Recent content by ctrollen

After much deliberation I bought a Punks Billy and am also impressed with the quality. Obviously it's less compact than the Corey but it certainly handles an 80D OK and I use the detachable monopod leg when shooting wildlife with a 100-400.

I bought my 80D from HDEW and can't complain about their service. Mine actually went back for a minor issue to be sorted but communication was good. My two most used lenses are the 100-400 and 15-85, the latter being an excellent all-round lens and I'd not hesitate to recommend one.

A couple of Migrant Hawker shots taken at Hosehill Lake, Theale, Berks last week. Canon 80D, 100-400L ii + 1.4x iii Migrant Hawker by Chris Trollen, on Flickr Migrant Hawker by Chris Trollen, on Flickr

The 15-85 is excellent and is my "walkabout" lens but I got it to replace my 18-55. I can heartily recommend the 55-250 IS STM. I reckon it's one of the best value for money lenses. It will also work with a Kenko 1.4x TC albeit only with manual focus & in good light.

You don't say what you're after but ultimately only you can make the final decision. Using the body I currently have (80D) just as an example, the cheapest UK-sourced is £999, grey from HDEW is £625 and used but described as "like new" from MPB is £769, so there's big savings to be had...

It really depends on your budget. I currently have a pretty flimsy Velbon which was only £50 or so and is fine for use with a spotting scope but completely useless when it comes to mounting a DSLR & long lens. And if there's a slight breeze forget it! I'm in the market for something more...

Take enough capacity on SD cards to get you through the day and then just backup to the laptop every evening. Any USB, Bluetooth, wireless, NFC or whatever connection is likely to be pretty slow anyway.

Canon user, right? I mainly use DPP which is a free download from Canon as it covers most of my needs (tweaking colours, a bit of cloning, cropping etc.). Did I mention that it's free? I also have Affinity which I can heartily recommend. I generally use it only when I want to do something...

For wildlife and sport you're going to need a long-ish lens. If you really need to stay within your budget then a used Canon 750D (mpb.com have a few starting at £364) with a new 55-250 IS STM (£151 from Amazon, £122 used from Camera Jungle) might keep you happy for a while. You could use that...

I can't post a proper link as this is my first post (although I've lurked for a while) but go to Vimeo.com and search for Affinity Photo Canvas Resizing