Which body for ducks

[Bob Barnett]

I have grown up a duck hunter abd I have a great club in Stuttgart. However, I have pretty much traded my shotgun in for my canon. I have no desire to do anything but film them. I will be doing this during hunting type scenerios. Early morning, low light, damp, etc... The ducks will range from mallards to teal to wooducks flying through flooded timber.

I am leaning towards the 7D(had one ordered but deal fell through) but a good friend has great results with his 50D/100-400L. I will be using the Sigma 150-500 OS. I might want to get a quicker lens as well.

For all my needs, what setup do you recommend.

[Desmond Chan]

Either set-up will be fine. Usually ducks are not that difficult to photograph. You situations may differ though.

[Robert Hardy]

the 50d will do the job but the 7d would do it better morso if - quoteThe ducks will range from mallards to teal to wooducks flying through flooded timber .reason, you can ajust the tracking speed on the 7d to ignor the trees once you have good focus on the bird. but not on the 50d.
Rob.

[John Chardine]

Bob- Ducks are forgiving creatures, photographically speaking, that is if you can get near them. Ducks are generally big as birds go, so you can render details like eyes or feathers with lots of pixels, even with a 12 mp full-frame body. With a 7D you could potentially lay down a whole lot of pixels over detail which gives you high image quality potential and flexibility to crop and maintain detail if you need to.

Having said all this, bird photography is a pernicious disease (!) and you might soon be looking farther afield than just ducks for photographic targets. So what you ultimately obtain for a system should be able to handle different subjects. I have never owned the 7D but friends have it and love it. I had the 50D and I was very pleased with the results but it is "old" technology now and it would be perhaps good to wait for a replacement from Canon if you went this route.

[Robert Amoruso]

Bob,

Big problem with the 50D is in low light, high ISO is needed for adequate shutter speed and that is going to give you lots of noise especially in shade tones.

7D may be marginally better but not much - I own both.

In instances like this my 1D Mark III is what I would use. Even at ISO 800, noise is low. But of course more $$$ for the pro cameras. 5D Mark II is excellent at high ISO with low noise but AF is too sluggish for ducks and with a full frame sensor making a 500mm needed.

50D and some good noise reduction software may be the way to go.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Bob

I have both the 7D and Mk4 both work fine ! I find the 7D significantly better than the 50D in both noise and AF Probably use it more than the MK4 Noise wise you will not have a problem at 800 or more but will have to clean up the image, Noiseware seems to be the best now.


The 5DMK2 has a poor reputation as far as AF goes but I don't agree either, Fabs has one and the AF is responsive and just fine. I believe Arash also uses one with great results.

Bottom line is trying for yourself, rent the cameras and find out for yourself.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Great comments above, for the technology and money the 7D is a great price point - fantastic ROI. I own both the 7D & MKIV since this is your entry model go with the 7D and allocate other money towards lens, tripod, flash and workshops.

Ducks can be flying or somewhat static on land/water. The 7D and 400MM 5.6 or the new 70-200 II IS with a 1.4 would be a great rig IMO to start with.

[arash_hazeghi]

Bob,

Big problem with the 50D is in low light, high ISO is needed for adequate shutter speed and that is going to give you lots of noise especially in shade tones.

7D may be marginally better but not much - I own both.

In instances like this my 1D Mark III is what I would use. Even at ISO 800, noise is low. But of course more $$$ for the pro cameras. 5D Mark II is excellent at high ISO with low noise but AF is too sluggish for ducks and with a full frame sensor making a 500mm needed.

50D and some good noise reduction software may be the way to go.

Yes, 5DMKII AF too slughish for ducks!!! FYI, I sold my 7D and have been using 5DMKII for flight and only flight since January, excellent AF. only drawback is 3.9 fps. Would have not got the MKIV if 5d was 6fps or faster.

[Mike Fuhr]

Be on the lookout for that ivory-billed woodpecker!!!:)

[annmpacheco]

Bob, I am a baby at this equipment. Go with the 7D, I got mine this week w the 100-400 and I am so excited I haven't turned it on yet! I'm reading and holding on to the camera in the other hand. Looks like many of the others would suggest the 7D; just jump right in!

[Bill Coatney]

Bob
Hunted ducks for over 35 years from Canada down to Mexico and I'd be looking at a body that will give you good shutter speeds in low light like a MKIII or a MKIV and higher frame rates, especially if you are serious about woodies in flight in the timber. While the 100-400 might not be as fast as some would recommend, its versatility still makes it a good choice. I have a good friend that shoots for ESPN and his go to lens is a 300 f2.8 for his duck images but he shoots mostly rice fields and in pits.

I'm assuming that you are hunting the tall timber and a decent size hole. I don't know how much experience these folks have standing thigh deep in cold water and trying to track a mallard drake dropping through the canopy either with a 12ga or a camera but I can think of a lot of terms other than "not difficult or forgiving" :)

If you hunted the rice fields then the body choice would not be as important because the opportunities would be more like the images that are in this thread and would be more in keeping with the easy comments :)
Then again the flat light on the cloudy days that make the rice fields productive would fit into the same low light/high ISO conditions that the MKIII/IV are capable of and they also have the weather sealing a duck hunter can appreciate.

If you look at the majority of the DU magazine images, you'll see there aren't that many timber images and most of those that are tend to be after the shot or to show off the dogs retrieving.
The open marsh shots-- in good light are the norm and the difficulty level is different than in the timber.

The suggestion about renting before buying is a very good one and I would urge you to give it serious thought.

good luck and watchout for the beaver runs :D:D:D

[Bob Barnett]

Bob
Hunted ducks for over 35 years from Canada down to Mexico and I'd be looking at a body that will give you good shutter speeds in low light like a MKIII or a MKIV and higher frame rates, especially if you are serious about woodies in flight in the timber. While the 100-400 might not be as fast as some would recommend, its versatility still makes it a good choice. I have a good friend that shoots for ESPN and his go to lens is a 300 f2.8 for his duck images but he shoots mostly rice fields and in pits.

I'm assuming that you are hunting the tall timber and a decent size hole. I don't know how much experience these folks have standing thigh deep in cold water and trying to track a mallard drake dropping through the canopy either with a 12ga or a camera but I can think of a lot of terms other than "not difficult or forgiving" :)

If you hunted the rice fields then the body choice would not be as important because the opportunities would be more like the images that are in this thread and would be more in keeping with the easy comments :)
Then again the flat light on the cloudy days that make the rice fields productive would fit into the same low light/high ISO conditions that the MKIII/IV are capable of and they also have the weather sealing a duck hunter can appreciate.

If you look at the majority of the DU magazine images, you'll see there aren't that many timber images and most of those that are tend to be after the shot or to show off the dogs retrieving.
The open marsh shots-- in good light are the norm and the difficulty level is different than in the timber.

The suggestion about renting before buying is a very good one and I would urge you to give it serious thought.

good luck and watchout for the beaver runs :D:D:D

Bill great info. I have been hunting my whole life and still love it BUT I would just assume take pics most of the time. I hunt fields, timber, sloughs, etc.... But the big challenge is in the timber. Not good light, ducks weaving through the trees, and yes ice water up to your jewels! Its pretty challenging regardless of the size of the bird. You've given me a lot to think about.