As stated in the Bio, I have been doing photography for many years. Over that time, I have tried a few from cameras from SLR to Compacts.

Cameras

One of my early cameras, was the Olympus AX3. In my option, I think this was a brilliant little film camera, and I took many good photos with it.

As I progressed, I upgraded to a Pentax SLR. I didn't have this for long, as I decided I want something with a little more automation.

This is when I bought my Canon EOS 100. I was and am still very impressed with this camera and despite having upgraded to digital, I still have this Camera and occasionally use it.

In August 2001, I decided to go digital and bought a compact camera. This was because I wanted a small camera for ease of use. I bought, the FujiFilm 6800z

You will find many photos on this website taken with this camera. Again, this is one of the best cameras I have owned.

The 6800z served me very well, and has taken many good photos. At 3mp, its quality is quite good, and I have printed photos upto A3 in size. The only drawback is the zoom, at 3x optical its not really enough.

In 2003, I bought a Canon 300D.

I choose this for several reasons. Firstly, it was of course the first sub £1000 DSLR which makes it very attractive, but mainly, because I already owned a Canon and knew what they where like. Of course, all my lenses from my EOS 100 fit, which is a bonus.

I have been really impressed and pleased with this camera. It has taken some very good photos, some of which can be seen on this website.

As I progressed with my wildlife photography I started to find the limits of the 300D. The main issue I had was the frames per second, and startup time. Always keeping my camera turned on, I found the wake-up time for the 300D too slow. Also I found that I was constantly filling the buffer when taking wildlife shots and this was becoming more frustrating.
By now the obvious choice for upgrading was the 20D. So in September 2005, I bought the 20D. Body only.

In 2006 I decided I needed a replacement compact camera. The FujiFilm 6800z had been and still is a brilliant camera, but now the batteries nolonger hold a charge and it only has a 3mp sensor. Given that the 20D was now 8mp, and that I am selling lots of my images, I thought I need something a bit more up to date. Plus, although it was pocket size, it would only fit in large pockets.
In April, Canon released the IXUS 800 IS. This was ideal. It had a 4x optical zoom, 6mp and Image Stabilizer. I would have liked a bigger zoom, but it was only mean't to a secondary camera and mainly for evening use.

Lenses

Initially I used the Canon 18-55mm, 28-200mm Sigma, Canon 100-300mm USM.

In July 2004 I purchased a Canon 100-400mm IS L.

This is my favourite lens and is nearly always 'guled' to the camera!

I had some initial problems with filters on the 100-400 causing unusual patterns. See Filter comparison. I now have a Hoya Pro 1 filter on it and have no problems. See Santago Leopards for the results.

In 2005 I purchased a dedicated Macro lens. Sigma 105mm Macro.

In June 2007 I went to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and decided it was time to buy a new lens to cover the event. I purchased the 17-85mm IS, which will now replace the 18-55mm kit lens that came with the 300D

My Current Equipment is:

When I dont want to carry the 100-400, I'll use the 100-300

Other Equipment
When I went to Spain in September 2004 I was faced with another dilema of running out of Flash Cards. I purchased an iRiver H340. This is a brilliant device for storing music and of course photos. It was justified as I took over 1500 photos, 3.2 Gb.