Kit guide
A wildlife photography kit
Birds and animals keep their distance, so reach comes first. Here is the longest-reaching zoom under 2.2 kg for each system, what it frames at 30 metres and what it weighs with the camera.
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Canon RF
2,425 g ready to shoot
Canon EOS R50 + Canon RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM
800 mm, frames like 1,280 mm · 2,425 g with the camera · 95 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the RF-S18-45mm F4.5-6.3 IS STM, 130 g more; the bag then weighs 2,555 g.
Sony E
2,503 g ready to shoot
Sony a6400 + Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports
600 mm, frames like 900 mm · 2,503 g with the camera · 95 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 OSS II, 107 g more; the bag then weighs 2,610 g.
Nikon Z
2,690 g ready to shoot
Nikon Z50II + Nikon NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR
600 mm, frames like 900 mm · 2,690 g with the camera · 95 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR, 135 g more; the bag then weighs 2,825 g.
Fujifilm X
2,043 g ready to shoot
Fujifilm X-T50 + Fujifilm XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR
600 mm, frames like 900 mm · 2,043 g with the camera · 82 mm filter
Drawn beside it: the XF16-50mmF2.8-4.8 R LM WR, 240 g more; the bag then weighs 2,283 g.
Reach in numbers
The rule is reach first: the longest zoom on each mount that stays under 2.2 kg. At its long end each one frames this much of the scene 30 metres away, about the distance of a heron across a pond:
- Canon EOS R50 with the RF200-800mm F6.3-9 IS USM: 1,280 mm equivalent, a frame 0.8 × 0.6 m at 30 m; 2,050 g, 2,425 g with the camera
- Sony a6400 with the 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports: 900 mm equivalent, a frame 1.2 × 0.8 m at 30 m; 2,100 g, 2,503 g with the camera
- Nikon Z50II with the NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR: 900 mm equivalent, a frame 1.2 × 0.8 m at 30 m; 2,140 g, 2,690 g with the camera
- Fujifilm X-T50 with the XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR: 900 mm equivalent, a frame 1.2 × 0.8 m at 30 m; 1,605 g, 2,043 g with the camera
A heron or a fox, about a metre long, fills that frame; a songbird 15 cm long fills only about a sixth to an eighth of its width, so for small birds you get closer.
Carrying the weight
Every one of these lenses weighs more than three times the camera, so the weight sits in front: hold the lens from below, and put the lens's tripod foot, not the camera, on a monopod or tripod. For a lighter bag, the telephoto starter kit picks the lightest zoom that reaches 300 mm equivalent.
Light and shutter speed
At the long end these zooms are f/6.3 to f/9, so in shade or at dawn the camera raises the ISO. A perched bird is usually sharp at 1/500 s; one in flight needs 1/1000 s or faster, whatever the stabilisation, which only steadies your hands. The kit zoom stays in the bag for the landscape around the animal.
Build your own kit · Lenses by subject
Facts from the makers' specification pages. How we check