Photographic Equipment
Although I've been interested in birds and insects for many years, taking photographs of the former only really began in 2004, when I acquired a Canon 300D digital SLR camera. When matched with a 300mm telephoto lens I found that I was able to take acceptable shots of some birds.
 
In 2007 I bought a Canon 100-400mm image-stabilised lens, and attached a Canon 400D body (10.1 megapixel) to it. With an effective focal length of 640mm a lot more birds came into range. In 2009 I upgraded to a Canon 50D body (15 megapixel), and this did very well for four years.
 
In January 2009 I purchased a Canon Powershot SX10 IS "bridge" camera. This had a zoom lens which gave 20x optical magnification, but it was very hard to pick up small subjects in the viewfinder so it was quickly relegated to taking landscape shots.
 
In 2011 I purchased a Sigma 150mm F2.8 macro lens in order to take pictures of insects. As it wasn't image-stabilised I usually used it with a monopod.
 
In 2012 I bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ200 to replace the Canon SX10. The Lumix has a 24x optical zoom, which is equivalent to a 600mm SLR lens. But it still wasn't much use for small subjects.
 
In November 2013 I acquired a Canon 70D DSLR body (20.2 megapixel), which was a considerable improvement over the 50D.
 
In December 2016 I acquired a Canon 7D Mk II DSLR body. Although it has the same number of megapixels as the 70D, it adds dual DIGIC 6 image processors, which make it good at tracking fast-moving subjects. Pros: weatherproof; CF and SD card slots; 65-point focussing; works with 70D batteries. Cons: no touchscreen; heavier than 70D.
 
In February 2017 I traded in my 12-year-old Canon 100-400mm IS Mk1 lens for a Mk2 model. The Mk2 is heavier than the Mk1, and even with the trade-in the price was pretty steep. However it produces excellent images and is a high-quality lens; it should last a long time. It will also auto-focus with the Canon 1.4x extender attached when attached to the 7D Mk2 body (although only the centre focussing point is available). It has a minimum focusing distance of 3.2 feet (compared to 6.5 ft for the Mk1).
 
The other option for more focal length is a lens from a different manufacturer. Canon glass bigger than 400mm is very expensive, so I purchased a Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 "Contemporary" lens as a cheaper alternative. Although generally a good lens, it was quite heavy and the image quality it produced at maximum focal length wasn't as good as the Canon 100-400mm IS Mk1 lens with the teleconverter attached!
 
In December 2018 I traded in the big Sigma for a Sigma 180mm macro lens. This a big and heavy. But it offers 1:1 macro reproduction at a minimum focus distance of 47cm.
 
In January 2021 I bought a second-hand Canon 7D Mk II with only 33000 shutter releases, as the SD card slot on my original 7D had become unusable. I upgraded the firmware of both of them to version 1.1.3 and set them up the same way.
 
In May 2021 I finally bit the bullet and purchased a Canon R6 mirrorless body. I set it up as described by Pangolin Wildlife Photography. As the R6 has a full-frame sensor I lost the 1.6x effective magnification caused by the cropped APS-C sensor on the 7D Mk 2. But it has in-body stabilisation, can take up to 12 fps with the mechanical shutter, has an articulated touchscreen and two SD card slots, and has the amazing bird eye-tracking autofocus software. As I wanted to keep using my existing EF/EFS lenses I had to buy the Canon EFS-RF adapter. With the 100-400 MK2 lens + 1.4x extender attached, there are no restrictions on focussing points. Images are recorded in CR3 format.
 
To cope with the loss of magnification with the full-frame sensor on the R6, I purchased a Canon RF 800mm F11 fixed-aperture lens in August 2021. It became apparent quite quickly that the fixed aperture and focal length made this lens too inflexible. The restricted focusing area didn't help either. I persevered with it for a while, but in November 2022 I traded it in for the Canon RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 IS USM lens. This is very light, has built-in image stabilisation and a minimum focussing distance of 88cm.
 
I acquired an R7 body at the end of November 2022. This is an APS-C mirrorless camera with a 32.5MP sensor, IBIS and the amazing auto-focus eye tracking (from the R3; not the same as the R6). Strangely, this came with the EFS-RF adapter, which I had had to buy separately for my (significantly more expensive) R6.
 
At the end of February 2024 I traded in my Canon 100-400mm lens and bought a Canon RF 100-500mm to replace it. Even with the trade-in and an additional £200 discount it cost nearly £2K. It is significantly lighter than the old lens, and the 1.4x converter isn't required (at least, not when using it with the R7). It has a minimum focal length of 90cm.
 
I record images in the camera's RAW format. I use Canon's Digital Photo Professional software to convert the images from RAW to TIFF format, and then Adobe Photoshop Elements for post-processing. I use the Neat Image noise reduction Photoshop plugin to clean up images destined for this web site.