Need suggestions for a good DSLR for wildlife photography?

-i hunt birds mostly and when the freezer gets filled up, i still want to go hunting. im not going to kill more than i can eat, so i figured i would just shoot them....(is camera humor embraced here?) i will be photographing mostly pheasants, quail, ducks and geese. in flight and on the ground/water.



so i figure these are my needs.

something with no trigger delay.

something that handles motion really well. those birds are fast.

and something even an idiot could use. because i am your garden variety idiot when it comes to cameras.



Also what power lense would you suggest? most pictures would be taken between 5 and 30 yards with an expansive open background. either water, sky or grasslands. the best opportunities occur at dawn and dusk when the light is low, what considerations do i take into account for low light?

i know i am asking too much here, but can i find something that will fit my needs for around 300 bucks? even used?All cameras have a shutter delay though it's a lot less on a DSLR than it is on a compact.



Birds in flight are always a problem, auto focus, even the fastest, does not always get it right, it's just a likely to focus on the background as the bird, and whilst it's focusing it won't let the shutter release (by default) so the bird has passed before the shutter trips (with or without burst fire), you'll get a lot of images of birds backsides LOL.



The maximum aperture of the lens (lowest f number) becomes important when there's not much light because if the camera can't see the edges clearly it can't focus on them quickly, so wide aperture long lenses are what you need which will cost you more than your camera, 3 or 4 times more than your budget even second hand!



You can use manual focus and preset the focus on the lens, but then you need to know how far away the birds are going to be, and/or you can use a smaller aperture to get more depth of field (look it up), but then shutter times will be slower which means camera shake and subject movement becomes a problem. Longer focal length lenses also magnify camera and subject movement, round and around it goes. These are the compromises a photographer is working out in their head before they even get the camera out of the bag, photography is often all about compromises, there's more to it than meets the eye, even photographers who have all the gear and practised will only get a 20% success rate at best.



ChrisThe DSLR is not what is most important for wildlife photography, it is the lens.



The lens that comes with the camera has far too little of a magnification for the bird to be framed well in the photo.



For 300 bucks your not even going to be able to get an entry-level one anyway, they start at 500+$.



I heard something about digiscoping though, not sure if its a cheaper alternative but it looks interesting.
Go to your local photography store and ask them to show you what they have. To give you a good recommendation, I'd need to ask you some more questions. The local camera store guy will ask those questions.

Don't think yo can get advice and service at the Target/Best Buy/Wal-mart/etc stores. The vast majority of their employees don't know an f-stop from a truck stop.



You wnat a DSLR, but have the money for a point and shoot. You have enough money for a basic DSLR, but no lens, or a basic Lens, but not both.



No difference in price between a "digital" lens and a film lens. The camera bodies are slightly cheaper for a film one, but you will spend more money long run on film and processing.
Humor, thumbs up. You get bonus points for actually being a hunter who shoots birds.



You are not asking too much. Thumbs up again. It is very refreshing for someone to know exactly what they need.



The camera.

Your budget just wont cut it.

For your uses, minus the budget, id suggest

canon 7d (1600 dollars)

300mm f/2.8 + 1.4 extender (5000 + 300)



the 7d has a high burst rate. You dont want to wait for the camera to get ready while you miss your shot.

The 300mm gets you distance. The extender adds to that distance

the f/2.8 will help you in low light.



An alternative will be the sigma 150-500mm

but that is optically poorer and will be difficult to use in low light. You may have to depend on manual prefocusing.



Also get a good sturdy tripod. Leading manuturers include

gitzo

manfrotto

really right stuff