The Standard Gear
© jmillerphoto.com – Clouded Sulphur butterfly
In the About the Image section, I often mention “The Standard Gear.” For a long time it didn’t matter if it was birds, butterflies, or dragonflies, I had a setup that I used almost exclusively.
Starting in mid-2015 and culminating in early 2016, I added a couple more pieces of equipment and now what I shoot with varies by what I’m going to be shooting. The equipment is listed below, but the Standard Gear is broken down by what I’m shooting:
Dragonflies, Butterflies, and/or while hiking:
Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 300mm f/4 IS USM L Lens w/Canon EF Extender II 1.4x, Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 Tripod and Manfrotto 322RC2 Tripod Head
Birds (especially from inside a blind)
Canon 7D Mark II, Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD, Manfrotto 055XB and WH-200 Wimberley Head Version II
Camera:
Canon 7D Mark II:
Images made after June 2015 were made with this remarkable camera. I soul-searched really hard before buying this one instead of the 70D. But I really love this camera. Very rugged. Wonderfully bright viewfinder. Super fast burst mode. And can still auto focus with lenses that have a minimum aperture of over f/5.6. I love this camera. I just wish I had more time to use it.
Canon 60D:
Images made before June 2015 were made with this very reliable, prosumer camera from Canon. Not as good as the 7D, but for a few hundred dollars less I will deal with a slightly less rugged build and a smaller/dimmer eye piece.
Glass:
Canon EF 300mm f/4 IS USM L Lens:
This is a lens that I would never have bought for myself (because there would have been a death in the family–my bride would have killed me). But she bought this for me as recognition of receiving my undergraduate degree and I wasn’t going to tell her no. It has been mounted on four different cameras (10D, 30D, 60D, and 7D Mark II) and I expect it will remain in the arsenal until I finally drop the damned thing.
Canon EF Extender II 1.4x:
I bought this on a flyer about 4 years ago. It is the last piece of Canon glass I purchased. I honestly cannot tell a difference in image quality when it is paired up on the 300mm between having it on or not having it on. I lose an f-stop, but the extra 120mm is well worth it.
Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD
I lusted after this lens for about a year before I finally made the leap. Quick focusing, sharp as a tack, and very reliable.
In addition to the standard gear, there are a set of other tools that I use to aid in my image making.
Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 Tripod and Manfrotto 322RC2 Tripod Head
After I broke my wrist a few years ago, I rediscovered the advice often given but hardly heeded: Put that camera on a tripod. I was genuinely amazed at how much sharper my images were once I slowed down, put the camera on a tripod, and then started hitting the shutter release. I have only had the tripod for a couple of years–it replaced an older, much heavier Bogen/Manfrotto 3021 Pro that I shot with over the years but just was not hike/travel friendly. The 190CXPRO4 is a carbon fiber tripod. It is light yet steady. Part of me wishes I’d bought the next step up in terms of height only because I have to raise the center column more often that I would like, but all in all I’m satisfied. The 322RC2 gives me an extra element of speed that I crave when I’m shooting dragonflies.
Manfrotto 055XB and WH-200 Wimberley Head Version II
This setup is much, much heavier than the 190XCXPRO4/322RC2 setup. But for working inside of a blind where stability is much more important than portability, this thing is incredible. Purchased second-hand from the best bird photographer I have ever met, I do not set foot into a blind unless I have this tripod/head combination with me. Why waste my time with anything else?
Manfrotto 334B Monopod and Manfrotto 3229 Head
When the tripod was too heavy, or still when I don’t have someplace to put up three tripod legs, this has been a very dependable performer in the field. The Monopod is about three years old. The head is closer to 6 and was part of the last monopod setup I had. Both need to be replaced but neither are high on my list of priorities.
Jim's Assorted, Usually Photographic, Ramblings 
Do your 300 mm lens and 1.4 extender let you come that close to the birds? I often see people carrying around those gigantic 600 or 800 mm lenses that I can never afford…
Great question. The answer is it depends on where I’m shooting and what bird am I shooting. As an example, my recent shot of a Western Scrub-Jay that I have in portrait format was actually a landscape format image that I cropped the center out of. In that shot, I took nothing off the top or bottom of the image, just the two sides. So what was originally a 5184×3456 pixel image became 2765×3456 pixel image. Had the bird been turned to the side I probably would have gone landscape with the image and it still would have occupied much of the frame. But again, this was shot in a bird blind so the birds are more willing to get close and thus I can fill the frame.
Thanks for your response. I am still amazed at the clarity and the amount of details in your bird shots.