Gear List
Here are the products that I'm actually working with right now. No general recommendations or previous gear are listed. This is the real deal. Links may contain affiliate code that make me a small commission for any purchases. The cost of the item is always the same to you whether it’s an affiliate link or not. Thank you for your support!
Camera
Canon EOS R3 – B&H | Amazon – My personal favorite camera I've ever used. The autofocus system runs laps around anything else on the market.
Canon EOS R7 – B&H | Amazon – One heck of a camera, and for the price, there isn't any better mid-range wildlife body out there. Absolutely buy this if you aren't going all-out flagship.
Canon EOS R5 – B&H | Amazon – Purchased for landscape photography. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for wildlife above the other two bodies listed unless megapixels and cropping ability are the most important things above all else.
Video
Atomos Shogun Inferno – eBay – Recorder and monitor. These days with how great internal recording has become, I don't use the recorder feature much. But since I already own it, it's been my monitor when needed. I attach it to the Canon R3 with a SmallRig hot shoe monitor mount.
8Sinn 15mm Baseplate – B&H – Adds rails for the lens support and ARRI dovetail for better balancing. Also reduces vibrations due to multiple contact points when my hand is on the lens' focus ring.
Action Camera
Insta360 X3 – B&H | Amazon – A fantastic 360 camera that makes content creation so simple. Shoot now, reframe later.
Insta360 One RS – B&H | Amazon – A modular camera that can either be set up as a traditional action cam or a 360 camera depending on the lens used.
GoPro HERO11 Black – B&H | Amazon – The latest GoPro with a near-square sensor. It's pretty amazing.
GoPro Media Mod – B&H | Amazon – Adds a 3.5mm mic input, a mic level meter, and improved microphone to the GoPros.
GoPro Light Mod – B&H | Amazon – Far brighter than I expected from this little guy. Works underwater. Internal rechargeable battery.
Lenses
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM – B&H | Amazon – This lens is sort of experiencing a rejuvenation in my opinion. It was poor at autofocusing on any Canon DSLR I used this with, but now with the latest Canon mirrorless cameras, it's surprisingly good. Keeps up with animal eye autofocus.
Canon EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM – B&H | Amazon – My all 'rounder lens for anything not telephoto. It's OK. Has some soft spots in the range. I generally find it difficult to compose frames wider than 24mm anyway, and it's neat that this has "macro" focusing ability on the 70mm end.
Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM – B&H | Amazon – Sharp wide-angle zoom lens that I bought mainly for capturing landscapes.
Canon EF 1.4x Extender – B&H | Amazon – Used to increase the focal length at the cost of a stop of light wide open.
Canon EF 2x Extender – B&H | Amazon – Doubles the focal length at the cost of two stops of light wide open. I consider this one to be a filming tool and not something I'd use for photos.
Canon Drop-In Filter Mount Adapter EF-EOS R w/ Variable ND Filter – B&H | Amazon – Not as seamless as having a built-in variable neutral density filter, but perhaps the next best thing. An important component for filming.
Canon Drop-In Clear Filter A – B&H | Amazon – Yes, it's insane it costs this much. But it's pretty much a necessity if you want the go the drop-in filter route.
Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R – B&H | Amazon – I bought this before the drop-in filter mount adapter. It usually stays home or on my secondary body.
Maven Filters Circular Polarizer, 3-stop ND, 6-stop ND – Maven Filters – A magnetic filter system I'm using. Even though all my lenses are 77mm or less at the moment, I went with 82mm to avoid vignetting if stacking on a wide angle and for future-proofing.
Audio
Sennheiser MKE 400 – B&H | Amazon – Standard size hot shoe mic with built-in plastic windshield and internal shock mount.
Sennheiser MKE 200 – B&H | Amazon – Compact mic with built-in plastic windscreen means less to worry about without monitoring.
Bags, Storage, and Straps
Atlas Packs Adventure 2021 Backpack – Atlas Packs – My larger backpack. Build quality and comfort is top notch.
Atlas Packs Athlete Backpack – Atlas Packs – This is my smaller backpack. I prefer using this one unless I really can't fit what I need inside.
Support
FLM CP38-L4 II CF Series II Tripod – B&H | Amazon – A full-size tripod that takes on anything. What I'll use in flowing water or windy conditions.
FLM CP26-Travel II 10X Carbon Fiber Series II Tripod – B&H – Travel- and hike-friendly tripod that gives up some stability to be lighter and more compact.
Really Right Stuff BH-55 Ball Head with Lever-Release Panning Clamp – B&H – For my full-size tripod.
Really Right Stuff BH-40 Ball Head with Full-Size Lever-Release Clamp – B&H – For my smaller travel tripod.
Kirk L-Bracket for Canon EOS R3 – B&H – Seemingly the only L-bracket for the EOS R3 that doesn't have a weird offset vertical plate. Therefore, it's compatible with the EF-to-RF Drop-In Filter Mount Adapter.
Arca-Swiss L-Bracket – B&H – A universal L-bracket that's useful for me since I review all sorts of cameras. Not nicely compatible with flip-out screens, but most L-brackets are awkward in that area.
Cartoni T628/2C Smart Stop ENG Tripod – eBay – A two-stage, carbon fiber 4-2-2 tripod with one lever to drop both stages per leg.
LensCoat LensSack – B&H | Amazon – Quick lens support for video while in the car. Fill with buckwheat hulls to keep the weight down.
Software
Photo Mechanic 6 – Camera Bits – The best application for culling lots of photos, It also manages my images in terms of cataloging and metadata.
Adobe Photoshop – Adobe – Still the king. I use Adobe Camera Raw for base editing inside the program.
Topaz Labs DeNoise AI – Topaz Labs – Gives me another stop or so of ISO performance from my cameras because of its ability to recover noisy images.
Topaz Labs Sharpen AI – Topaz Labs – A magical application that can reconstruct out-of-focus images.
Topaz Labs Video AI – Topaz Labs – Clears up footage to make it look like your lens cost $10,000 more than it actually did. Also useful for upscaling FHD to 4K, for example when your camera can only shoot at the highest frame rates in 1080.
Workspace
Apple Studio M1 Max – B&H
Apple Studio Display – B&H
Wacom Intuos Creative Pen Tablet, Small – B&H | Amazon – You don’t need the Pro version, you don’t need the Bluetooth model and you certainly don’t need a size larger than small. Get this and save yourself at least $200, trust me.
SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD – B&H
Miscellaneous
Vortex Diamondback HD 8x42 Binoculars – B&H | Amazon – I don't have an extended history using all types of binoculars to say if these are comparably great or not, but I am happy with what they are at the price I paid for them. I do know they are considered the "standard issue" binoculars and you'll see many birders use them.
Sawyer Picaridin – Amazon – An absolute game changer for dealing with mosquitos. I wish I knew about this stuff sooner. Get the lotion.
Sawyer Permethrin – Amazon – Treat your outdoor clothing with this every 45 days for tick and mosquito repellant. Works wonders.
Clothing
Vallerret Milford Gloves – B&H – The perfect glove for Northern California winters and other "chilly" places that teeter somewhere between moderate and frigid temps. Love them! They also come with water-resistant liners if you're crawling around water or snow.
Vallerret Skadi Zipper Mitt PSP – B&H – Great for video camera operation where I can get by with just a thumb for most things. I like the dual-layer approach.