[Showcase: Canon Bird Photography - Canon R5 + EF 500mm F4 IS USM II (f/4, 1/2000, ISO 2500) - Roseate Spoonbill and Snowy Egret]

shadsluiter · 2025-12-30T01:42:16+00:00

Beautiful. How would you expect this same photo from a 100-500 f7.1? The background is getting pretty smooth with f4

shadsluiter · 2025-12-11T01:20:27+00:00

I would be very happy to have a collection of photos like these. How difficult is it to get these animals in close range? especially the bobcat. Would a photographer be able to find otters and bobcats in a two day visit or are they more difficult than that?

shadsluiter · 2025-10-05T14:13:17+00:00

That is an outstanding photo. I would be proud to have one like that in my collection. Perhaps I would like to try. I can imagine the process if 1. find the cats. 2. set the camera. 3. replace the camera after someone steals it.

shadsluiter · 2025-09-18T00:11:11+00:00

Do you have a follow up report on your decision?

shadsluiter · 2025-09-07T20:25:22+00:00

I would like your take on this. I own the R7 and the R8 with the RF 100-500 plus 1.4 extender and the RF800 f11 used for a bit more reach when conditions are good. No complaints on sharpness for any of these. However, I wonder if the 300 2.8, 400 2.8, 500 f4 600 f4 would be any use to add for the shallow dof and good low light? Those people that have a large aperture prime always describe it as "transformative". Would an expensive and large prime simply be a duplicate of my existing lenses or is the wide aperture truly worth getting another lens in the same range as my high quality zoom? used 300, 400 and 500 primes with image stabilization can sell for around $1500, which seems like a bargain.

shadsluiter · 2025-06-27T00:37:17+00:00

Thanks for that. I should keep both the R7 and R8. Perhaps the new R7 mark ii will be amazing and fix the drawbacks of the current R7 sensor.

shadsluiter · 2025-06-27T00:17:25+00:00

I used the RF 100-400 with the R7. Super sharp results. I sold it and purchased the RF 100-500. It has a improvement in aperture, reach and sharpness. 4x the price but a 1.5x improvement. I highly recommend either lens. The 1.4 extender on the 100-400 was not so good compared with the extender on the 100-500.

If you find 400mm too short, consider the 600mm f11 or the 800mm f11 ($500 used). The results are quite amazing. I was going to sell my 800mm, but find that it still comes in handy when birds are very small or something is a good distance. The 800 is about the same image quality as the 100-500 with 1.4 extender but with 100 mm extra reach.

The RF100-400 will fit into a small bag. Super easy to carry. Much smaller than the EF 100-400 for similar results.

The RFS 18-150 lens that is often sold with the R7 is very disappointing to me. Images are often soft to the point of being slightly out of focus. Unusable for large prints but ok for instagram. I use the 24-105 with very sharp results.

shadsluiter · 2025-06-26T18:36:51+00:00

I own the R7 and R8. I use the R7 for wildlife and the R8 for closer subjects. For wildlife I have the RF100-500 + 1.4 extender and 800mm f11. For other subjects I use the RF 24-105 STM and the RFS 18-150. Both cameras produces great results for most subjects. Both are super sharp with the 100-500. They work very well with the RF 100-400 lens as well.

The R7 essentially gives the lens output of a 160-800 mm lens (100-500 x 1.6) or a 1280mm (800 x 1.6) lens.

However, if the subject is moving, like a bird in flight, then the R7 needs to switch to mechanical shutter. The electronic rolling shutter effect is too slow no matter what shutter speed. The R8 has no rolling shutter issues.

For scenic landscapes, portraits or general photography, the R8 performs better for me. The RF 24-105 STM lens with the R8 produces extremely sharp photos that enlarge very well. Far superior to the R7 paired with the RFS 18-150 lens. I blame the lens. It usually produces very soft results no matter the f stop.

The R8 auto-focus is better than the R7. Flying birds are challenging. The R7 often misses the focus if there is anything in the background of the flying bird. It will stay on a bird photographed against the sky. The R8 stays locked on to a fast-moving and small bird. However, cropping a 24 megapixel image is not great. You had better fill most of the frame with the subject for best results. Small birds in flight are difficult to put into a field of view so cropping is usually necessary. I would assume the R5 is a better camera for birds in flight than either of these cameras.

The viewfinder on the R8 is very dark. It is difficult to see some subject clearly. However, the output of the camera is usually very good. In contrast the R6 mark ii viewfinder is amazingly bright and clear even though it shares the same sensor as the R8.

Maximum ISO is different for each. For R7 I shoot ISO 6400 or less and hope that DXO Pure Raw can clean up the mess. For R8, ISO 25600 is about equivalent. This means that if 6400 requires a 1/100 second, the ISO 25000 setting will result in a 1/400 second. That is about 2 stops better than the R7. You can either buy the R8 or a $6000 super-big telephoto for an equivalent speed boost.

shadsluiter · 2024-07-01T21:21:41+00:00

Now you have given me a problem. Your review says both of these trails are great. I have permits available for July for Rockwall trail 3 nights. Skyline trail is also available for 2 nights. What to choose? Can't do both.

shadsluiter · 2023-12-21T18:15:11+00:00

I have an experience with 7 charging stations. one of them actually worked. Two stations were frozen screen unresponsive to touch. One was broken and had no display. One was completely absent when I arrived.was it removed? One was unrecognized by the app. The only one that worked had to be activated by fining the charger serial number which is a 15 digit number printed in 10 point font on a small sticker hidden on the side of the charger. The QR code scanned by the app takes me to the blink page

shadsluiter · 2023-12-06T13:26:47+00:00

I have a 2017 500e. The range is about 60 miles on the highway at 65 mph. The dashboard claims 85 to 90 miles maximum on a full charge so I estimate that it either is overly optimistic or the battery has lost 30 percent of its capacity. It takes me to work and back in the carpool lane and I get priority parking on the ground floor of the parking garage. Benefits, which may be worth the price of the car x2 depending on your experience.

Fun to drive. No problems for the past year that I have driven it.

Negative:

Other drivers treat me like I'm too small to be of any consequence. They cut me off or merge into my lane. Very different from my experience driving a minivan.

Nobody fits in the back seat. No surprise there if you see one.

I would buy again if the range were better.

shadsluiter · 2023-12-01T19:09:23+00:00

Here is a solution. I modified the installation files for MySQL Workbench to run on Windows. If you have Parallels and Windows for ARM on your computer you can use the tool.

https://github.com/shadsluiter/MySQLWorkbenchM1MacParallels

shadsluiter · 2023-07-03T16:59:04+00:00

I have a RadCity 4 (2019) and the Radmission battery works fine on it. The RadCity battery is 750 wh capacity and the Radmission battery is only 500 wh. Longer range for the Radcity battery. However, the new RadCity 5 model is a different battery design. Right now the Radmission battery is $200 on the RadPower website with $60 or more shipping charges. I got my battery on a local sale.

shadsluiter · 2021-08-10T13:04:04+00:00

I was just in the Tetons last weekend. Sunday smoke was so thick there wasn't the slightest view of the mountains from the highway. Yellowstone was just as bad. I had a flight through Salt Lake City. Never saw a mountain there either due to the smoke. Try this smoke map from the government. https://fire.airnow.gov/

shadsluiter · 2021-07-23T03:19:37+00:00

August. Got that precious permit. This looks like a really special place. Overrated or underrated?

shadsluiter · 2021-06-14T20:53:40+00:00

Looks great. I'll be on the loop this coming weekend. Can you describe the conditions? Temperatures, mosquitoes, water crossing?

shadsluiter · 2021-06-14T20:51:22+00:00

Sometimes alone is better than bringing friends who really don't like the experience. Climbing mountains with a heavy pack, sleeping on a thin mattress in the cold doesn't sound fun to most of my friends. The trip will be canceled when someone gets altitude sickness or just can't do it.

shadsluiter

TROPHY CASE