposes. Why? Because they will be in Auto or one of the semi-auto shooting modes and expect the camera to know what they’re up to.

What they do not realize, however, is that zooming in at a meager 20x optical zoom has the same effect as slapping a 560mm zoom lens onto a DSLR camera.

For those who do not know, a 500mm lens is one of those long, impressive lenses used by wildlife and bird photographers. It’s a relatively heavy lens and hardly ever used without a tripod or other stabilization means.

However, with a heavy 500mm or 600mm lens, the amount of camera shake is a direct function of the time you’ve been handholding it. It’s only a matter of time before the reciprocal rule goes out of the window!

Having said this, imagine how much more complex the problem becomes with a 65x optical zoom camera like the Canon SX70. A 65x adjustment of the lens on this camera will give you the 35mm equivalent of 1365mm! This is a lens beyond comprehension for a DSLR camera owner, and the problem described above just became magnified by a few times!

Do not fall for the false belief that owning a bridge camera excludes you from the same challenges as DSLR camera owners. In fact, these challenges are magnified due to the relatively lightweight (easier shake) and small sensor of your bridge camera.

Want more? If you want to learn more about bird photography, and capture beautiful shots of your own, we recommend downloading and printing out Photzy’s 10 Bird Photography Cheat Sheets (Special bonus available now!)