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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.

Best gifts for wildlife and bird photographers

Table of contents

Beautiful heron image made with Canon 800mm lens

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.

Enjoying nature photography

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Wild fox image

Best buys under £200

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.

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

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.

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.

Photo of seagulls

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.

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.

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

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.

Enjoying binoculars to view nature

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.

Binoculars and spotting scope model

Price at time of publishing

Nikon Sportstar EX 10x25 Waterproof Binoculars

£89.00

Steiner Safari Ultrasharp 10x26 Compact Binoculars

£90.67

Nikon 7x35 Action EX Binoculars

£129.00

Prostaff 3S 10x42 Binoculars

£149.00

Nikon Action EX 10x50 Waterproof Binoculars

£169.00

Nikon Prostaff 7S 10x42 Binoculars

£199.00

Prostaff 7S 10x42 Binoculars

£199.00

Monarch 5 12x42 Binoculars

£279.00

Bushnell Prime 20-60X65 Angled Eyepiece Spotting Scope

£434.00

Zeiss Conquest Gavia 85 Angled Spotting Scope

£1,449.00

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.

Cheetah!

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;

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

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!

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By Nick Dautlich on 11/11/2020

Trade in your old equipment

Fast and easy trade in service ensures your old gear is collected efficiently and you are paid quickly! It's very simple to trade in your unwanted photography gear. Just head over to our dedicated Sell or Part Exchange page, fill out the details, and we'll get back to you with an offer for your old gear. Take the cash, or put it towards the cost of your new gear. It's up to you! Find out more