Late March came and Covid lockdown had just started here in the UK. I had been considering a camera upgrade for a few months now. Having this time off from work gave me plenty of time to start looking at what camera to get next.
At that time I had a Nikon D5300 with the 18-55mm kit lens, a 35mm f1.8 and the 70-300mm all DX crop sensor. I had been thinking about upgrading for a while but was waiting for the car to be fully paid off. Finally that time came at the end of March so now was the time to get looking.
Making the Choice
Choosing a new camera wasn’t easy. There are so many options out there, all with different strengths and features. I spent a lot of time researching, comparing, and thinking about what I actually needed rather than what looked good on paper.
Owning a Nikon that was obviously my first point of call, but knowing I wasn’t heavily invested in too much equipment and knowing moving from a crop sensor to full frame this was the time to checkout other brands.
I really wanted to move into the Mirrorless market so my first thought was the Nikon Z6, but recently I was really looking at moving to Canon, and with the announcement of the Canon R5 just around the corner I was sure that was the camera for me. Then the realisation of the price hit me. Buying the camera alone would be fine but I needed lenses aswell, I didn’t want to be stuck with one lens for the next 5 years. So after a lot of consideration I decided to check out the EOS R and the 24-105 f/4 L lens which should cover my Landscape photography needs.
Yes on paper this camera was slated, but real world reviews weren’t that bad, yeah it had its limitations but coming from my crop sensor it was a big step up and was reasonably priced to get me into the mirrorless market and the RF lens lineup, also this left room in my budget for 1 more lens. I figured a lens for wildlife would be a good option.
Lets throw a telephoto lens into the mix
Not wanting to throw 5k at a wildlife lens I looked at the Sigma and Tamron options of the 150-600. Reviews looked good for theses lenses so after some thought and knowing a few mates owned the Sigma, I purchased the Sigma 150-600 F5-6.3 DG OS HSM contemporary.
I ordered all this kit and was very excited. My wife was alittle unhappy with the fact I had not mentioned it and blew quite a few thousand in a time while on lockdown with the potential of losing our jobs. Well this gear kept me occupied in the garden with some bird photography for the next few months.
Yes I wanted the R5 but somethings you just have to build up to, and I do love my EOS R and have no regrets buying this. It was the right camera for the right budget to move systems, and a considerable upgrade from my previous camera.
Check out all of my gear here
