MY GEAR
Welcome to my gear page!
I shoot Canon for all my high-res images and video. Although it seems like there are a lot of products on this page, only a few of them are used on a particular outing. I really try to keep it simple and only take one or two lenses with me, depending on what I’m shooting.
I’ll list my top three Pros and Cons for each camera body, based on years of experience using them.
My Wildlife Photo Kit
Canon 7D Mark II
I bought this body in 2018, which is four years after it debuted. It’s a no-brainer for birds and wildlife, but it is also fun to use with a shorter prime lens such as the 50mm for indoor, low-light events without using a flash. I also use it with a 100mm Macro for small insects.
PROS
- 10 FPS
- Fast Autofocus
- Battery Life is great
CONS
- Image quality not as good as 80D
- Not great in low light
- Video loses focus on subject too quickly, especially if the subject is small (butterflies) or moving very slowly
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Canon 400mm f/5.6
This is a beautiful lens with excellent quality. The price has not changed much at all over the years.
PROS
- Beautiful lens
- Sharp lens
- Great results
CONS
- Not image-stabilized
- Can get heavy
- Minimum focus distance is 11.5 feet – wish it was closer
Canon EF 1.4X III Telephoto ExtenderÂ
PROS
- Gets the 400mm on a crop sensor (x1.6) to 896mm
- Easy to keep on your camera bag
- Fast to get on/off camera
CONS
- Minimum f-stop is 8.0 – best used in sunlight or partial shade/light cloud cover
- Brings in extra noise and not as sharp
- Needs to be used with tripod for best results
My Landscape Photo Kit
Canon 80D
I bought this body soon after it debuted in 2016.
PROS
- Image quality in stills and video is excellent
- Articulated screen lets you shoot from every angle
- Touch screen to focus and shoot on stills and video is excellent
CONS
- Shutter is a little loud, compared to 7D Mark II
- Shoots 7fps MAX
- Buffer can only process about 25 RAW images before allowing you to take more photos
Other Cameras
Olympus Tough TG-6
I bought this because it’s a pocketable point-and-shoot camera that shoots RAW, 4K, underwater and macro. It’s fun to shoot slo-mo video and macro stills. That’s generally about it.
PROS
- 20 fps stills and 60 fps sports video for fun slo-mo videos
- No shutter noise
- Macro gets amazingly close
CONS
- Video quality OK if camera is still
- Battery life – the camera may indicate a fully charged battery and then dies five minutes later. Carry extra batteries with you.
- Image quality is decent in sunlight, not great in most other situations
Check out Best Sellers in Cameras on Amazon
Action Cameras
- GoPro Hero 3 image quality isn’t great, but the battery life is good – it will run for over two hours.
- GoPro Hero 8 – just got a refurbished one for $179Â – too new for review.
- Akaso 4K Brave – image quality similar for Hero 3, but battery life not great (30-45 mins avg). Bought for $80. It’s got over 7ooo reviews on Amazon – people are loving it!
My other lenses are pretty basic:
Canon 18-135mm
is a really nice focal length for many situations. I bought the lens used for about $200
Canon 50mm f/1.8
is an excellent fast lens. The bokeh is amazing. I use this for most of my still-life stock work, food, my pet rabbits and flowers. The price has been consistenly $125 and it is totally worth it. It’s #1 choice in lenses with about 8000 reviews.
Canon 10-18mm
is a sharp wide-angle. It’s fun to get really close to the foreground and it produces really nice sunstars.
Canon 100mm f/2.8
I bought this used earlier this year for $300, half the cost of full retail. It is an older lens and a little slow to focus. First time I was able to photograph snowflakes and fuzzy little spiders with this lens. The bokeh is soft and bubbly!
Other gear
Tripods
I use MeFoto and K&F Concept, which allows you to shoot flat lay. I like it and they offer many reasonably priced options.
For more info about using filters, check out my posts about Waterfalls and Fall photography.
Software
I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to edit all of my photos. There is a TON of resources to help you improve your skills and creativity. Best of all, it’s a no-brainer for $9.99 per month! Plus, you get many other perks.
Video
I use Movavi Video Editor Bundle. It is super-easy to use and there is no loss in quality. At less than $80, it is excellent for fast video edits. There are several options and plans available based on your needs.
Disclosure: Some of the links on this page contain affiliate links, such as Amazon links. I may earn a small commission from purchases made through some of the links, at no extra cost to you. I only link to products that I personally use and highly recommend. Any purchases made through affiliate links are greatly appreciated, as they enable me to continue to create content to share with you.