Canon Camera Gears Recommendations
Introduction
Our company, Nature ConneXion, offers guided tours in the province of New Brunswick, Canada.
We are avid birders and whale watchers. Our love for the outdoors, and connecting with nature gives us many opportunities to encounter vegetation and wildlife.
When nature becomes your passion you get out in all seasons, facing all conditions, at all times of the day or night.
Since conditions are not always favorable, it is essential to have an excellent camera with an equally excellent quality lens that lets you exceptional photos showing the finest of details such as tiny feathers.
Getting it right by choosing the right camera and gear that compliments it is a game changer, especially when trying to document that rare bird!
The Canon brand has been our number-one selection for more than thirty years.
We began with 35 mm cameras using many DLSR bodies including dozens of lenses and have now advanced to the newest mirrorless technology.
We are not experts on camera gear but we require top-notch equipment to document and identify birds and other wildlife.
We have tried other camera brands in the past but always go home to Canon at the end.
When it comes to quality versus price, Canon is the brand we recommend to all our clients.
Every nature observer uses different brands so it comes down to personal choice in the end but we can only recommend Canon based on our personal experience with the other brands. We are dedicated to the Canon brand as our number-one choice overall.
What we have learned
We were already using Canon products when we started birding years ago but we wanted to know which brand would better fit our needs for this new passion. We did the legwork and reviewed every product we could get our hands on.
When we looked at the more affordable brands, they too offered excellent quality, great service, and a warranty.
After weeks of personal research and trying different gear offered by our local camera stores, we concluded that Canon was indeed still offering the best quality/price, services, and warranty on the market.
Camera recommendations
Canon offers an excellent range of models. A few years ago, the talk around town was about the DLSR camera body models. However, the mirrorless bodies made their debut and took over the scene.
Sadly the DLSR will soon have the same tragic demise as the late 35 mm camera when the DLSR took its place on the market in the late 80s and early 90s. The Canon mirrorless has become the chosen one.
.I still remember those people shooting over my shoulder with their little point-and-shoot DLSR.
For this reason, we will focus our recommendations on the Canon mirrorless camera.
Canon offers 3 experience-level bodies, the beginner EOS M50 Mark II EF-M 15-45mm f3.5-6.3 IS STM which retails for great prices under $1,000 Nonetheless, our eyes are literally on a more experienced-level Canon camera without a fixed lens for our recommendation.
For the Intermediate experience Level, they offer the EOS R10 Body with a 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, shooting at 15 frames per secondes (FPS) mechanical shutter which retails for around $1,200 This is our recommended Canon camera for an entry-level body for casual amateur birders.
They also offer the EOS RP Body in the Intermediate experience level, We didn’t have the chance to compare them further but the full-frame sensor and the higher megapixels of 26.2 with 5 FPS Canon models retail for around $1200.
We highly recommend the advanced experience level and will make a comparison of 4 Canon products.
The top-of-the-line EOS R3 Body retails for around $8,000 having high image quality with a back-illuminated stacked 24.1 megapixels full-frame CMOS sensor, high-speed continuous shooting of up to 30 fps with electronic (silent) shutter and up to 12 fps with mechanical shutter.
Although a suitable Canon camera for amateur birding and nature photography it isn’t cost-effective.
Next in line would be the EOS R5 which retails for around $5,000. This camera has a new incredible 45-megapixel full-frame CMOS Sensor with 20fps in silent mode and 12 fps in shutter mode. Although the 45 megapixel is very impressive for shooting birds in the field it is not necessarily better.
The EOS R6 MARK II Body that retails for around $3,000 is the choice we made and still use and would recommend for the more advanced bird watchers and nature photographers this is our number one recommended Canon mirrorless model.
It handles well and the photographs are awesome-inspiring!
It features a 24.2 Megapixel full-frame like the EOS R3 Body, the same approximative 30 fps, on silence and 12 fps with shutter, and has the in-body Image Stabilizer with up to 8 stops of shake correction with coordinated control IS. This Canon camera has it all!
Finally, the EOS R7 Body which retails for around $2,000 would be our recommendation for any amateur nature photographer interested in the advanced features at a lower price. It has a High image quality 32.5 megapixels APS-C sized CMOS sensor, which lets you shoot a fast 15 fps with shutter and up to 30 fps in silent mode. It boasts 5-axis in-body image stabilization with auto-level technology and is compatible with a full range of Canon RF-S, RF, EF, and EF-S mounts.
Lenses Recommendations
Your lenses will probably cost you as much or more than the actual camera bodies.
For the Telephoto zoom lens options, we don’t have any strong recommendations since they are all under 400mm maximum zoom and for birding you want to stay as far from the subject as possible and at 400mm you have to get closer.
We would recommend a Super Telephoto lens, and there are 3 models offered by Canon, the high-end RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens that retails for close to $4,000 is great but hard to justify for amateur photography.
Personally, we use the RF 800mm F11 IS STM, It is very light which is a joy for hiking long distances to spot a rare bird! Using the RF 800mm F11 IS STM, Canon lens you can reach as far as an average spotting scope! In good light, it’s a joy to use for birds in flight on pelagics and whales in the ocean.
The F11 is not a big factor since you can actually get away with more in-focus subjects in your photos. It also has an optical stabilization with up to 4 stops of shake correction.
The only drawbacks are the fixed lens at 800mmm which means that you can’t take a photo of a subject less than 6 meters (20 feet) away and not good in low light with the fixed F11 factor.
The last option is similar to the RF800 but at 600mm, the RF600mm F11 IS STM retails for a little less at around $1,000 with the same F factor. It flaunts 5 stops of shake correction.
You should know that for under $200, you can get an EF-EOS R mount adapter that would allow you to use your DLSR lenses on a mirrorless body.
Some lenses could cost you over $10,000 but for amateur nature photographers, we wouldn’t recommend them.
Note: There are other 3rd party compatible lenses offered on the market but for our recommendations, we prefer Canon products.
Conclusion
It’s best to shop around, do research, and make comparisons because you need to know what feels right for you.
Do check out the Canon’s other gears.
We hope we could give you insight from our experience with these high-quality products.
Our recommendations are based on our own experiences in the field and on the water as avid birders, whale watchers, and all-around nature enthusiasts. Now go get Canon’s other gear and go make some Nature ConneXions!
We are very interested in your comments, questions, feedback, recommendations, and experience with your camera gear.
Let us know if this page helped you in making your choice!