So I bought a camera. Now what do I do…

How exciting… I had previously been rolling with my Canon EOS 1100D paired with my Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 EF IS USM for all my wildlife shooting. The lens was excellent for my needs; irregular shooting. I was content for years with this. It was solid, reliable and has taken some decent shots. It tried very hard but could no longer keep up with the big boys; a child prodigy. I had questions bouncing round my head. Do I have enough zoom? How can I shoot better in low light conditions? How are such beautiful pictures rolling around the net? My recent trip around Australia gave me some serious thinking time and made me ponder an upgrade.

Essentially, I have decent shots with amazing subjects. I want amazing shots with amazing subjects!  As well as this, Instagram really opened my eyes to the talented people out there with some great shots (I also asked myself, what do these people do? And how do they have the time to take these photos?!?) Who knows. Their passion and hunger must greatly exceed some daily responsibilities. That’s cool. I have that passion too.  And a great partner who will say “yes dear”.

So researching this camera thing is like learning a new language. I had basic knowledge of what was out there and was completely snowed under when I delved deeper and deeper into the research. I started to feel like I was learning a new language, but what I was learning was Spanish and my destination was Brazil. With each new page came more and more incomprehensible descriptions. I had to narrow my search. So I did. I thought… what exactly what I was going to use this camera for? Wildlife… check! Occasional sport… check! Occasional party (maybe)… check! I came to the realisation that in order to purchase something durable, reliable and of high quality, it was not that hard, nor was it going to cost me an arm and a leg (but do not ask my great partner I mentioned earlier about the cost!)

I just had to think about what was going to be best for the task at hand.

I had come to a conclusion on the body. I was to buy a Canon 7D Mark II.  Canon was familiar. And never let me down. And the 7D had very attractive features for the wildlife shooter. What attracted me most were its ability to shoot at 10 frames per second (fps), up to 1/8000^th second shutter speed (fast!) and the 65 point autofocus system (essentially 65 points across the screen to find something to focus on and stay on it). Many wildlife photographers were rocking this body, some of high admiration and esteem. And now I’ll be rocking it! Super stoked. Now really looking forward to discovering the little features and nuances the camera has to offer. 

What it really comes down to are your exact needs for you. When its broken down that simply, its easy! Way less daunting. You can’t use every lens or body in all situations but you can certainly tailor your choices to your absolute needs. I just wrote a list.

Looking forward to using this baby!