I have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks, deciding about changing my camera gear. My Canon 7D has served me extremely well, but it is well past its sell by date. I love my Canon EF 300mm f4 L IS USM lens, but this is also very old and I don't feel its as sharp as it once was, so decisions, decisions!
Also, I don't want to take the risk of my old Canon 7D going wrong, when I'm on Shetland in a matter of weeks! The months have flown by and I hadn't realised until recently, that my three week trip is not far away! So, after much research, reviews and advice from several photographers, I made myself a list of the following to consider:
Olympus OM-D E-M1X Digital Camera Body with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f4 IS PRO Lens and the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital MC-14 1.4x Teleconverter
David Tipling, Rebecca Nason, Andy Rouse, John Richardson etc all use this set up.
Nikon D500 Digital SLR Camera Body with the Nikon 500mm f5.6E PF ED VR AF-S Lens
Rob Holmes who had the same set up as me: 7D and 300mm f4 lens, changed to this and highly recommended this set up to me.
Canon EOS R5 Digital Camera Body with the Canon RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1L IS USM Lens
The lens everyone seems to be talking about and quote from several people "this will be the new birder's set-up" You also need to have a huge bank balance and in any case, there are insanely long waiting lists, so you can't get them anyway!
All of the above set-up's are seriously light and no heavier (more or less) then my current kit. I'm not getting any younger and can't be doing with carrying heavy lenses around, plus I like to handhold and move around quick when required – I don't like using a tripod unless I have to.
I felt the Olympus kit is a bit too complicated for me to use, although I'm sure I would master it in time and it certainly felt the best in my hand when I trialled it at Wex today! I have tons and tons of patience with photography and waiting for a bird to appear etc etc, but not so much patience with a complicated camera!
The Nikon kit was not in stock for me trial, well the D500 body was, but no lens to look at and waiting list for this lens too! The Canon (mirrorless) set up was a joy to hold and the silence of the shutter button was just incredible!
I had also saved (phoned on route) a second hand Canon 7D Mark II at Grade 9+ which was virtually mint with a shutter count of approximately only 3,000. If all else failed, at least it would be an upgrade from my 7D! I also wanted to look at a second hand Canon EF 300mm f4 L IS USM lens (same as I have already) which was a Grade 9 and in far superior condition to my lens! Note, that I had not saved this!
The members of staff who were working today, got a very short straw with me arriving here – I spent several hours in the store, in fact from just before midday until closing time at 6pm, with a long lunch break at about 2.45pm to make my final decision!
After lots of discussion with two members of staff, but particularly Nathan, who was the most patient and helpful person ever! Nathan came across genuinely interested in what I was looking for and his knowledge was second to none. Nathan had the Olympus set up himself and loves it, but it does take time to learn. The Canon set up was not in stock anyway and the waiting list was HUGE! The Nikon D500 body was available but the lens was also on a waiting list.
I asked to look at the second hand Canon EF 300mm f4 L IS USM lens and it was in excellent condition with no marks or flaws at all – later on, this was returned to the stock room as I had not asked for it to be saved at this point. After more discussion, I asked Nathan to save this lens for me, whilst I went for a lunch break and to make a final decision.
So off I went for a lunch in the car park! I phoned other retailers (all the main ones), who also had huge waiting lists for the mirrorless Canon set-up, all because of supply issues/Brexit!!! I also sent a message for advice from Canon ambassador Dean Eades (via Facebook) whom I have met a few times – Dean very kindly set up my Canon 7D for me many years ago at the Rutland Bird Fair – he knows so much about Canon gear and cameras in general and is an incredible photographer. See Dean's website and all about his workshops/credentials etc here at https://birdmad.com/ I knew I would get some excellent and honest replies and advice from Dean – he doesn't mince his words! Other people I know also kindly gave me some advice. I decided to purchase the Canon 7D Mark II (second hand) along with the second hand Canon EF 300mm f4 L IS USM lens. I returned to the shop.
Much to my huge disappointment, Nathan was unable to save the lens for me as it had been purchased on line and had been loaded up in a lorry for delivery!!! BOTHER! Totally my fault, as I should have saved it straight away! Someone reading this, has probably purchased it, don't tell me if you have! It was now 4.45pm. Plan B...... I have never owned and really did not want to buy a zoom lens – a Prime lens is always far superior quality, but..... Nathan suggested I purchase a second hand Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM Lens to go with my 7D Mark II – this was also Grade 9+ and looked mint. He explained that this Mark II version was far superior to its predecessor and was a much newer lens in term of quality etc than my current 300mm f4 lens. It is heavier than my lens, although it didn't feel that much different in the shop – it will at least give me a bit further reach. I am very happy buying the 7D Mark II, as I wished I had bought this new when they first came out (not available new now). I will trial the lens and if I decide it is too heavy, then I have 30 days to return it. All Wex's second hand gear has one year guarantee. I will have to keep an eye out for another mint second hand Canon EF 300mm f4 lens! Whilst I remain with Canon, I will always want this 300mm f4 lens, as its incredibly sharp and I love it, but mine needs replacing. They did have another second hand 300mm f4 lens, but it was a couple of grades lower and looked more battered than mine!
I also purchased a new Sansdisk Professional G Drive 6TB. My two old external hard drives are ancient and have needed replacing for a long time! They are WD 1TB drives. Also bought a couple of SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO 170MB/Sec UHS-1 SDXC cards for the Canon 7D and a new strap (used and recommended by Rob Holmes), a Peak Design Slide Camera Strap. So my bank balance is a little lighter now and still no mirrorless camera set-up! I might go down that route in a year or so, maybe! Can't spend any more dosh now!
Huge thanks to all who advised and helped me to make my decision. I now need to see if I can set up the Canon 7D Mark II to match the settings on the 7D. I have had and still have so many things to sort and do in my holiday. I can't believe I still haven't been birding and I'm getting serious withdrawal symptoms, but sometimes other stuff has to come first! Winds turn east at the weekend along with rain, so we may get a nice little early fall of Autumn migrants, fingers crossed. I will definitely be out in the field over the next few days!
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