Been wanting to get back into nature photography like I was 2 decades ago. Just need some clues/recs on the state of the art…$1000 or so is fine as a ballpark budget figure.
I’ll probably get an intermediate lens, along with an adapter for my Celestron C5 telescope.
What kind of wildlife? Birds are different than deer. For example, if you’re trying to take pictures of soaring falcons 300 feet away at dusk, you could, easily, spend well over a thousand dollars just on the lens. OTOH, if you’re going to take pictures of deer (or other relatively still things) in broad daylight from 30 feet away, a nice two hundred dollar lens will work just fine.
As for the body, it’s been years since I’ve purchases a camera, but if things are still the same, I’d be willing to bet most any Canon EOS or Nikon D*(whatever number it’s on now, is it still 70 and 50), will do just fine.
Since you refer back to 20 years ago I’m going to assume that you are now looking for a a “35mm” DSLR with removable lens.
Now, what do want to do with the pictures you take - post them on a website or print good quality 8X10’s or some other similar size? Do you want to do macro work (closeups up to life size) or work from a distance?
If the former (website), it won’t matter much and I would suggest a DX camera with a reasonable mid-telephoto zoom lens (up to 200mm focal length) and you will have no problems finding something under $1,000.
If the latter and you like macro work you can get very good macro lens in the 60-105mm range for a reasonable price. Do bear in mind that this range will require you getting relatively close to your subject. Also the 1.5 factor for DX cameras as stated below appl;ies so your 60mm lens now becomes a 90mm.
For nature photography at a distance and printing good quality 8x10’s or larger, then the first choice is whether you want DX or full frame. As you would expect full frame are more expensive but DX offers the “advantage” of multiplying the listed lens focal length by 1.5. You need to carefully consider future expansion plans and where you may want to go.
There are many other issues to consider so let’s take one or steps at a time.
If the budget is $1000 then forget full frame.
Basically, choices are:
All reasonably current SLRs are good, and you can get a cheap 55-200 mm zoom lens which is probably a bit too short for wildlife stuff. (That’s the equivalent of 300 mm on a 35 mm full frame camera.) 300 mm or more is expensive and/or not very good.
The electronic viewfinder cameras are a bit smaller but I think more expensive than the SLRs, not sure about the lens options. Most compact cameras don’t zoom to the equivalent of 300 mm or more, but some do and they’re much smaller and cheaper than the other options. However, they need more light. (Not that other tele lenses work particularly well in lower light.) Make sure that whatever you get has good image stabilization or you’ll have to budget for a tripod, too…
I have a 500mm from my 35mm days - for wildlife, it was great - at a zoo, where I could get close enough.
I do have a shot of a Bald Eagle with its head filling the frame - I was about 20’ from it.
Too get that shot in the wild - forget it.
“Nature” can be anything from a 100mm macro of an insect to a 20mm landscape, so I am not going to go there.
Get an SLR and start collecting glass. Buying cheap glass is not the worst idea - if you have lots of opportunities - the cheapies will let you determine which focal lengths you are going to need first when it is time to start trading up.
And do look at ebay - glass doesn’t wear out, and the good stuff almost always gets treated well. I do have one very nice lens that somebody dropped and made a mess of the exterior. It still takes wonderful photos.