• Categories
• Tips & Inspiration
• Reviews
• News
• Events
• Features
• Buying Guides
• Competitions

Best Gifts For Wildlife And Bird Photographers

This buying guide is intended to help our customers to choose the best gifts for wildlife and bird photographers, whether as a Christmas or birthday present or for any other great reason. We explore essential accessories and camera gear for a range of budgets, with recommendations and ideas for what equipment they would likely love to receive to support their passion and hobby. For those with a healthy budget we also discuss the best teleconverters, binoculars and scopes for nature and bird photography from various brands, and we’ve also added inspirational links and videos to enjoy too.

Table of contents

• Introduction: Why do photographers love wildlife and bird photography
• Best buys under £50
• Best buys under £200
• Gifts on any budget (gimbals, teleconverters and tripods)
• 10 Most popular binoculars and scopes for bird photography
• Video tutorials with wildlife and bird photography tips

Why do photographers love wildlife and bird photography?

Wildlife and bird photography have enjoyed rapid growth over the last few years and particularly since the Corona virus pandemic hit the world. Many photographers have switched genres since the pandemic, or discovered that being out in nature is a wonderful, healthy past time. Being stuck indoors can be extremely difficult for extended periods and photographers with even a passing interest in nature or birding have taken to it in crowds.

There are also fast growing online communities that support each other and share their passion for being out in nature. The growth in this hobby has also been supported by lighter and more cost effective camera equipment, including lighter lenses and more choices for tripods and tripod heads. Cameras are getting faster with more accurate autofocus, both of which are essential for bird or wildlife photography. So if you are looking for a photography gift for a friend or partner who does enjoy being in the great outdoors, we hope you find this post very useful.

Best buys under £50

Items in this price point can make for a perfect starting point as a Christmas stocking filler or as a main present and there are heaps of useful accessories for bird watching and photography. If you are not sure what to buy, a gift voucher could be the perfect choice and are available in denominations of £10 upwards.

• Manfrotto Advanced² Camera Holster Bag Large

This camera holster bag for a DSLR and 70-200 lens is super versatile and can be carried on its own, strapped to a belt or a tripod. It fits a decent length lens and provides quick access for shorter walks in the countryside.

• ZEISS Lens Cleaning Kit

This comprehensive cleaning kit features on all of our gift idea guides as it is made by masters of lenses and contains everything your wildlife photographer needs to keep those long lenses spick and span!

• A camera rain cover

These are super useful even if you do have the lens cleaning kit above. Protecting expensive equipment during heavy downpours with a rain cover is always a good idea so they are useful, practical and a cost effective present.

• Hoya Revo SMC 77mm UV Filter or 82mm Hoya Revo UV filter

The chances are that if your gift recipient loves bird and wildlife photography they will be shooting with bigger, longer lenses. These can get bashed about and a UV filter protects the front lens element from serious damage (they fit any brand of lens). So a filter can be a priceless gift if they are called to use. Make sure you check the lens diameter for the mm size needed before buying, though typically they will be fairly large, but it does depend on the specific lens.

• Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB SDXC 170MB/s

A fast and high capacity memory card is a ‘must have’ for bird photographers. Sandisk are renowned for speed and reliability and any photographer will love having more memory available.

• Optech Triple Carrier

This harness or carrying strap device may not win fashion awards but is an amazing system for nature photographers. As the name suggests the Triple Carrier can hold up to three cameras or binoculars and we thoroughly recommend it for birders!

• A spare camera battery

This may sound a bit lacklustre but having spare batteries when photographing out in nature is an absolute blessing. Remember to take a peek in their camera bag to check which camera they are using to get the right compatibility. Most cost around £50-£70 or under.

Best buys under £200

• Manfrotto XPRO 4 Section Carbon Fibre Monopod

This monopod makes an excellent gift as it is a lightweight camera and lens support which will likely hold the heaviest and longest lenses your photographers owns. It helps to get sharper photographs and is easy to bring along on any walk.

• Manfrotto XPRO 4 Section Aluminium Photo Monopod

As the above monopod model but slightly heavier (and therefore cheaper to buy) which supports plenty long lenses for wildlife.

• Sandisk 64GB Extreme Pro SDHC 300MB/s

More memory and faster memory cards make for a happy bird photographer! This one is exceptionally fast and reliable and yes they will thank you very much indeed if you buy this as a present.

• Lowepro Flipside 500 AW II, Mica and Pixel Camo backpack

This camouflaged camera backpack fits up to a 400mm long lens as well as all the photo gear an outdoor photographer needs for a full day of bird or wildlife photography. Yes please, we say.

Gifts for any budget

Nature photographers do rely on a lot of equipment to get the most out of their hobby and all of these gift choices cost more than £200. Any of these items can really make a wildlife photographer’s passion come to life with some outstanding pieces of photography kit.

Gimbal tripod head

Gimbals can be added to a monopod or tripod and allow the photographer to pan and follow their subject quickly with a huge lens. It is an essential piece of equipment for many professional wildlife photographers.

• Benro GH2 Aluminium Gimbal Head

This is a brilliant starter gimbal for any bird photographer, or why not splash out on the absolute best in class Wimberley Head Version II which is the ultimate, lightweight wildlife gimbal. The Gitzo GHFG1 Gimbal Fluid Head is the perfect midway choice between these three options. Whichever you choose any of these would be hugely useful and very much appreciated.

Tripods

If your gift recipient doesn’t have a tripod, or if they complain about it being too flimsy, these three choices will leave them gobsmacked at what is possible with a sturdy tripod. Namely sharper photos, with more ‘keepers’ and a very happy photographer to boot.

• Manfrotto MTCFVR Virtual Reality Carbon Fibre Tripod

This is an excellent, stable and lightweight option for long lens photographers. It will support up to 18kg which makes it ideal for bird or wildlife photographers. Alternatives include the ultimate in lightweight yet stable tripods - the Gitzo GT4553S Systematic Series 4. This model will be kind to the photographer’s back and support any equipment imaginable. Finally we have the mid-range complete tripod and head kit from British company 3 Legged Thing, the 3 Legged Thing Legends Bucky and Airhed V. This is a fantastic all round choice and includes a ballhead to get them started with.

Teleconverters

A teleconverter is a small lens addition which effectively extends the reach of a telephoto lens. Many hobbyist and professional wildlife photographers use a teleconverter to get closer to the action and we are sure your loved one would be thrilled to receive one of these as a present. We do recommend checking compatibility with their lens, so please do contact us and we will be happy to help if you get stuck. Prices range from around £100 to £600 depending on the brand and quality.

Other gift ideas

• Bushnell Natureview HD Trail Camera

This clever device can be left outside to automatically capture images and videos of wildlife as they trigger the camera. This is a great way to discover local animals as well as for planning wildlife photography excursions.

10 Most popular binoculars and scopes for bird photography

We have compiled the 10 most popular binoculars and spotting scopes which our customers buy to view nature, wildlife and to spot birds. Any of these would make a fabulous gift and can be used for all manner of outdoor wildlife viewing by anyone who is enjoying the great outdoors. Features to look out for are best magnification, stabilisation and waterproofing. If you are buying a gift around November be sure to check our Black Friday binocular offers as we would expect to see some fantastic deals around that time.

Bird Photography Videos and inspiration

Park Cameras resident photo and video guru Gareth Evans hosts two Tutorial Tuesday video tips about wildlife and bird photography.

5 Tips for Bird Photography video

Wildlife Photography

Visit our resident wildlife expert Andy Rouse’s website gallery as we particularly love his wild hares gallery and barn owl images. The Nat Geo wildlife photographer of 2020 is an incredibly inspiring gallery as is the Bird Photography of the year (2020) here.

Further reading in our blog

We have posted a number of wildlife and bird photography blog posts over the years, which may be of interest;

• 10 Garden Bird Photography Tips (with equipment recommendations too)

Best equipment posts covering accessories, lenses and cameras for wildlife:

• Wildlife Photography The Best Nikon Cameras And Lenses
• Wildlife Photography The Best Sony Cameras And Lenses
• Wildlife Photography The Best Canon Cameras And Lenses
• 11 Essential Accessories For Wildlife Photography

This series of buying guides also looks at best gifts for portrait photographers, and best home working equipment buys which you can find here.

And don't forget to take a look at our buying guide with Photography Gifts For The Whole Family to suit a range of budgets and you might like Ultimate Best Buys For Street Photography!

By Nick Dautlich on 11/11/2020