Squirrel
Photography
Processing
If you're wondering why I still struggle with cutting edge cameras, some of the fastest lenses around and still run most of my images through denoising software then perhaps this comparison image will demonstrate why. This image was shot with actual morning light so was only ISO 400, but unfortunately that's just before the dual-gain of the Sony's sensor kicks in, so is pretty much the worst case scenario. The squirrel is mostly in shadow, so I ended brightening it up 4 stops here. That makes it more equivalent to ISO 8,000 after processing.
Wider Angles
I started out using as 85mm and 135mm lenses to photograph squirrels. For the longest time I didn't owned anything wider than 40mm, although I was always curious to photograph squirrels with something wider. Eventually I bought the Sony 24mm f/1.4 GM lens, so took it out to shoot some relatively friendly squirrels. This is harder to use as you need to get very close to them and framing the background is more important so when you move around you risk making the squirrels more nervous. It is really fun to see more of the surroundings even if they are blurred out. It's also more unforgiving if your background isn't all pretty, which is something that my other location suffers from.
Infrared
Since I have an infrared camera it seemed rude not to at least try photographing them in that wavelength. There is unfortunately not a huge difference to squirrels in infrared light, but one thing is their eyes. It's usually difficult to see the pupil in squirrel's eyes because they look all black in most lighting, but they do sometimes show up and in infrared they are considerably more clear.
Vintage Cameras
I have only been really into photographing squirrels since the Pandemic so the equipment I've been using has been relatively new. Technically I did start with the Sony A7 (2013), but I was not successful until I upgraded to the Sony A9 (2017) and Sony 135GM lens. Over the last couple of years I have been collecting old digital cameras, so I have been trying to use them to shoot squirrels. The below image was taken on the 6mp APS-C CCD - Fujifilm S2 Pro (2002). Although this scene was very dark under the trees I shot the image at ISO 100 because it's very difficult to change that setting on this camera, but since the sensor is iso invariant it makes no difference to push it in post instead anyway. After processing it ended up just above iso 400, which means it's providing about 6.5 stop of dynamic range. Despite this and the relatively low resolution I can still tell that the focusing didn't quite hit the squirrels eye and even that I am not too bothered about, it's close enough.
In a way this should illustrates how little the camera matters. Although camera's age may not be as big of a deal as some might assume. Lenses are the most important gear decision, followed by sensor size, then camera functionality. Even more important than an of that (when not owning massive wildlife lenses) is finding friendly squirrels. For more information about photographing squirrels with really old digital cameras check out my dedicated page here.
Apex
The Sony A1 combined with the Sony 135GM lens is a formidable combination for photographing squirrels. Sure, it's about ten times the cost of the previous combination and is definitely in the overkill category, but it really can deliver on quality when all the stars align! For anyone that doesn't have limitless funds or wants to cut down on the weight that you carry, the next section is for you...
Lightweight & Budget
As cheap and geeky as it can be to use older DSLRs for up close squirrel photography to show it's possible, it's certainly not an easy or pleasant experience. They're huge and heavy to carry around, ok not as much as a ridiculous wildlife lens, but they're not light. A reliance on optical viewfinders makes shooting squirrels from their point of view tricky to impossible. I wanted to see how cheap and light I could get the photography gear, while keeping it as usable as possible and yet still maintaining good subject isolation from fast lenses. These things have tricky to accomplish up until now.
For less than €800 and 800g the camera and lens combination that took the below photo feels a bit like a miracle. The75mm f/.2 AF APS-C Sirui lens is €380 new, which get's you a 113mm f/1.8 full frame equivalent. That's a really good sweet spot for this kind of photography and its 69cm close focus means you can get just the squirrel's face and hands in frame if you want to. Combining its decent AF speed with the Sony ZV-E10's animal eye-AF, silent shutter and fully articulating rear screen is just amazing for this...
