I made a panorama of the town of Toledo in Spain using 7 shots in vertical format with a 5DSR. The detail when you zoom in is amazing, I swear you can read the car license plates from a quarter of a mile away. Image size is a mere 850 MB! Love the 5DSR. Low light usefulness does not compare to 5Dmk3 or 1DX however.

Yep, I had the same problem. I waited with Sierra until I heard no problems, but then still had them. The issue is not with my computer. A fairly new mac Pro (the black tin can) two stacks of thunderbolt hard drives (12 TB & 8 TB) 64 gig of RAM. I did reinstall LR CC and lately no crashes
Enough to piss off the good humor man.
Bill

I have bought Canon lenses as grey market items from Adorama. They were well identified as grey market items and I saved over 10% on a 300mm F2.8 prime lens. I believe that Canon will repair grey market items, but that Nikon will not according to what I have read. I am not interested in buying a grey market body, but I have never heard of anyone needing warrantee work on a lens, so why not save more than $500? So I have had good luck with grey market items.
Bill

Great shots, super sharp! Good work!
Bill

I love Yellowstone, and we were heading there last summer, but I rolled my ATV in colorado and busted up my shoulder and ribs. So when we could travel, we headed for home. I am pretty much back to normal. As to hand holding, I don't do that to be "macho" cause I am not. I learned to hand hold a big lens by going to Bosque del Apache, and I simply can not hit birds in flight using a tripod. So it became handhold or no photos. So I learned to shoot and rest. It is not as hard as you think it is. If you have not been to Bosque del Apache, you need to go. I would recommend a workshop with a buddy of mine, Doug Brown (dougbrownphotography.com) and you will learn to hand hold and get more fab photos of BIF that you even dreamed about. I have been twice and am planning on about the first of Dec. in 2018 if all goes well.
Thanks,
Bill

Thanks for the comments. Good photos is a lot more than pushing the button. Right place at the right time is a lot of luck. That said, you improve you luck by traveling to places with known bird populations. Excellent glass is necessary, and maybe most importantly, knowledge of your gear so that you can make adjustments quickly and get the shot off. As to the comment about hand holding a big lens; I am 76 years old, not in great shape, but active. My right hand holds the camera body and I brace my left elbow on my chest while my left hand supports the lens. That way my arm does not have to lift all the weight, some is transferred to my chest. I did upgrade to the Canon version 2 of that lens from version 1 because it is a better lens and much lighter than the old one. The other thing is that you can let the camera/lens dangle on the strap and just lift for a shot, so it is not so tough.
Bill

Well, you really did it when you decided to shoot birds. I think it is the most costly endeavor in photography. While some of the new zooms (see greg basic - deepgreenphotography.com) do pretty well, there is no substitute for really good glass. I don't know your finances, but spending $13,000 on a 600mm F4 is not as dumb as you think if you have 13 grand. The reason is that if you keep it clean, the value stays good, and it can be sold for a substantial sum. I bought a used Canon 600mm F4 version 1 and kept it several years and when the version 2 came out, I sold the version 1 for more than I paid for it. I do put the camo covers on my lenses, not that I think the birds care, but it keeps the lens clean. Yes, a big investment, but at least you have a sellable asset. The other cost after the lens, is new bodies that have a higher frame rate, then trips to crazy places to see better and different birds. Well welcome to my world - it is expensive, but great
Good Luck

Keep your DSLR, it is a much better camera. I tried the Fuji route to save weight and was not happy, so sold it and took a beating. While it gave good quality, it was slow, and after you are spoiled with a good DSLR it is hard to go back. Leave some clothes behind and take your gear.
Good Luck

Camera support is not necessary when your long lens is mounted on a tripod. I've been around several professional bird photographers and never seen that. I have shot thousands and thousands of frames with just the lens mounted. When on a tripod, I hold the camera body tight to my face and my left arm is draped over the length of the lens to dampen out vibrations.

;

Well, Bird photography has turned out to be very expensive for me; doubly so since my wife caught the fever as well. (but well worth it) The cost of really good photos, frequently involves trips to strange places, Long expensive lenses like a 600mm F4 lens and/or 300mm f2.8 lens, DSLR body that will shoot frames quickly (my 1DX is 14 frames/sec), and perhaps most importantly, attending a bird photography workshop, or just hang out with someone that knows what they are doing. Great photos with long expensive lenses doe not come easily (I discovered this to my great horror- it take very fussy technique as well) Fortunately, the Canon 7D mk2 has become a really good body for birds, with really great focusing and a multiplying factor on your lens since is it a crop frame sensor and it is more reasonable. While I think all agree that prime lenses are the best, some of the 150-600 zooms are getting pretty good and 1/10th the cost of a 600mm prime. Check out birdsasart.com and you can learn a lot.

All but the hummer were shot with the Canon 1DX and 600mm F4 Prime; the hummer with the 300mm f2.8 prime; the hummer and the egret were using a tripod, the owl was handheld, the loon was shot from a fishing boat and tripod. The Black Bellied Hummingbird was in Costa Rica, the Loon was north of Toronto, Canada, the owl was at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico, and the Egrets on the gulf coast of Texas. We greatly enjoy these trips and are planning more. Our next will be in May to Peru in the Amazon basin then to the galapagos islands. Super fun. And yes, I am very blessed to be able to have the health and means to do this, but you can start at the zoo. There the animals and birds are close, and it it not an expensive trip. I have some great shots at the zoo.

Good luck
Bill

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

I think that most of the folk who have replied don't know what they are talking about or are using older gear. For years "everyone" has said, you use an extender and you degrade quality. Well, go to Art Morris's website and look at his photos, see how many fabulous photos are shot with extenders.
My experience is that you can use 1.4x and 2x extenders and get incredibly crisp photos. You need good glass to start with and the highest quality extenders (and have very good technique). Morris even "stacks" one extender on top of another, and gets excellent quality. I suspect, but don't know, that Canon extenders are better with Canon lenses (which is what I use) and the same for Nikon. I will tell you that the latest extenders from Canon are better than the older ones. I'll post some photos all shot with extenders. You tell me if they are crisp.

So..... get either the Canon 1.4iii or the 2x iii and stick'em on your 70-200; you will get great results.
first photo is with 600mm plus 2x
second is 600mm with 1.4x
Hummer is with 300mm with 1.4x
loon is 300 with 1.4x

(Download)


(Download)




(Download)

Get a Black Rapid Sport strap

Hey, Lazy aint all that bad! Let me jog your mind a little. Consider a Canon 300mm F2.8; Yeah, I know it is really big, really expensive, and it is not a zoom. But until you try one, you will never experience a truly fabulous lens. I borrowed one for a day about 15 years ago, and knew that I had to get one, somehow someway. Incredibly fast, crazy good and crisp. It may be outside your budget. But consider, the value of that lens will not drop much in 10 years, so you are tying up money, not loosing it. Borrow one, rent one and it will be your "go to lens" after you figure out how to pay for one.
Good luck
Bill

You will be disappointed on how slow the Fuji focuses compared to a DSLR; I tried the switch a couple of years ago and sold the Fuji after about 6 months. Can you get good photos? Yeah, but after a DSLR you are spoiled
Bill

Duh, A better beamer!