Costa Rica - What's in my backpack and how do I fly with heavy equipment?

[@steveherman1283]

Thanks for posting. I happen to be in Costa Rica with a RF 600 f4 + R5 next to me. I shoot mainly from our house, over the past hour or so I have fired about 1000 shots at tanagers, warblers, honey creeper, double toothed kite and a pair of great curassows. I also brought 100-500 & R7 but not seen much use, most birds are in shade / low light & f4 wins. Same for the R7 I don’t get as many keepers compared to R5. Agree the rf600f4 is a PITA to carry by air. Lately I have been using a standard roller bag it fits by bending the sides then I even out the weight of other stuff computers etc in a small backpack. Cheers

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

How is the weight of such a roller bag? Can you manage to stay below the 8kg?

[@nyilinnthit]

Again thanks a lot Fabian! For my upcoming trip to CR in May, these tips about what you carry and how you manage are very useful. I use Mindshift Backlight 36L to carry the combo of EF 500L II + R5. I am a little worried about the weight as it may easily get beyond 8 Kg. Let's see! I'd also take RF 70-200L and EF 24L II. I was hesitant about my EF 100L macro in the beginning and after watching your video, I think it's worth taking along. I also use Mr.Jan Gear's carry system and am very happy with it. As for the tripod, at first I thought to take with me Gitzo GT 3543LS with Flexshooter Pro. Now, you made me change my mind. I have also the same GT 2545T and I'll take that one instead with FS. I mostly shoot handheld and it will be good enough. Thanks again from Lausanne!

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Happy to hear that!

[@peterb.7437]

Thanks for the video will be there next month. What a timely reminder. Thanks

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Have fun

[@EliudGilSamaniego]

i went there and only used 3 lenses fot 99% of the trip, i got 2 Z9s, one with the 800Z and the other with the 400mm f4.5, the third lens was the 105 macro. with that i got all covered and was really easy actually

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Sounds like a nice setup!

[@nortondefaria]

I'm a canon guy. Getting ready for my second CR trip. I checked most of the KZbin channels of the photographers I follow who have CR trip videos and the most impressive in terms of sharpness and detail is by far Mike Smith. His Sony images were beyond WOW. Envy.

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

I don’t think that this has anything to do with Canon vs Sony 😉

[@lexptr]

I sometimes take out the camera with some medium-sized lens and put it on me, to get the weigh down. That is because there is a list of items that should not be weighted. And camera is one of them (if it is out of the bag on you). Not sure whether it is a general or company specific rule though. For me it was relevant only on flights where only 5kg is allowed. My heaviest lens for now is about 1.5kg, so I'm perfectly fine when the limit is 8kg.

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

I heard about that, but didn’t find it written on all airlines. But I always have this as a „plan b“ in my head 😉

[@garymeredith2441]

This is a great insight in seeing how you travel thank you for showing us this . I am curious why you used the R10 instead of an R7, Great video here Fabian as always .

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Thanks! Mostly because of the price 😊

[@JoelRiveraMD]

Maybe now that Nikon has the 2.0 firmware on the Z8, using the 400mm TC 2.8 and another teleconverter might give you the convenience of bringing an f2.8 lens and will give you the reach that you need

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Definitely a nice option! I‘m not sure if I would have taken the 600/4 or 400/2.8 if I would be using Nikon

[@EliudGilSamaniego]

the 400 2,8 Z is an all in one lens, with the TC is a 600 f4 and with the external 2x is an 800 f5.6, you cant go wrong with it. in my travel to CR i sed the 800 z with the 2x a couple times with great results

[@JoelRiveraMD]

@@FabianFoppNaturephotography really ? Would you prefer then the 400 and 600 PF version instead ?

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

I‘m really not sure! It’s just that I often prefer the 600/4 over a 400/2.8

[@christineantoniuk]

I wonder if we were in the same places at all - we were in Costa Rica a month ago as well!

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

There will be more videos from Costa Rica following, so that might answer your question 😊

[@RogerZoul]

Thanks for the video. I am going to Panama in a month. Did you need a special power adapter for wall power in Costa Rica? If so, which one?

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Coming from Europe, yes! I had one that works for several countries

I wish i had such patience to carry a lot of gear like this. 1-3 lens is all you need in my opinion. Would choose 24-105, 100-500, and either some macro or rf 14-35, but could live without third one. With r5 you can crop some of image anyways, so 600 is not that much necessary. 24-105 is such amazing lens for travel.

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

I prefer the bokeh of the 600/4, you can’t have this with the 100-500. also, I was already at 16‘000 ISO with this combination - this would be 51‘200 with the 100-500!

[@przybylskipawel]

What is the advantage of using r10 instead of R7? Also equivalent apetrure of f2.8 lens on R10 is f4,5 which is not that great

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

Mainly the cheaper price of the R10 😉

[@przybylskipawel]

@@FabianFoppNaturephotography I must say I am surprised. Difference in price is nowhere near the cost of any quality lens. R10 cannot serve as wildlife aps-c body whereas R7 can be used essentially as 1,6x converter without optically degrading the image. To me it seems much better value, but of course that depends on your usecase.

[@gacjack]

I just returned from Costa Rica . The trip of a lifetime and I was there for 3 glorious weeks . I shoot and R7 with the EF 100-400 IS ll USM L series glass and approximately only 1 out of every 30 shots turned out . The camera would not turn on half the time and tracking was so difficult, even perched shots were soft . Do yourself a favor and bring a better camera , it was so disappointing.

[@adamwhittingham86]

You must have a faulty camera or just wrong settings. No way less than 5% of shots are sharp on any camera these days

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

I agree with Adam. That’s definitely not normal for an R7. Even with my R10 I got way more keepers

[@EliudGilSamaniego]

i used 2 z9s in my trip and never got any issue, i have heard issues with the humidity with canon and sony

[@jakecook716]

The R7 is a good camera but it does appear to have a common AF issue. The AF is known to grab onto distracting objects for still subjects. Check if your pictures are sharp on the surrounding areas instead of the subject, even though the focus point indicates on the subject. Apparently this happens with lack of contrast situations, but all cameras do require accurate settings to achieve perfect focus for the most part

[@gacjack]

@@jakecook716 Yes thanks I am used to that issue , however my camera would not even turn on half the time . Even when I used one shot rather than servo and I saw the green square over the eye saying it had focus the pics were still not sharp

[@donnancb]

What part of Costa Rica?

[@FabianFoppNaturephotography]

I was travelling around, going to different lodges