No serious photographer with his or her own blog can be without at least one post about the equipment one uses. So, as I aim to be a tad bit more serious, I will provide you with this crucial information right here and now!

Since many of the photos on this website are taken at different eras within my photography journey, from budding amateur with low-end stuff, to serious photographer with professional equipment, I will write this post as a timeline. That way, you can more easily tell what equipment I was using when most of the photos were taken – as I add dates to most of my photos – and also understand why some of my photos are markedly worse than others.

2012-2015 – South Africa years

The above equipment is what made me fall in love with photography. It is a low end camera and lens, but it was more than decent enough for some great photos. I got it as a birthday gift before travelling to South Africa, where I ended up staying for almost 2 years. Basically all my photos of African wildlife on this website (which, at the moment, are most photos to be honest) are taken with this camera and lens (as of 2023, with the hopes of going back to Africa in not too long).

I could not stop taking photos with this equipment, and I ended up creating the very early versions of this blog as a consequence. I wanted to share all the amazing wildlife I came across. I also met and befriended more serious photographers during my stay in South Africa, who inspired me to keep going and improving my skills. They also made me determined to someday upgrade my equipment to something even better. 

The number one issue I had with this equipment was first and foremost the lack of focal length (the zoom capabilities in layman’s terms). It was mostly fine with mammals getting up close to the car, but I began falling in love with birds at the time and wanted to get good photos of those as well. They proved to be much more of challenge, unless I got real close. Other issues were grainy photos at low light and bad weather (bad photos at high ISO), and the depth of field at maximum zoom (high f-stop value). A shallow depth of field means the subject is in focus and the background is blurred. To get this, one needs a low f-stop number (f/1.4 to f/4). A value of f/5.6, which was what the camera and lens gave me, works fine if the subject is really close and in good lighting, but I rarely got that close with this focal length (250 mm at maximum zoom), and the subject was seldom bathed in perfect light. 

I did get a bunch of decent shots, especially when both lighting and distance all came together, and here are a few of my favorites:

2015-2019 – Back to Norway

After my stay in South Africa I came back to Norway with a plan to invest in new camera equipment, and after a few months of saving up I got the equipment I wish I had back in South Africa. I got the professional, medium priced, Canon 7D Mark II and the very best zoom lens for wildlife Canon has to offer, the fantastic EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM.

I was always going to continue with Canon, as I was very satisfied with the previous combination of camera and lens. It also meant I did not have to relearn how the basics of the camera works. I’d also seen (and tested) some top of the line Canon gear used by some of the more experienced photographers, and knew it was a safe bet to upgrade with them.

So, what did I actually get with this upgrade? As stated, the 7D Mk II is a professional camera, with a sharp increase in quality in the photos themselves, a faster shutter speed (can take photos faster, and sharper, which is great for moving targets), better auto focus, and much better quality at low light. It was a whole new world! An added perk for a bird photographer is the fact that it has a crop sensor, which means you have a smaller sensor compared to many other professional cameras, which have full frame sensors. This means it is lighter, less expensive, but also that you have an added zoom factor of 1.6. Which basically means you automatically get 1.6 times closer to the subject you photograph, even without zoom. With birds often being so far away, this ended up being very helpful. It is also waterproof and can withstand harsh conditions much better than my previous gear. A must when doing wildlife photography.

The lens was the real game changer for me, however. The second generation of Canon’s top of the line zoom lens with a focal length ranging from 100 to 400 mm, and an f-stop of 5.6 at full zoom (400 mm), which is very good for a zoom lens like this! The added crop factor of the 7D Mk II make it actually reach a whooping 640 mm (400*1.6) at full zoom. I finally got the reach needed for more skittish and distant birds, and for me now being in Norway, this was essential. Large mammals are hard to come by in Norway, so birds are all you get most of the time. This lens, however, is not perfect for bird photography, and is more of an all-round wildlife zoom lens. It is perfect for safari conditions (maybe the best there is?), where both larger and smaller animals can be either close or further away, and conditions can change from one moment to the next. I bought the lens with the intention of soon being back in such conditions. 

Things didn’t really happen as planned. I ended up with a full time job as a teacher (a job I absolutely love by the way). New priorities arose with this new state of existence, and a trip back to safari conditions seemed further and further away. I managed to still do photography when time allowed, and my passion for bird photography grew, but my equipment (which was very good still) kept coming up just short of what I really wanted. The first thing I began noticing was the lack of quality in low lighting (not ideal for lengthy sunrises and sunsets during the Norwegian summer months). It was heaps and bounds above my first camera, but the 7D Mk II is far from the best in this area. I also rarely got those super sharp and focused pictures of subjects with blurred out backgrounds, where the animal just pops out in the photo. A zoom lens is not perfect for such photos, at least not for smaller and more distant wildlife, such as birds. Another upgrade was needed if I were to get the bird photos I desired.

I still managed to get quite the amount of decent shots with this equipment, and it was a massive upgrade on my first camera and lens (the leopard photo here is taken at a zoo):

2019-Present – Years in dept

I really stepped up my photography game in the spring of 2019, and got to photograph some really nice and rare birds (such as the red-breasted goose and grasshopper warbler in the gallery above), but I felt my photos left something to be desired. I needed to improve my equipment if I was to continue photographing birds. The first thing I wanted to improve was better quality photos in suboptimal lighting, which, as stated earlier, the 7D Mk II struggles with. I did a bunch of research and ended up deciding the Canon 1DX Mark II would be my best option. The only problem? It was Canon’s flagship camera, and their most expensive one at the time (the Mark III has come along since then). That was money I did not have. Earlier that same year I had begun setting aside and saving up a decent amount of money each month (for no other reason than to have a more secure financial future). So, I figured, why not take up a loan and use some of that money to pay off the camera over time? The desire to wield such an amazing camera was too strong. I gave in, took out a loan, and bought the damned thing.

What did I get? A massive lump of a camera. A lot heavier than my previous two. It is also a full frame camera, so no crop factor of 1.6 getting me closer to the subjects. Full frame cameras provide better quality images, however, especially the 1DX Mk II. Which meant I could crop the images on the computer afterwards, with not much of a dip in image quality compared the built in crop on the 7D Mk II. It was also a massive step up in the quality at poor lighting conditions. Suddenly I did not have to worry too much about high ISO (to tackle poor lighting), as the images rarely had any noise in them no matter the conditions I shot in. This is great when editing images on the computer afterwards, as the sharpness and details are retained in the photo even at low light. Further still, the camera is super fast, and great at auto focusing, making it even better at capturing fast moving wildlife. 

I was super happy with the camera, but one thing was lacking. The reach, which was even poorer now, with the crop factor removed. The images I got was better quality, but I still struggled to get the birds further away (which are most birds to be honest). It only took a couple of weeks from me buying the 1DX Mk II to me deciding on getting myself a Canon prime lens (lenses that are fixed at a focal length, so no zooming in and out). The prime lenses are optimized for their focal length, providing insane quality images and fantastic depth of field. If you want your subject to really pop in an image and have fully blurred out backgrounds, these are the lenses you need. Again, I did my research, and I ended up wanting to go with the absolutely incredible Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM. A top of the line lens with a fixed focal length of 500 mm, and an f-stop at 4 (meaning I could get a very shallow depth of field even at long distances). I had googled images taken with this lens, and knew this was what I needed to get the photos I’d always dreamt of. 

There was only one issue. It was expensive. Very expensive! Twice the price of the camera! As luck would have it, a store on the other side of the country was selling a used one at a discounted price, and in great condition! So, at a price just a tad bit more than the camera, and not double the price, what did I do? I took out another loan, of course (after careful considerations, as I did not want to end up in any financial difficulties).

When buying the very best Canon has to offer in both the camera and lens department (I’m talking real pro league here), I had to spend even more money on equipment to match with it. I got an extender (Canon Extender EF 1.4x III – see photo below) to add at the base of the lens. This increased the zoom by a factor of 1.4, making the 500 mm lens a 700 mm lens, thus increasing the reach beyond what I ever had before. This increased the f-stop on the lens from 4 to 5.6 (in theory making it a bit harder to get a shallow depth of field in poorer lighting conditions), but with the 1DX as the engine, that would not matter much.

The lens was also a lot heavier, but just on the right side of taking handheld photos (anything larger and a stand would be mandatory). It would still be quite heavy to wield over longer periods, especially when you are stationary, so I bought a top of the line tripod stand for such occasions, and a great gimbal head to go with it. Gimbal heads provide excellent mobility when the camera is mounted on a tripod, and can turn in any direction (360° and both up and down).

To carry all this, I needed the perfect backpack. I opted for F-Stop Tilopa. F-Stop is a company that designs and manufactures backpacks specifically for photographers, and going by reviews and a bit of research it seemed perfect for my needs. What makes their setup ideal is the customizable compartment structure on the inside (bought additionally), which is easily accessible through a zipper opening at the back. You can rearrange the compartments as needed, so that your lenses and cameras have their own compartment and are easy to add and remove. Lots of other rooms and compartments on top and on the front, as well as straps on the side for fastening things, are also great. You can see my backpack with the tripod fastened on one side, and a foldable field chair on the other at the very top of this article (as well as the rest of my gear).

Along with a ghillie suit I was now ready to take on the wildlife world and would be up to any challenge that came my way. Fast forward to a few years later, and I do not regret a single purchase. Even though I haven’t done as much photographing as I’d hoped for over the last few years (because of circumstances), the equipment has more than delivered! I feel comfortable that I can get something decent out of any circumstances when I have my gear with me. And every time I set out on a mission to photograph something I almost always end up blown away by the results. Is it expensive? Yes! Is it worth it? OH YES!! Worth every penny, even though it took me a few years of down payments (but I’m finally debt free now).

Here are some of my favorite photos so far with my high end camera and lens (and hopefully many more will come in the coming years):