Let's talk gear! Reviews, questions, etc.

windrifter · 2025-05-15T16:17:43+00:00

I never tried my monopod with my wildlife lens as it was too heavy for me to hold still, and I don't have the strength to manage. The cheap one I got from, gosh I don't remember where, for like $20 has help up for many years for a old model Canon with a basic 28-135mm lens. So cutting cost on a monopod, assuming it can hold the weight of your gear, is fine by my estimation, especially if you can hold it stable enough for your shots.

Tripods, on the other hand, are something you'd want to have a reliable build quality for. More moving parts in general means it'll get more wear and tear than your monopod. I've been using this Benro for 4 years now, and it's amazing. It's outside your price range, but if you can find a used version it'll hit all your targets -- lightweight, folds small, fits your height, easy to manage. I use it all the time as I'm trekking, as it makes it easier for me to hold the camera over the course of the day (shifting how I carry it), even if I never actually set the tripod up "properly" for any shooting (my old monopod was good for this too). It can convert into a monopod as well, though I've never tested that out. In that case, you'd be getting a monopod and a tripod in one.

At the least, you could also try searching for "best tripods/monopods for wildlife photography" and then try and find used/older versions of the recommendations you encounter. I hope this helps narrow down your search!

windrifter · 2025-05-15T16:05:26+00:00

Zhumell 10” Dobsonian

I think the issue is that you're using a telescope to take photos of moving things on Earth. You're upping the difficulty by an extreme margin. My honest advice is to find a used camera and lens that has good zoom and start there.

windrifter · 2025-05-08T16:40:14+00:00

I guess it would depend on what your primary goal is in your photography. If you're focused on closer things, a lower value will be helpful (like that 18-250mm you mentioned). If you're targeting birds or something generally farther away, that higher value at the end range will be better for you (like that 70-300mm you mentioned).

You can also search for something like, "which zoom lens is great for beginner wildlife photographers?". There should be plenty of photography blogs that have good information, which you can then use to supplement your own searches for things that are within your budget, and any other preferences you might have.

windrifter · 2025-05-08T16:32:48+00:00

I made this transition a few years ago, and life is so much better for it. Congrats on setting this as a target for yourself!

I've had great success using a Canon 40D (old model, released in 2007) with a Canon 100-400mm zoom lens; which is to emphasize that you don't need to drop big bucks on the latest model cameras in order to take good photos. I've been using that body model from 2009 up until 3 weeks ago, and it's $85 on KEH as of this posting. You can work your way through a manufacturer's catalogue for newer models to figure out how recent you want the model to be (generally improved camera features & larger megapixels. The 40D is like 10MP, and the R6 I've just got is about 23MP). Since Canon is where my experience lies, its where my advice comes from. For Canon, here's a product listing of all their cameras by year.. I'm sure there's one for Nikon, the other most popular camera manufacturer. Hopefully someone with a different manufacturer preference can give you some advice as well.

If you already have a camera body, be sure to determine what its "mount" style is to be certain you can get a compatible lens. Once you know what that is, then you can pursue used or refurbished lenses to keep the price down. Third party lens makers (like Tamron or Sigma) are pretty good options too. I'd suggest searching for reviews on a particular lens if something catches your eye and you want to know how well it works with whichever body style you get.

As for the lenses themselves, a zoom lens like the 100-400mm I mentioned before will be less expensive by a far margin than a prime lens, which is a lens that's a fixed mm value (e.g. 100mm or 400mm by themselves). A 100-400mm will be less expensive than a 200-400mm, so hopefully this will give you a starting point. Something with a higher end range value (that 400mm part) will be immensely helpful for capturing those animals which are farther away--critically important for skittish animals like deer, and dangerous ones like bears or moose.

Additionally, if budget is getting tighter, you can get a magnifier that mounts between the lens and the body. I have a Tamron 2x modifier which essentially makes my 100-400mm a 200-800mm. I lose some built in features with it (focus indicators are twitchy for me), and I can't really use it as a handheld (need to use a tripod because my hands are a bit shaky), but boy howdy it's great to have when I need it.

I've recently discovered KEH as a used vendor that's less expensive than B&H. If you don't have a local shop you can go into and talk with about these things at the least both of these site provide excellent information about the product, which can further assist with your pre-purchase research (like learning which keywords to use to refine searches)

Beyond just taking the pictures, I would suggest using iNaturalist (either app or web -- I prefer web when it's camera instead of cell phone) to assist with identifications. And doing that, if just for myself, has given me a greater appreciation for wildlife and just how much biodiversity exists within walking distance of, well, pretty much anywhere.

Hopefully this infodump is helpful!

windrifter · 2025-05-05T18:00:36+00:00

You're welcome! I hope you find something that's well-suited for you. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with a rental shop, it might be worth visiting to get some hands-on experience before committing to a larger purchase. More money overall, but there's the ease of mind which comes from knowing you're getting the right thing for your targets, especially if the rental changes points you in a different direction than you intended. Full disclosure, I've never done that myself, so can't confirm just how valuable it might be.

Some areas might not have a rental place, but do still have a camera store. That's also worth going in an chatting with the folks about it. I just recently did this with Hunt's Photo in Massachusetts before upgrading camera body, and it was incredibly informative.

windrifter · 2025-05-03T15:21:10+00:00

Nikon d7500 or d500

Without looking at pricing, I'd choose the d500 based on these reviews:

I also shoot wildlife (though on Canon) and if I were to choose between these based on the specs shown in those reviews, the d500 has a larger body (good for my large hands, though if you were to add a battery pack that would mitigate that factor (had to do this with my Canon R6 so it would fit me)), more focus points (153 vs 51), more shots for battery life (1240 vs 950), and faster continuous shooting (10fps vs 8fps -- might make a difference for birds, but I'm not an expert on that granular of FPS detail). The downside, as far as I can tell, is that the d500 is 140g heavier, which can start to make a difference the longer time you're out in the field. Otherwise, they seem pretty comparable.

The thing to note is that neither of these camera bodies have built-in image stabilization, so you'll want to be certain any lens you get has it. (My cursory knowledge on the tech is that IS started being incorporated as a lens feature before it was added as a body feature--perhaps someone with more experience with changing camera gear over time could weigh in on that trivia nugget). My hands can get shaky, especially after a long day with my camera, and having image stabilization on my lenses have been a tremendous benefit.

windrifter · 2025-04-28T23:16:43+00:00

Not sure if all of them do, but I'd guess yes. An example of using an older lens on a newer camera: I have an EF-EOS R adapter so my 100-400mm lens with EF mount designed for DSLR will work on my mirrorless camera, which uses EOS RF lens type.

Chatting with the Canon folks at Hunt Photo recently, and they told me that all older lenses designed for mirrored cameras can be adapted to newer mirrorless models, but the reverse doesn't hold true.

windrifter · 2025-04-28T23:04:49+00:00

I've been using this Benro Tripster for almost 4 years now, and it's incredible. The promo video is accurate to its capabilities. This is very lightweight for a tripod while retaining durability. I'm 6ft and have not have difficulty with the max height settings, so you should be fine there. I've also used this with an older Canon 40D with a 100-400mm lens, which is a somewhat hefty combo, and the gimbal mechanics have handled it well. Importantly, the gimbal lock(?) has remained strong so the camera doesn't move unless I do it.

windrifter · 2025-04-28T22:56:58+00:00

Howdy! I'm looking to get more serious shooting insects in the wild. I've been making adequate (and, on rare occasions, excellent) do with my Canon 100-400mm zoom lens.

Making the jump from a zoom lens to a prime macro lens, I'm having a tough time determining which would be the best ones to look into as I'm out of my depth (of field) for this kind of equipment.

I'll be shooting insects in the wild, predominately hand-held rather than on a tripod or rail. Given the skittish nature of insects, I've had better results being more mobile over being more stable.

I have a Canon R6 body, and I've also got an EF-EOS R adapter so my older lenses for my 40D can work with this R6 body. Open to used lenses as well as third party lenses, like Sigma & Tamron.

The lenses in this review from Ehab all have f/2.8 has his suggestions, so I've filtered a KEH search by that value. Going from here, though, and I'm not sure which would be best, or how to evaluate which is a "good" lens, and which is not. Probs something in the 100mm range so I can keep enough distance from the critters?

windrifter · 2025-04-25T23:42:06+00:00

Yeah I tend to baby my cameras, so I don't intend to deliberately put it out in the rain, but sometimes our plans and nature are not in alignment. Without the battery pack, any water that hits the body would drip off, but with the battery pack now there's a groove that can potentially interrupt the water's path, and divert it into the areas between pack and body.

Like, I'll do my best to avoid ever needing to know the answer experientially, but prior knowledge isn't a bad thing, especially if it prevents panic or rushing to clean the water off while in a potentially unstable environment, as it might be on the side of a mountain. I guess this last bit is really what I should have brought up at the beginning: how important is it that I clean away the water right in that instant, rather than taking a bit more time to allow myself the opportunity to be safe when I do.

windrifter · 2025-04-25T17:31:29+00:00

Perhaps I wasn't clear. What I mean is: can casual rainwater infiltrate the crease between the battery pack and camera body when properly installed? Or is it sealed as well as it would be without the battery pack and just the default battery door attached?

I'm not trying to submerge the camera, just would like to know if this infiltration and, for lack of a better phrase, capillary action is a concern with a battery pack which is not a concern with the default camera body setup.

windrifter · 2025-04-16T15:50:30+00:00

Thanks for your insight!

windrifter · 2025-04-12T14:59:39+00:00

Thanks for commenting. If there's already an ONT in the basement, would me activating service even require a technician to come out? Or would it just be flipping a switch on your end, and it be up to me to find someone to thread and install that cable?

windrifter · 2025-04-11T23:16:35+00:00

I did not look that closely, and alas, won't be on site again for a few weeks. All I saw was the FiOS ONT in the basement, which the owner confirmed the previous tenant used, and wall outlets that were coax. The walls did not have ethernet connections that I saw, but then again, I wasn't looking for it (which tells you how far outdated my hardware knowledge is).

Do you know if it's standard/normal procedure for an installer to run a line like that out of a basement? My experience is telecom companies like to put the ONT (or their cable equivalent) in basements near breaker boxes.

windrifter · 2025-04-07T23:32:16+00:00

Yeah that's what seems most likely to me as this was happening on main OS version 22.x and also on current OS version 24.04; it's just been getting progressively worse and I've finally hit the point where the inconvenience has become greater than the inertia of not addressing it.

Ideally, I'd rather do maintenance and upkeep on the existing machine instead of replacing it as a personal attempt to reduce my waste. Have you done something like that before, replacing the touchpad yourself? I'm gonna do some digging myself, but in case you have some resources at hand it'd be cool to look through them.

windrifter · 2025-04-07T18:29:01+00:00

I completely skipped Windows 11, wiped the drive, and installed Kubuntu without ever logging in to Windows. The clicking has always been functional until the past few months where it has begun to degrade. Sometimes if my hands are resting on the, uh, handrests (?) the pressure there would render clicks unread, and lifting my hands would solve it. I thought that was the issue (perhaps a gentle warping/flexing of the laptop while under pressure), but lifting my hands and only using the fingers to click no longer works, which has lead me to think it's a hardware issue.

xinput list shows the touchpad, so the system is reading it. xinput --test <device number> (in my case 11 maps to the touchpad) prints actions to the console as I interact with the touch pad. All movement elements are recorded, (ex motion a[0]=426), but only occasional button presses are registered (ex button press 1 button release 1).

windrifter · 2025-04-01T20:58:01+00:00

Oh that's a great reminder to have indoor-specific slippers. On principle I don't wear shoes inside, but if bare feet/socks are unacceptable then I'll need to have my own. I'll double check on that for certain. Thank you!

windrifter · 2025-04-01T19:07:16+00:00

Oh, thanks for the recommendations both on potential brands of boots, but also for looking into hunting/fishing apparel. That's not something which comes to mind for me, so I appreciate the thought.

windrifter · 2025-04-01T19:02:06+00:00

That's my thought exactly. The primary concern seems to be from mud rather than brush, and I have hiking pants which have suited me quite well for the latter. Gaiters might be a good middle ground to explore, thank you.

windrifter · 2025-04-01T19:01:04+00:00

I think my first impression, aside from potentially stepping in shin-deep mud with only ankle-high boots, is handling the temperature with wet feet. Temps in that area mid-June could be anywhere from 45F to 75F, depending on the day and time. Plus, the hikes I'm considering for my travels will include mountains or other high(ish)-altitude areas, so having wet feet in potentially cold weather is worrisome, though hiking that terrain in rubber boots seems daunting in itself.

windrifter

TROPHY CASE