Which one is better for large bird / animal photography? A D4 or a 1D X

[Paul2660]

Lance, I didn't mean any negatives to your comments on the 800E.  For my work which is much more weighted towards landscape, I find the 800 is plenty, plus I have followed posts on other forums where 800 and 800E images have been compared and it seems that the gap  can be closed with sharpening.  But that is a very personnal decision. 

Your points made on frame rate and action are good ones.  Here the D4 is a true leader.  I have found the buffer issue not that bad on the D800 but I am in DX mode when shooting wildlife so the load on the buffer is much less.

Paul

[telyt]

There are in fact many things in common between shooting athletes and shooting birds:

This is an over-simplification.  There are many ways to photograph either athletes or wildlife.  Action photos have similarities but there's more to athletes and wildlife (birds in particular) than action.

What hasselbladfan hasn't mentioned is whether he wants to stay comfortably inside the box or if he wants to make unique photos.  Nick Brandt's african wildlife photos comes to mind: http://www.nickbrandt.com/  He's using equipment that is so far outside the box that it's never been on anyone else's radar screen... and his photos are uniquely fabulous.

[hasselbladfan]

Great suggestions, guys.

I should indeed also consider the D800 due to its cropfactor mode. With the 200-400mm someone suggested, I could go a long way.

[hasselbladfan]

Fully agree, Doug.

It doesn't need to be the latest equipment to get great nature shots. It is amazing what you and Nick are able to do.

[DaveCurtis]

I think both 1DX and the D4 would be excellent options and you couldnt go wrong.

Personally I think the 1DX combined with the new II series super teles would be hard to beat and would be my pick for a wildlife combo. The new 200-400mm f4 and the 500mm f4II or 600mm f4II  would be a nice set for wildlife

[Keith Reeder]

What DaveDn said...

I must admit that the idea of 200-400mm with the built-in 1.4x appeals immensely to this bird photographer.

The probable price, not so much...