Excellent photo. I love the light only on the subject. Great composition too.

As much as I dislike seeing AI generated images, being from a career in IT I thought I'd direct some funds specifically to the core technology company benefactors of AI and ride that financial wave for a while. It's a wild ride today after NVIDIA's quarterly results were released yesterday.

It would be interesting to see the histograms for both original images. I think that would provide some answers. Light = Data. The more light captured in an image, the more data in the file. Hence the expression Expose-to-the-Right. Over 50% of the potential light value is in the right-most quadrant of the histogram. For a complete detailed description, see Jared Lloyd's white paper on the topic. Actually, he has an eBook on this topic. He explains it at the doctorate level, it's a deep rabbit hole.

That keeper rate percentage plagues all of us. I read that top pros throw out 98% or more of images. However, I can confirm that the R5 and RF 100-500mm combo will give you the tools to consistently create good images. The rest depends on the photographer.

Some wisdom's I've ingrained in my head recently:
(1) Shoot short high-speed bursts of shots to enhance chances of sharpness and action is captured in at least one of the sequence of shots.
(2) Poor light generally creates poor photos. See Jared Lloyd's articles on how to use high ISOs.

If depends on what you like to shoot. The RF 100-500mm on my R5 is my most used combination for wildlife. It is an excellent lens. It is excellent at close focusing distances, and I also use it for close-up shots for things like flowers, insects, etc. A 1.4x extender works well on it if you want to extend it out to 700mm.

If you are primarily a bird photographer, maybe the 200-800mm would be the better choice. People that have one seem to be very satisfied. I have one on order, as an additional tool rather than as a replacement for the 100-500mm. There are many thousands of us waiting impatiently on back-order status for this lens. Demand far exceeds Canon's ability to produce, so you will be waiting for a long time if you go this route. Many who ordered at time of release in November are still waiting.

As for the R7 body, some really like it and some of us don't. For me, not only have I experienced all of the common well documented issues, but image quality in most photos is poor or worse. I think I got a lemon. I can't wait for the R5 II release so I can pre-order one and sell the R7.

What is the current shortcomings of your 150-600mm? It is a really good focal range. If it's not broke, don't fix it!

Yeah, that's what I meant to say.

The best places in the park, West side (Many Glaciers), Going to the Sun Road and North Fork. Looks like you only need the permits through Sept. 8th, so you may be okay. Last weekend my son was planning a trip there, and I looked it up for him since he didn't know.

Very nicely done.

Be aware that Glacier now requires vehicle permits per day for different zones within the park. Need to have these in in advance. Glacier is no longer an easy place to visit.

A case came with one of my tripods but has never seen a tripod in it. It got repurposed for my spotting scope, red dot sight and iPhone adapter. I'm more of a wildlife photographer, so I want my tripod at the ready, either with me or extended in the backseat ready to grab and use.

I have a medium carabiner attached to the ring at each tripod head. My remote triggers, one paired to each of my two camera bodies, is clipped to the carabiner.

I haven't seen anyone mention this, so I'll my two cents worth. I find it very helpful to have a tripod carrying strap attached to the tripod. Some come with one, but most don't. I like the Op/Tech wide neoprene ones that spread the load over a broad area and have that elastic stretch to enhance the comfort. If I need to walk in or out of a place, collapse the tripod legs, and snap the bottom strap loop around bottom of tripod legs. The top of strap stays connected to tripod at the head. The tripod strap then goes over head and one shoulder, and the camera goes over the other. Then I'm hands free and can still easily access the camera to take a shot.

This may not apply to the OP, but for others than may get benefit, I recently added a Wimberley Arca Sidekick. Although quite expensive, it gives nice gimbal functionality to a tripod with a ball head. Slips on and off easily so you can quickly choose between ball head or gimbal. I have a full gimbal head on one of my tripods, but it is so heavy and bulky that I only use it for specific shots that really need it. The Sidekick allows me to carry separately and use on two other large and smaller tripods and it works extremely well on my monopod as well. The curve of it makes a perfect handle to hold the rig on the monopod with the center of gravity over the monopod leg.

Well said, and I totally agree. And as I posted earlier, I purchased 2 1/2 years ago and was still able today to download an upgraded version at no additional cost. Topaz specializes in specific functions and is one of the best, if not the best, at what it does. People complaining about the cost of expensive to develop and enhance complex software shouldn't be using it. I get the value (my measurement of value to me), therefore I will pay the reasonable going rate every few years for it when I deem it appropriate or necessary to upgrade.

Interesting. I haven't paid anything for DeNoise for 2 1/2 years and was just able to download and install the latest update. Even if I have to pay $79 every three or so years to get the latest updates to a fine program, I don't mind supporting the software engineers that create and enhance such extremely complex software (said by an ex-IT professional).

Thanks for posting. I've seen it and it is excellent. I really like both of these Aussies. Jan Wegener has a video about "why your photos aren't sharp" which is one of the most thorough and helpful of videos I've seen on this. He is an excellent communicator. These guys shoot Canon gear (and others). They have videos that cover just about every Canon camera and lens in a wildlife focused setting.

I have a Delkin reader I've used the past couple of years for CFExpress and SD cards. It has performed flawlessly. Plugs into USB-C port and transfers quickly.