CAMERAS and LENSES

This describes the status quo in spring 2025

Camera

I have gone mirrorless.   I have been using a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV for the past 7 years.   It was a brilliant camera and I took some excellent pictures with it, but technology moves on and I have traded it for an EOS R6 Mark II.   It weighs less, the viewfiner is so bright that I can see all the data whilst composing and focussing and there is hardly any image noise up to ISO 3200.   In fact, on test, images of the same subject taken at ISO 250 and 2500 were virtually indistinguishable.   There are other advantages, but other websites detail all of those.

Photographing birds and mammals

For birds, I use the Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1L IS USM lens (sometimes with the 1.4x extender).   The images are sharp, even at high ISO settings and it can be hand-held without problems because the image stabilisation is fantastic.   It is light enough to be carried on even long walks, not that I do long walks - I'm too old.

Photographing insects

All my macro work has used a Sigma 180mm f/3.5 APO Macro DG HSM lens and with an adaptor I can use this with the 6D MkII.   I mostly use manual focusing for butterflies, though I leave the lens set to AF.   With back button focusing I can set my focus manually and take pictures without AF over-riding my setting (because the shutter release is disconnected from AF).   But if I suddently want to use AF, all I do is press the back button.   Why might I do this?   Two examples... If I want to use a reflector to illuminate the butterfly, because the direction of natural light is not optimal, I can hold the relector in my left hand and operate the camera entirely with my right.   Occasionally I might have to shoot with the camera held above my head, taking multiple shots using the rear screen (which twists around in 6D MkII) to compose the picture.   I can do this one-handed, but only if I use AF.   So, back-button focusing works for me.

As with bird photography, I mostly use AUTO ISO, though if the light is really good I will set the ISO to give me a really fast shutter speed (usually 1/1000) at f13 because the lens is not image stabilised.   With the 5D MkIV I can go up to 2500 ISO if this works better, when AUTO ISO would try to reduce the effective ISO setting to an unnecessarily low value, reducing the shutter speed more than I would like.   Hence the aperture can be kept down with a shutter speed that allows hand-holding, giving shake-free shots with a good depth of field.   I have tried to use tripods for butterflies, but find them too restricting, unless I know that the butterfly is roosting.

For moths removed from my MV trap, in a passive state, I always use a tripod (see Photographing Moths page).   Since this procedure tolerates long exposures of static subjects, I can use a lower ISO setting, though with the R6 MkII the difference is not noticeable.   The main advantage of using a tripod for static moths is that it enables focus stacking (again see Photographing Moths page).