Gear

January 1, 0001

People email me about this, so here it is. Last reviewed February 2026.

Bodies

Fujifilm X-T5 — my main body for nearly everything. The 40 MP sensor is overkill for how I shoot, but I like the files, I like the color profiles, and I like not having to think about the camera when there’s something worth watching. Switched to it from an X-T3 in mid-2024 and it was the first upgrade I’ve made that I immediately noticed every time I used the camera.
Olympus OM-1 — when I’m going to be on my feet for eight hours and don’t want shoulder pain. Smaller, lighter, and the IBIS is genuinely absurd. I mostly use this for long hikes where wildlife is a bonus rather than the goal.
Ricoh GR III — in my jacket pocket, always. About half of my city and close-to-home photos are from this. It is not a wildlife camera.

Fujinon XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 — the reason I chose Fujifilm. For birds and any skittish mammals. Slow aperture on paper; in practice it has been fine 90% of the time. The tripod foot is mandatory.
Fujinon XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 — my travel zoom. Lighter than the 150-600 and enough reach for most of what I actually shoot when I’m not specifically chasing birds.
Fujinon XF 23mm f/2 — my walkaround prime. Lives on the body when I’m not taking photos of anything in particular.
Fujinon XF 80mm f/2.8 macro — spiders, flowers, mushrooms. I use it rarely but it’s the lens I regret not having when I don’t.
Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/4 PRO — on the OM-1, basically always.

The Fujifilm XF 100-400 — decent, but the 150-600 obsoleted it for me the week it arrived.
The Nikkor Z 180-600 on a Z body I rented for a week — excellent lens, but Nikon’s whole system didn’t click with me, or more honestly I didn’t want to learn a new menu.

Swarovski NL Pure 10x42 — my only serious splurge. If you’re tempted, spend half as much as you were planning to and get the best thing at that price. What I like about these is that I can leave them around my neck for a full day and my shoulders don’t notice.
Nikon Monarch M5 8x42 — my backup and loaner pair. Not as good at dawn and dusk, but otherwise honestly pretty close.

Peak Design Everyday Backpack 20L — for long days with two bodies and a telephoto.
Shimoda Explore V2 25L — when I need a dedicated camera backpack for travel.
Think Tank Turnstyle 5 — for quick outings when I want to look less like a tourist.

Darktable for almost all raw processing. I used Lightroom for years and switched in 2023 when I got tired of the subscription model. It took a weekend to get fluent.
RawTherapee for the odd file Darktable struggles with.
Hugo for this site, with a homegrown theme.

Field Notes Kraft squared — I keep one in my jacket for sightings, weather, and anything I want to remember to look up.
A dedicated species journal — a single notebook, filling slowly, one species per page. Far from any digital app.

Autofocus subject detection beyond “bird” and “animal” — I find it distracting more than helpful.
Any form of cloud backup that isn’t just a cron job.
Image-recognition apps for ID. If I can’t figure out what I saw from field guides and the iNaturalist community, I write “unidentified” and move on.