I tried bird photography with Sonys longest super-telephoto zoom lens and the new A7R VI and after seeing my pin-sharp shots of rare and beautiful birds, Im obsessed

Date:
Sun, 17 May 2026 12:24:35 +0000

Description:
I took the Sony A7R VI and 400-800mm F6.3-8 super-telephoto zoom lens to my local nature reserve to try out bird photography.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter There's an open nature reserve with a wetland, encircled by woodland, about a 10-minute drive from my house, and its one of my favorite places to go running. Sunrise on a cold morning here can be magical for photography too the sun-kissed mist hovering over
the water makes for dreamy conditions.

Throughout the year, the nature reserve attracts a range of migratory and
rare species of birds, making it a popular spot for birding people will
drive a good hour or more to visit with their long lenses, spotting scopes
and binoculars. I've never tried serious bird photography myself, chiefly because I'm way too young for that (joking), but also because the longest
lens I've ever owned is a 70-200mm, which doesn't get me nearly close enough. Latest Videos From You may like Sony A7R VI review: Sony just perfected mirrorless cameras Best wildlife photography camera 2025: top cameras for capturing nature, tested and rated Best Sony lenses: we've tested top lenses for Sony mirrorless cameras Recently, however, I had the chance to test Sony 's longest lens, the FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS , and the idea of trying bird photography suddenly became very appealing. @techradar

original sound - TechRadar I paired the super-telephoto zoom lens with the new Sony A7R VI . My logic was that the cameras stellar bird-detection autofocus skills, blazing-fast shooting speeds of up to 30fps, and 66.8MP stacked sensor were perfect for bird photography when armed with the
400-800mm focal length.

One visit led to another, and before I knew it, I was out the door at 5am every morning, gear in hand.

I had just found my new hobby. It happened a few years earlier than I care to admit, but why resist the inevitable? Yes, I'm now into birding, and I have this incredible Sony camera gear to blame. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. I was out in the rain at times, but was confident that the lens and camera's weather-resistant design would withstand such conditions (Image credit: Tim Coleman) The super-supertelephoto lens
When I first saw Sonys 400-800mm lens in 2024, I thought it was a peculiar focal length. But after my bird photography testing, it feels like the
perfect range for this genre.

For most bird photography in the wild at least youll want a focal length of at least 600mm to get close enough, but I found that even longer, at 800mm, was my most-used setting.

I wouldnt want an 800mm prime lens, mind you, even if that meant benefitting from a slightly faster aperture. When you're locked in on a bird at 800mm,
and it moves, which it will, it can be tricky to locate them again. Thats why quickly zooming out to 400mm is handy. What to read next Birdfy Bird Bath Pro review: a fun new way to watch your garden birdlife I shot the Champions League on the Oppo Find X9 Ultra with its teleconverter here's what happened The best mirrorless cameras, based on in-depth testing Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Tim Coleman) With a wider perspective at 400mm, you can locate the subject more easily,
and then zoom back in again. In any case, about 10% of the time, the 400mm focal length was actually the better pick when I was lucky enough to get physically close.

Optical image stabilization is handy, smoothing out camera shake and consequently making this lens totally usable handheld. The focus range
limiter is neat too, but I tended to keep the focus range set to 'full' given the birds could be located any distance from me at any point in one spot, there are gauze bushes next to a boardwalk. Even at 800mm and f/8, depth of field is plenty shallow enough for blurry backgrounds that make your subject stand out (Image credit: Tim Coleman) The one thing against the lens is its maximum aperture, which is f/6.3 at 400mm and reduced to f/8 at 800mm. I usually opted for a 1/1000sec shutter speed at 800mm to freeze action, and at f/8 in anything but good light, youll find ISO needs to be bumped up, which impacts image quality.

Depth of field is not an issue, though. At 800mm and f/8, backgrounds are delightfully blurred, just about all of the bird is in sharp focus, and the photos looks great.

An upshot of the limited maximum aperture is that the lens is much lighter than Sonys professional fast-aperture telephoto primes, such as the 600mm F4, and its much, much cheaper, too. For amateur bird photography, I think the 400-800mm F6.3-8 is the practically perfect lens. Today's best Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS deals 2,399 View 2,399 View 2,549 2,399 View Show
more We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices The speedy, highly detailed camera If the 400-800mm F6.3-8 is the ideal lens for bird photography, the A7R VI proved to be its perfect partner. Like its predecessor, the camera features subject-detection autofocus with a dedicated option for birds, but it adds an auto option, which is handy when youre regularly switching between subjects.

For bird photography, however, I selected the dedicated AF mode on the assumption that this could help improve the cameras scan rate, with less in the scene for it to be looking for after trying both options, I would advise you to do the same.

I also tried bird photography with the 400-800mm lens and the older Sony A7R
V , and it felt like autofocus was slightly slower compared to the new
camera. I dont have numbers to back this up or give a measurable difference, just my experience.

I was impressed by how the camera could latch onto birds even when they
filled just a small portion of the frame. Check out the example below the
A7R VI easily located the distant male stonechat. Despite taking up a tiny fraction of the frame, the A7R VI's bird detection autofocus latched onto
this male stonechat (Image credit: Tim Coleman) With continuous burst
shooting set to 10fps using the mechanical shutter, bird-detection autofocus in play, camera and lens image stabilization active, I had a dream setup, on the foundation of a high-resolution stacked sensor and extreme dynamic range.

Sony says the A7R VI has a 16-stop dynamic range, which is 1-stop more than the A7R V and most other professional cameras. It also has the most pixels in a full-frame sensor all 66.8MP of them. Image 1 of 3 400mm (Image credit:
Tim Coleman) 800mm (Image credit: Tim Coleman) The 1.5x crop at 800mm (Image credit: Tim Coleman) What I appreciated about the high-resolution sensor was the ability to crop into images where the subject filled a small portion of the frame, even when shooting at 800mm.

Just how much can you crop? Well, the camera's APS-C crop mode (1.5x) is
still 28MP, and in that mode the 800mm setting of the lens effectively looks like a 1200mm lens (see the sequence above at 400mm, 800mm, and 800mm with
the 1.5x crop mode). It's possible to crop in much more than that and still get a detail-rich image, especially for images displayed on mobile devices. You might not need such big files in terms of output, but for bird photography, being able to crop is supremely helpful. 2,649 at London Camera Exchange 2,999 at Clifton Cameras 2,999 at Wex Photo Video 2,999 at Park Cameras The birdlife Thats the gear covered but how was my experience
itself? I had an absolute blast in the space of a week, I went from a complete novice to confidently identifying a range of bird species for inquisitive passersby impressed by the camera gear in my hand. Yep, I had become one of those guys.

The nature reserve is home to a wide range of birdlife. My very first snaps were of Canada geese on the water, mainly because the light and mist were magical. But venturing further along the boardwalk, I saw ground-nesting
birds and more.

There were Chats, Finches, Woodlarks, and I even saw a family of Dartford Warblers. I tuned in my ear for birds; the car alarm-like shrill of a Lapwing and the peculiar call of a Curlew I was told that I was looking at the only nesting pair in this county. Common Cuckoos were present too, though I never got the camera tracked onto one of those. Image 1 of 12 A dartford warbler (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) The dartford warbler again (Image
credit: Future / Tim Coleman) And again! (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) The stunning European Goldfinch (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) I cropped in heavily for this photo for a clean composition (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Tim Coleman) (Image credit: Tim Coleman) I photographed European Stonechats who had caught dragonflies and grubs, and watched a Reed Bunting go back and forth gathering nest-building material. The delightful contrast of a (European) Goldfinch amidst the pale green leaves of a birch was spectacular.

Seemingly, it was my time I was becoming a bird enthusiast. I had given in
to the inevitable. I was hunting for birds, enjoying the thrill of getting
the shot, but with a camera and not a rifle.

And honestly, it was the most fun I'd had with the camera in ages. This
didn't feel like work, but something that fed me. And, yes, I did ask Sony to extend the loan of the lens, because I wasnt ready to give it back. Once I
bid farewell, Ill be looking into buying a super telephoto zoom lens of my
own (but I'm not quite ready for a bird spotting journal...yet).

Interested in trying bird photography out for yourself? Check out our selection of the best wildlife photography cameras . Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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