Ft. Myers in April, which lens/camera combo do I bring

I'll be staying in Ft. Myers beach in may and want to shoot the Burrowing Owls of Cape Coral, bald eagles, and osprey in the area. I'm looking for input on which lens/camera combo to bring. Since this is a family vacation and not a photography trip, lighter is obviously better, and I would prefer to bring the lightest combo of Canon 7d mkii and 400mm f/5.6. Will the 400mm f/5.6 be enough lens?

This is what I have available:

Canon 1dx
Canond 7dmkii
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 mkii IS
Canon 300mm f/2.8 mkii IS
Canon 400mm f/5.6
Canon extender 1.4 iii
Canon extender 2.0 iii

Heya,

The 400 F5.6 is plenty for the owls & osprey. Probably not going to see a lot of bald eagles and if so, if they're flying, you will not have enough lens even with an 800mm, so if you get lucky and find one nested or perched with lunch, a lens might help. I would focus on the owls & ospreys as you'll get to actually see more of them at closer range more often.

You could actually get away with a 200~300mm lens for owls. But for osprey, you'll definitely want the longer lens.

The 300 F2.8 would obviously be awesome, but as you mentioned, you are on vacay, not a photography trip and lightweight is the name of the game when it's leisure. So the 400 F5.6 should do fine for you.

Take a 1.4x TC in the pocket, your 7D2 can use it, if you are at a point where you can't get closer to a perched bird. That's a lot of extra feather detail.

Very best,

I agree the 400mm 5.6 with 1.4 extender if necessary on the 7D II would be ideal. I was just in that area shooting the owls last weekend. The combo of the 7D II with the 400 will be perfect.

I would recogmend bringing only the 7dii and 300mm f2.8 is II with converters. Even though it's not a photo trip you might find your 400 a little long in some situations, and a little short in others.

Any recommendations on getting some decent owl shots?

stinky wrote in post #17969982
Any recommendations on getting some decent owl shots?

I would show up early (before the sun rises), and get in position. The owls will already be up. The burrowing owls will be relaxed around you if you are lower to the ground. Also, while its dark out you should be able to see them standing guard making an active burrow easy to locate (look for the white post indicating a burrow).