‘I snap them up’ — award-winning wildlife photographer explains why he collects second-hand DSLRs for his unique ‘Camtraptions’ devices, and why they are a better choice over modern mirrorless cameras | Daily Reports Online
I was delighted to interview top wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas at this year’s Sony World Photography Awards, after he scooped the top Wildlife Category prize for his ‘Crossing Point’ series.
His stunning and highly detailed photos were captured over a 6-month period and provided vital data on Kenya’s iconic Masai Mara National Park’s wildlife to local agencies. The park’s rangers were stunned by some of the discoveries, all captured using Burrard-Lucas’ unique, self-developed camera trap system.
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‘Where a lot of mirrorless cameras fall down’
You might expect the series to have been captured with one of the best mirrorless cameras. Burrard-Lucas does indeed primarily use Sony gear for wildlife photography in the field. However, for his remote camera traps used in this winning series, his gear choices were altogether different.
Burrard-Lucas’ camera traps are based on his own ‘Camtraptions‘ devices, specifically a highly advanced motion sensor for wired or wireless operation. He wirelessly paired the motion sensor with a full-frame Canon EOS 6D DSLR camera (fitted with a 35mm lens). That’s right, a 14-year-old, enthusiast-level DSLR.
Given their age, and like most of the best DSLRs, you can only pick up EOS 6D’s second-hand now, with ‘excellent condition’ models costing around $400 / £350 at leading retailers.
The fact that these old DSLRs are low-cost is part of the appeal for Burrard-Lucas, because of the number of camera traps he sets up and the harsh environments he typically works in — there’s a real cost to performance consideration. He told me he needed affordable, “reliable and robust” gear with excellent low-light image quality, and the EOS 6D fit the bill.
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Even so, there’s actually a technical advantage to older DSLRs. Good lighting was crucial to the series, especially since many of the species being tracked are typically nocturnal and shy, such as rhinos, so Burrard-Lucas needed to use flash.
Burrard-Lucas told me, “Any old DSLR camera works really well in the camera trap setup — it [the camera] needs to work well with flash, which is where a lot of mirrorless cameras fall down.”
The composition you see in his ‘Crossing Point’ series was decided at the beginning, with the motion sensor positioned to trigger the camera when the animal walked into the specific part of the frame (which Burrard-Lucas manually focused the camera’s lens on), and the camera remotely triggered three flash guns to illuminate the subject and immediate lush surroundings.
Given that composition and focus are selected ahead of time, there was little need for Burrard-Lucas to pick a top-spec camera with leading burst shooting speeds and autofocus performance. His gear choice was determined by image quality requirements, reliability, and affordability, and the EOS 6D was his pick.
Burrard-Lucas regularly works using camera traps, and they are positioned where they are at risk of damage from wildlife. Therefore, he told me that whenever he sees cheap “old secondhand DSLRs, I snap them up”.
Any old DSLR camera works really well in the camera trap setup — it [the camera] needs to work well with flash, which is where a lot of mirrorless cameras fall down.
Will Burrard-Lucas
When I asked about his use of camera traps, Burrard-Lucas said, “for nocturnal creatures, there’s nothing better than camera traps, because really it comes down to lighting.
“For these elusive animals, a photographer could wait 12 hours, but you can’t wait four months, so it’s the only practical way when you’ve got this defined focal point.”
I’ve decided to give Burrard-Lucas’ camera trap system a go for myself, and he advised me, “It’s super easy, and so many people are making new use of their old DSLR camera. You don’t need a lot of additional kit; the sensor, a single flash to start with, keep things simple and leave it out for a few nights.”
Burrard-Lucas sells every item needed for his photo award-winning system except for the camera itself on his Camtraptions website, where you will also find a much more detailed how-to.
I can’t say I’ll be photographing anything as exciting as a rhino or a leopard, but it’ll be great to dust off my old Nikon DSLR and give it a new purpose, and I can’t wait to see what sort of nocturnal wildlife visits my countryside garden. Hopefully, I’ll share some of the best photos soon.
You can see more of the ‘Crossing Point’ project photos at the World Photo Organisation website.
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