Camera is getting too heavy!

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Wow ...........so many replies with good suggestions. I am also an avid hiker and after 2 hip replacements and 2 knee replacements I am avoiding taking my camera along and I am missing some wonderful shooting opportunities.

Thank you all very much, I have enough to do my own research what to sell and what to buy. One thing for sure I will buy the 300mm PF and keep my D500 (for my hiking adventures). Probably will add at a later date a mirrorless camera.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Natalya https://www.flickr.com/photos/adventure_photography/
 
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You should also check out the Olympus OM-D cameras. I have friends that absolutely love them. You can't beat them for size and weight.
 
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The only things I'll add are that the Tamron 100-400 really is a great and lightweight lens if you want the option of a zoom. The 500mm PF and 300mm PF are both recommended by a lot of people for good reason. They are light, sharp, and have great autofocus.
 
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Natalya-
After I wrote a long post/thread on light cameras for octogenarians I was going to subside with more posts until I received a CanonR7/100-500 and tested it but I will summarize where I stand.

1-My D-500/500pf weighs just over 5#. This rig has a 750mm effective reach which I consider minimum since I can't walk very far anymore. The problem for me with this rig is that the lens is not a zoom. When the subject is too close, I can't get the shot I want. I do have a 300pf which also takes awesome shots. Still, all Nikon solutions are fixed length lenses.

2-The Olympus OM-1 plus the 100-400 is the lightest good quality solution out there coming in @ under 4# 3.75#, $3.5K+, 800mm reach.
3-The Canon R-7/100-500 is 4.4#, $4.5K, 800mm reach.

The Canon sensor is more than 50% larger than the Olympus allowing more cropping which is impotent to me. However, the Olympus has higher and longer frames-per-second which is also important to me.

This is with a D-500/300pf a 4# solution



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Tom, thank you very much for the comparison and the great image. I wished we would have such beautiful birds here. Sorry to hear you can not walk very far anymore, but keep it up! Your picture confirms that the 300mm PF is the lens for me. I will sell some of my equipment and then buy a mirrorless camera in addition to my D500, which is a great camera.
Thanks, Natalya
 
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Natalya said:
One thing for sure I will buy the 300mm PF
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After seeing this thread I decided to shoot with my 300mm PF and teleconverters today. I'm stuck at home (Covid quarantine) so I shot backyard birds with various combos of the 300mm PF and TCs on my Z6 II. I'm happy with the IQ of these combos but here's some images so you can form your own opinions:

First two with the 300mm plus TC-14eIII for 420mm f/5.6 and last one with the TC-20eIII for 600mm f/8

Clouds were coming and going so the light's not the same throughout

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DRwyoming said:
After seeing this thread I decided to shoot with my 300mm PF and teleconverters today. I'm stuck at home (Covid quarantine) so I shot backyard birds with various combos of the 300mm PF and TCs on my Z6 II. I'm happy with the IQ of these combos but here's some images so you can form your own opinions:

First two with the 300mm plus TC-14eIII for 420mm f/5.6 and last one with the TC-20eIII for 600mm f/8

Clouds were coming and going so the light's not the same throughout

View attachment 40256

View attachment 40257

View attachment 40258
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first off, hope you feel better soon. Beautiful visitors in your yard.
 
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Natayla,
I can sell you both used.
I generally don't recommend purchasing lenses used since you might get a bad one, but I purchased the lens from a member here who said it was sharp. It is.
Tom
 
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Natalya said:
Hi, I am in my mid 80th and my D500 with the 200-500 mm lens is getting too heavy. I love shooting stationary and if lucky some flying birds.
What Mirrorless camera lens combination would you recommend? Possibly not selling the D500 / lens for now.

I also have the D810, 70-200 mm, 16-35 mm and 24-120 mm lenses which I think I could/should sell to raise some money for the new purchase of the mirrorless camera set.

I would appreciate some comments/advice.

Thanks, Natalya
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The D500 and 200-500mm are both pretty light.
A 300mm f4 of 300 PF or 500 PF Nikkors on the D500 would be fairly light.
All of my long glass is much heavier than the 200-500mm lens.
There will be a 200-600mm lens and another 400mm (PF) for the Nikon Z cameras but it will probably be similar to your 200-500mm Lens...🦘
 
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Has anyone thought about the Sony RX10-IV? It's a bridge camera with 20.1MP. It has a 1.0" sensor and the permanent lens goes from 24mm to 600mm.
Anyway, it sounds like a nice camera and it only weighs 2.41 lbs (1.09kg) including the battery and the SDXC card. I cannot walk long distances without
the aid of a walker with wheels (Rollator). I can store my gear in the storage compartment under the seat and I also have saddle-bag-like storage on the
upper bar. I am seriously considering this camera since with my senior age, I now find it hard to lift and manage my D500 with a 150-600mm lens attached.
The reviews seem to be pretty good for this RX10-IV. I also have a Nikon Z7-II with a Tamron 16-300mm lens attached and the combination seems very
manageable. Does anyone have any experience with the Sony RX100-IV? I would really appreciate any input before I make a purchase. Thank you! Lisa
 
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Besides reducing the weight of equipment, there may be an opportunity to increase muscle strength a bit, which can also make carrying things easier. Now in my mid-seventies, I find it helpful to do mild weight lifting several times per week. A set of adjustable dumbbells does not take up much space. Absolutely no need to push the high end of the weight scale. No need to emulate body builders with bulging veins. Low to medium weights with multiple repetitions does the trick. Start very easy and add reps and increase weight settings very gradually week by week over several months. If travel or other circumstances keep me from doing the weight routine for a week, my photo equipment starts feeling much heavier. Maybe not as exciting as getting new photo gear, but perhaps worth considering -- especially since muscle toning also has broader health benefits. as we age.
 
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Tom Reynolds said:
Natayla,
I can sell you both used.
I generally don't recommend purchasing lenses used since you might get a bad one, but I purchased the lens from a member here who said it was sharp. It is.
Tom
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Tom, I have already made arrangement for buying the 300mm PF but also selling (trade in) some of my other lenses and equipment.
But thank you for your offer, Natalya
 
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Lisa said:
Has anyone thought about the Sony RX10-IV? It's a bridge camera with 20.1MP. It has a 1.0" sensor and the permanent lens goes from 24mm to 600mm.
Anyway, it sounds like a nice camera and it only weighs 2.41 lbs (1.09kg) including the battery and the SDXC card. I cannot walk long distances without
the aid of a walker with wheels (Rollator). I can store my gear in the storage compartment under the seat and I also have saddle-bag-like storage on the
upper bar. I am seriously considering this camera since with my senior age, I now find it hard to lift and manage my D500 with a 150-600mm lens attached.
The reviews seem to be pretty good for this RX10-IV. I also have a Nikon Z7-II with a Tamron 16-300mm lens attached and the combination seems very
manageable. Does anyone have any experience with the Sony RX100-IV? I would really appreciate any input before I make a purchase. Thank you! Lisa
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I have it & can vouch for it for being light , great F , 25 FPS, excellent 4 K video with AF & weather sealed. It can be easily carried slung around the shoulder

Image quality is decent compared to FF cameras
& it being an 1 inch sensor
I really hope Sony brings out an upgraded version
with at least 800 mm zoom & animal eye tracking
It is being used mainly for video by us now since we ( self & wife) use A1 & Z9 as our primary cameras
 
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At age 70 I hauled a 37 lb backpack on our last trip to Costa Rica and my kit included the 600mm f/4 lens and two D850 bodies with the MB-D18 battery grips. But I realized that it was smarter to distribute the weight into two backpacks and a smallish 18 liter backpack qualified as a "personal item" for the airlines as it fit under the seat in front of me. I was able to lighten my 37 lb backpack by more than 15 lbs and that is a lot. Also easier on the body to have weight on both arms instead of only one.

My wife has used the Olympus EM-1 cameras and their pro grade prime and zoom lens on our travels and 95% of the time her images are as good as mine from the D850 and sometimes better. The noticeable advantages of the Olympus mirrorless cameras is in their 5-axis image stabilization in the camera, their being mirrorless and not having to do a lens offset calibration, and their exceptional image stabilization when coupled with certain lenses. The main drawback is more noise at ISO 3200 and greater as compared to the D850 (the low resolution D5 and D6 cameras do not count).

For example, when my wife received the 300mm f/4 (view angle of a 600mm but the weight of a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens) and attached it to her EM-1 camera I was able to go immediately to a wall and photography a small lizard at a distance of about 6 feet and take a shot that hadd zero motion blur with a shutter speed of 1/10s hand held. There was no way I could do that with the 500mm PF lens on a D850 or D5 camera.

When we travel I have to decide what goes along with my full frame cameras and lenses but she can take everything and fit it all inside her Bataflae 18L backpack.
 
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Definitely recommend that 300PF. I just sadly traded mine in against the z 70-200 because I just wasn't using it, but it is so versatile and light. I'm sure I'll miss it.
 
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jeffnles1 said:
A buddy of mine has a Canon R5 and a 100-500 Canon lens. I was amazed last week when he let me carry it around a while at just how light and handy it was. I’m seriously considering the R7 and 100-500. It seems to be the closest mirrorless right not to the D500 and 200-500 I currently lug around
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I recently rented the Canon R5/TC1.4/RF 100-500 combo and enjoyed the weight (5.11#) and the picture quality. I am just learning BIF photography so my tracking skills are rudimentary but I had an enjoyable time with this setup. I mostly shoot Olympus gear and have an OM-1 coming in this week to try out with my 300mm F/4 PRO lens. Later this summer, I am thinking I will rent the Nikon Z9/100-400mm Z/TC1.4 combo and try that out, although the total weight of 6.59# concerns me.
 
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Natalya, I had the D500 - 200-500mm combo. I sold the D500 and purchased a D5. Recently , I sold the 200-500mm and purchased a 500mmPF. I can attest to the weight difference between the two lenses and can handle hold the 500mmPF for much longer periods of time.

I also have the Z7 and use it quite often with the FTZ/300mnPF lens. In addition, I use both the TC-14eIII and TC-20 with no problems on both the 300mmPF and 500mmPF. Weight is nominal, especially compared tp my 600mm f/4.
 
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