NIKON D500

£1960 (body only) / europe-nikon.com

Animals are unpredictable. When you’re taking photos of them, that’s the last thing you want your camera to be. Nikon’s D500 – rival to Canon’s EOS 7D (see p54) – is a genuine all-rounder, making it an ideal companion whether you’re papping badgers in your back garden or lying in wait on a riverbank for a particularly shy otter.

Built to withstand the rough and tumble of wild shooting, the D500’s fully weatherproofed body is home to a 21.51MP APS-C sensor, 4K video skills and a 153-point autofocus system that’ll lock onto any critter in a flash. It’s not as quick when you’re using Live View on its 3.2in touchscreen, but you’re better off sticking to the viewfinder and using the screen to zoom in on your snaps.

It’ll fire off 10 shots per second and the ISO goes up to 51,200 (and beyond with its Hi1-5 modes, although picture quality suffers as a result) so you can capture images at dawn and dusk, when many animals are active. The buttons even light up so you can see which one you’re pressing in gloomy conditions.