Let’s get this out of the way first: yes, the professional wildlife photographers you follow on Instagram are probably shooting with lenses that cost more than a decent used car. No, you don’t need one of those to take good photos of birds and wildlife around Australia.

I’ve been shooting wildlife here for about eight years now, and I’ve watched plenty of people convince themselves they need a Canon EF 600mm f/4L before they’ll get a decent shot. That’s rubbish. What you need is decent glass, patience, and knowledge of where the light’s coming from.

The Sweet Spot: 400-600mm Range

For Australian wildlife, you’re mainly dealing with skittish subjects that won’t let you get within 10 metres. Kangaroos at dusk, maybe. Everything else—koalas, wedge-tailed eagles, cockatoos that aren’t used to humans—they’ll keep their distance.

A 400mm lens on a crop sensor body gives you about 600mm equivalent field of view. That’s genuinely useful for most situations you’ll encounter unless you’re planning to photograph seabirds from a boat.

The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary sits around $1,400 new, sometimes less secondhand. It’s not perfect—the autofocus hunts a bit in low light, and you’ll want to shoot it stopped down to f/8 for sharpness—but it’s remarkably capable for the money. I’ve used one for three years and gotten shots I’m genuinely proud of.

The Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 is the other option in this price range, usually about $1,600. Marginally sharper than the Sigma, especially past 400mm. The image stabilisation is excellent, which matters when you’re handholding at dawn trying to catch lorikeets before the light gets harsh.

The 100-400mm Option

If you’re shooting in more accessible locations—wildlife parks, botanic gardens, suburban areas where birds are used to people—a 100-400mm zoom gives you more flexibility.

The Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM is legitimately impressive for its $900 price point. Yes, f/8 at the long end is slow, but Canon’s recent mirrorless bodies handle high ISO remarkably well. I’ve shot this at ISO 3200 on an R7 and gotten clean files. It’s also ridiculously light, which matters when you’re walking six kilometres through bushland.

For Sony shooters, the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS is technically out of budget at about $2,600, but secondhand prices have dropped to around $2,000. If you can stretch to that, it’s genuinely excellent glass. Sharp across the range, fast autofocus, and the ability to push to 600mm when you need it.

The Secondhand Market

This is where smart buyers live. Professional wildlife photographers upgrade constantly, which means excellent glass appears secondhand.

The older Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM can be found for $1,500-1,800 now. It’s still sharp, the IS works perfectly fine, and you can adapt it to mirrorless bodies without meaningful performance loss.

Nikon’s AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR goes for about $1,200-1,400 used. It’s a beast—heavy, not subtle—but optically strong and the VR system is solid. If you’re shooting with a Nikon DSLR and don’t mind the weight, it’s excellent value.

What Actually Matters

Optical quality is less important than you think. Seriously. I’ve seen genuinely beautiful wildlife shots taken with kit lenses, and mediocre shots from people with gear worth more than my car.

What matters:

Light. Shoot early morning or late afternoon. Australian summer midday light is brutal and unflattering. The golden hour cliché exists because it’s true.

Technique. Learn to brace yourself properly, use your camera’s back-button focus, understand how your autofocus tracking modes work. A $1,000 lens with good technique will outperform a $10,000 lens in shaky hands.

Patience. Wildlife photography is mostly waiting. You’ll spend 90 minutes getting into position for a 30-second window when a kookaburra does something interesting.

Don’t Forget the Extender

A 1.4x teleconverter can extend your reach meaningfully. You’ll lose a stop of light and some autofocus performance, but on modern mirrorless bodies, it’s often worth the trade-off.

The Kenko 1.4x teleconverters are about $200 and work reasonably well with third-party lenses. You’ll get better results with first-party extenders if your budget allows, but the Kenko does the job.

The Honest Truth

None of these lenses will give you professional-grade sharpness wide open at 600mm. If you’re planning to print at two metres wide for gallery exhibitions, you’ll eventually need better glass.

But if you want to photograph Australian wildlife, share images online, maybe sell some prints at local markets—these lenses are genuinely capable. I know because I’ve done exactly that.

The difference between an $1,800 lens and an $18,000 lens is real. But it’s not as big as camera companies want you to believe. Get out there, learn to read animal behaviour, and you’ll be surprised what you can accomplish.

For more detailed lens reviews and Australian wildlife photography locations, check out Photography Life’s telephoto lens guide and the Australian Wildlife Photography Facebook groups—the latter is full of people shooting excellent work with modest gear who’ll actually answer your questions.