My last memories with this camera

Laughing Gulls
The black-headed one is in breeding plumage

For many years my Canon EOS T5 camera has been my trusty companion when I go birding or hiking. I have captured literally thousands of memories with it. I've taken tens of thousands of photos with it from as far away as South Dakota and Florida to the bird feeder in my backyard.  It has never broken or let me down.

   However, it was time to upgrade. Since I bought my camera Canon has made four generations of the T series of cameras. Despite always being there for me, my camera has some obvious limitations. Those limitations are getting more obvious the older my camera gets. 

   

   The camera that I should have by Tuesday is a Canon T7i. I have wanted it for months. This was not an impulse buy. I was going to wait until next year to buy it with my tax money. However, I am going on a boat trip to the Gulf Stream in September and I am going to Forsythe NWR in NJ in August. I figured if I'm going to these hallowed grounds for birders, I may was well get the camera now. The reviews are great and the camera is capable of doing things of much higher priced cameras.

   The first limitation that is driving me crazy is the "cropping power" of my camera. As you can imagine, when you get photos of little birds from a distance, you need to crop many of the photos. My camera is 18 megapixels. It just doesn't have the power to crop without distorting the image making it look fuzzy unless I get perfect light. My new camera is 24 megapixels. Getting sharp photos should be easier.

   Secondly, my camera takes forever to focus. I can't tell you how many birds have flown away while my viewfinder was trying to focus. Not only will the T7i focus faster, but the autofocus is incredible. Mine has a 9 point autofocus system the T7i has a 45 point autofocus. The faster focus should make life a lot easier when trying to get pictures of birds in flight. 

The T7i also comes with a bunch of other new features. It is capable of taking six photos/second. Mine takes 3/second. The camera is WIFI compatible, but I doubt I will ever use that.

My "weekend" this week was Thursday and Friday. If this was the last time my camera gets used before being retired, it went out with a hell of a bang. I saw some really great birds over the last three days.   Here are some photos from this past week

This photo and the two below are of Indigo Buntings at
Carter Preserve, Charlestown, RI

The front photo is a Stilt Sandpiper at Napatree
The back bird is a Greater Yellowlegs for size comparison.

Stilt Sandpiper alone. These are a rare visitor and a really
good find.

Viceroy Butterfly

Female King Eider another rare visitor from the north,
much more so in the summer

Bonaparte Gull, Napatree

Spotted Sandpiper, Napatree

Although I did a quick post about the American
Avocet below, it is such a great bird and worthy of another
photo

Forster's Tern

Lesser Yellowlegs

Willet

Least Tern
Photo upgrade

Thank you for the memories. Thanks for always being so reliable. It has been a hell of a ride with you.