New gear, once again

I guess I should just accept the fact, I love new gear, and run with it. But, also thank myself for not going off the rails and spending what I could have spent.

A few weeks back, work took me to Chincoteague Island, Virginia. While there, I stoked the fires on an already raging love for bird photography with several sessions with some fishing egrets. While the RF 100-400 lens attached to the Canon R7 performed incredibly well, I saw some issues I wanted to be better while editing the photos. After doing some research on a big prime lens, 400mm to be exact, I discovered that a f2.8 EF version goes for over $10k new, and not far from that used. The f4 version is $7k new and in the $5k range used, considerably less if not in pristine condition. While doing this research, I discovered Canon made a f5.6 400mm prime. It doesn’t have image stabilization, but both my camera bodies have IBIS which should help. And given it is an f5.6 version without IS, it was going to be easier to handhold.

After watching lots of great reviews from many bird photographers on YouTube, I went searching for a copy of the lens. I was all in. My favorite used gear website, FredMiranda.com didn’t have any, so I went straight to mpb.com who I have used in the past to sell gear to. An excellent condition copy was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but I trusted mpb.com more than any eBay seller so I pulled the trigger on the deal. In all, about $800.

Since I do not know when to stop, I bought a gimbal to help with the new lens. A Sirui PH-20 should be delivered tomorrow and will most definitely be used this weekend. Until then, here’s a handheld shot with the new lens and the R7. I’d say it’s pretty sharp!