What's the brand of your main wildlife photography camera?

[janas]

Another poll might explore how many of us use more than one camera system. I am a Nikon/OM-Olympus guy. I have a plethora of Nikon lenses dating back to 1968, so I am pretty entrenched in that ecosystem. But when I travel long distance (e.g., by air) I use my M43 gear now, as it is sooooo much easier to transport. And I confess that as I age (gracefully, I hope), using a 600mm f4 rig in the field is more and more a chore.

Yes, dealing with two camera systems is a bit extravagant, and at the very least one has to keep switching back and forth between cameras with different controls and menus, which can cause some cognitive friction . OTOH, I know one bird photographer who uses Canon, Sony, Nikon, AND Fuji gear.

It's interesting to hear how you manage two camera systems! Nikon and Olympus offer unique advantages...

 

[Juliette]

It's interesting to hear how you manage two camera systems! Nikon and Olympus offer unique advantages...

@janas - I would love to know what your OM gear for travel bag looks like! Care to share? I was into the Panasonic world for a short while but the size and weight due to the need for quality lenses made it heavier than my APS-C gear so I returned it.

 

[Tom Reynolds]

@janas - I would love to know what your OM gear for travel bag looks like! Care to share? I was into the Panasonic world for a short while but the size and weight due to the need for quality lenses made it heavier than my APS-C gear so I returned it.

If you want to go ultralight, an OM-1/100-400 with two 128K cards and one extra battery will allow me to shoot all day. That is about 4#. The rig is super sturdy and I simply wrap the camera and lens separately in bubble wrap and store in my carry-on.

Another possibility is an Om-1/300f4 which weighs about 1/2 pound more.

I do carry a charger, extra batteries and cards but have not yet needed to use them.

For me the lightest method of storing photos for a multi-day trip is to leave them on the card. This is more risky than I like so I carry a laptop and USB drive but if you really want to go light you can do so.

Tom

 

[Juliette]

If you want to go ultralight, an OM-1/100-400 with two 128K cards and one extra battery will allow me to shoot all day. That is about 4#. The rig is super sturdy and I simply wrap the camera and lens separately in bubble wrap and store in my carry-on.

Another possibility is an Om-1/300f4 which weighs about 1/2 pound more.

I do carry a charger, extra batteries and cards but have not yet needed to use them.

For me the lightest method of storing photos for a multi-day trip is to leave them on the card. This is more risky than I like so I carry a laptop and USB drive but if you really want to go light you can do so.

Tom

Thanks for that. I'd likely do the body, a prime for street photography/landscapes/etc., then the 300 F4. I will rent this for my next trip.Thanks!

 

[Tom Reynolds]

Thanks for that. I'd likely do the body, a prime for street photography/landscapes/etc., then the 300 F4. I will rent this for my next trip.Thanks!

For what you want to do I would recommend an OM Systems 12-45 f4 pro lens that weighs a bit more than 1/2 pound bringing the total OM-1/12-45f4 combo to a whopping 2#

 

[splatbass]

It's interesting to hear how you manage two camera systems! Nikon and Olympus offer unique advantages...

I can’t speak for him, but I also use Nikon and Olympus. I just returned from Glacier NP and Banff NP and took the OM-1 with 100-400 for wildlife and Z6/24-70 for landscapes. I also took a landscape lens (Panasonic 12-32 f2.8) for the Olympus in case anything happened to the Nikon and my 300PF + 1.4x for the Nikon in case anything happened to the Olympus. That way I had a backup for each. Worked out great, and was pretty small. Got lots of great pics of both wildlife and landscape.

 

[eaj101]

It's interesting to hear how you manage two camera systems! Nikon and Olympus offer unique advantages...

I also shoot Nikon and Olympus. At the extremes, I tend to shoot Nikon for landscapes and when I'm working near a car and Olympus when I'm shooting small birds and hiking. That gives you an idea of what I consider the strengths of each.

I haven't taken both systems on the same outing or trip and probably won't. There are certainly some mental gymnastics required - buttons are in difference places, dials turn different ways, menus are very different - but it's manageable. I find the biggest difference is in using AF and how tracking works. It works well on both, but they're very different. I try to make a point to practice before leaving

 

[GrandNagus50]

When I travel with my M43 gear I use either the Mindshift Backlight 26L or the ThinkTank Airport Advantage. For Nikon gear I still use an aging ThinkTank International V1.

 

[Juliette]

It sounds like no one uses just one system and that is the reality I fight every year to accept! Thank you.

 

[O]

I use only one system happily and it does everything needed, if i need a tool i don't have i rent it, 19mm tilt shift, 800pf, 600 Tc, D6 the king in my heart LOL.

Then again an I Phone 15 is doing so much more now it may be very well considered being a second system LOL.

To me i see gear just as nothing but different tools that basically all do much the same thing, capture a moment using a combination of just time light and speed.

90% of what we achieve comes from the person using the tools.

Just did a road trip for a month, 13 inch M1 lap top, and a kit bag of DSLR gear, left the Z9 at home.
90% of what i took was on my Phone, 10% on the D850 28-300 or 50mm 1.8 D

The traditional manufactures like Nikon and Canon i feel are slowly getting into the later technology and trend of gear needing to be more savvy, intuitive, tehci super compact and light, much of what has already been in play with OM and Fuji systems for while, yes for a while, and we may think its new.

Sony going forward even with their high end gear i think is focusing on going smaller more powerful and more AI.

Olympus and Fuji offer stunningly good real techi intuitive features in the cameras with good glass that also meets the demand for small light combined with their intuitive systems, not forgetting some really affordable options, of course just behind that is the high end smart phone.

The newer generation of younger buyers lean towards the OM and Fuji line, or smaller Sony systems and high end Smart Phones, like many older people the youner also don't like big and heavy, many of the photographers i know have all done the journey of 4/3rds systems and most eventually have gone back to the larger original set up, a few run two systems happily. I guess everyone is different.

For me the thing i chant to my slef each time i get ready to go out is to avoid worrying about gear, focus on photography. Like a singer, focus on the voice that needs to come from the heart and connect to the listener.

With the drivers of the internet shaping our world in one way or another with dependency - addiction - video, the younger breed generation we are in for some real technology changes especially if stills are even of interest anymore in teh near future as they will mostly come from video footage in the future.

More Photographers are slowly becoming videographers, new comers especially viewers are preferring video especially wfrom drones, why is it so, the internet says its so.

Never loose telling the story and connecting with the viewer, the tools and means is just that tools and means.

Only an opinion.