Camera Gear Update! Change of Plan!

I have had to tick loads more jobs off my 'important' list today, including deciding where to stay half way on my drive to Aberdeen (Shetland trip) and have booked a fabulous place to stay in Dunbar! Its more than half way, but it means I will have less to drive to the ferry terminal in Aberdeen the following day. Everything is now booked and got some holiday insurance out today too. Pied Flycatchers were turning up in Norfolk, but I had to stay focussed and get on with stuff.

Later on, I got the Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens out of the Wex bag and after attaching it to the Canon 7D Mark II, realised I had made a mistake – this lens is 386g heavier then my 300mm f4 lens and that may not sound much, but with my dodgy left shoulder and wrist, it does make a significant difference. It didn't feel that much heavier in the shop yesterday, but I realised this would be a financial mistake. I particularly love doing flight photography and there is no way I can hold this lens up high for very long! So I will return this lens to Wex at some point tomorrow, whilst out birding! I have now made my FINAL decision! My father would be turning in his grave, if he knew what I'm about to do!

Anyway, I decided that life is far too short! People are dying far younger than me and you never know when your time is up! I will keep the Canon 7D Mark II and keep this as a second body. Today, I found and purchased a replacement 'excellent condition' Canon EF 300mm f4 L USM lens, second hand from MPB! So I will keep this attached to the 7D Mark II as a spare set-up and take this to Shetland. I already have a Canon Mark III 1.4 extender.

I'm now on a waiting list at Wex to buy the Canon EOS R5 and Canon RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1L IS USM lens, along with the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R, a spare battery and a SanDisk 64 GB CFexpress Extreme Pro memory card! SO EXCITED! I'm 5th on the waiting list apparently! If it arrives before my Shetland trip, then that's a bonus! I won't have time to get my head round the camera before I go obviously, but if I get it in time, I will bring it with me anyway – there will plenty of time to play around with this, when the rain is horizontal continuously for a few days!

I'm also considering purchasing this Canon mirrorless set up from https://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/, which has top reviews, recommended to me from D.E. and appears to have all the gear in stock now! I need to check that though, when they open on Monday morning and are around £800 cheaper than the main retailers!!!

Spent some time trying to get the 7D Mark II settings the same as the 7D, which I did, but there are more features on the Mark II, so will have to seek further advice to complete!

Birding tomorrow at last!