Northern pintail courtship flight Northern pintail courtship flight in the Sacramento Valley California photo by James Leash of Sharp-Eye Images

Hi All,

Since I get a ton of requests to know what I'm shooting with for wildlife photography I'll give you a little information here. Also, my go-to store for everything photography with clickable shopping link here is Adorama. 

I have a Nikon Z8 mirrorless along with two Nikon D500 DSLR bodies, of which I will normally have a Nikon 200-400mm F4 on one body (sometimes with a 1.4 teleconverter attached too) and either a 300mm F4 or 70-200mm 2.8 zoom depending on the subject matter mounted on the other. This is my basic go to set up for birds.

Now for those who often request information about what the best "starter" camera and lens combos are...!

For this I tell everyone that they are going to get way better and more up to date info and advice from either a camera store or someone who is into camera gear sales. I say this because a lot of us that have been doing this for awhile may not be in the market for new gear. The best place to start is to pick a brand like Nikon, Canon, or Sony and get with a sales person and let them know what features you think you want/need in a DSLR or mirrorless camera. They are experts because they see the latest gear and gadgets on a daily basis. Tell them your current budget and see where you fall in getting started. I always recommend buying at the high end of what you can afford so that you don't outgrow your gear too quickly!

Good luck,

James