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Wildlife Gear

Ireland’s Wildlife gear reviews offer independent objective reviews of the latest wildlife and birding optics, outdoor clothing, wildlife photography equipment and accessories (including cameras, lenses, remote cameras, tripods, etc), wildlife observation gear (hides, camo gear, etc.) and more.

Vanguard Alta+ 264AO Tripod Kit

Alta+264AO

Pros: Compact, lightweight yet sturdy tripod that folds small for transport but extends to a decent height for comfortable use. Capable of supporting a full-size spotting scope or DSLR camera equipment securely. Two-way pan-head is smooth and easy to adjust with just one hand. Designed with birders in mind for spotting….

Panasonic Lumix G9 for Wildlife Photography

Lumix G9 + Leica DG 50-200mm

Pros: Incredibly fast burst shooting and blistering autofocus performance improves your chances of catching elusive wildlife moments. Superb build quality. Brilliant handling and ergonomics. Much smaller and lighter than equivalent DSLR system. Dual IS combines exceptional in-body sensor-shift stabilisation with excellent lens-based stabilisation (for compatible lenses) to make handholding at much slower shutter speeds viable. Outstanding….

Hawke Sapphire ED 8×42 Binocular Review

Hawke Saphire ED Binocular in action

Pros: Excellent image quality rivalling many much more expensive options. Superb wide field of view. Ergonomic, well-balanced magnesium alloy body gives a quality feel while remaining light. Great all-around performer offering superb value. Cons: Biggest gripe is the rain guard… which has no bearing on the quality of the binocular, but….

Panasonic Lumix G9 Photowalk

Panasonic Lumix G9 and Lumix GH5S in Ireland

Ever the innovators, Panasonic has just introduced two new cameras to its flagship Lumix G line of mirrorless compact system cameras (CSC). You may recall I tested the top-end Lumix GH5 in the third quarter of 2017, and was very impressed with the camera… so when I received an invitation….

Vanguard VEO2 265CB travel tripod

VEO2 265CB with full-size scope

Pros: incredibly lightweight tripod and versatile ball-head suitable for both spotting scope and photography. Excellent height for a travel tripod. Cons: a little light to hold a full-size spotting scope steady in all but the calmest conditions (ideal for a small 50mm travel scope or even a 65mm standard scope though)…..

Panasonic Lumix GH5 — a “birder on-tour” review

Spotted Flycatcher, Shetland

By sheer coincidence, while we had the Panasonic Lumix GH5 camera body and Leica DG 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens on loan for review, one of our review team was heading to Shetland for his annual autumn migration “pilgrimage”. We asked if he’d like to take the camera along and give….

Panasonic Lumix GH5 & Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm

Panasonic Lumix GH5 for Wildlife Photography

Pros: Professional build quality and comprehensive feature set, incredibly compact and light for an 800mm 35mm equivalent focal length setup, fast accurate autofocus, superb image stabilisation in the body and the lens made hand-holding at long focal lengths possible. Did I mention it was compact and light. Cons: Autofocus sometimes….

Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 Review

Tamron SP 150-600mm G2

Pros: The big one is reach — at 600mm on my Nikon DX format body it gives a staggering 900mm 35mm equivalent. Excellent image quality throughout the zoom range. Autofocus is quick and responsive, with minimal “hunting” and once locked on stays locked on (as long as you can keep the….

ZEISS Victory SF 10×42 Binocular Review

ZEISS Victory SF Review

Calvin Jones puts Zeiss’s flagship Victory SF binocular through its paces and sees how this “Alpha” optic measures up to life in the field in West Cork.

Gear Review: Vanguard Endeavor Bags

Pros: Designed with the birder / nature enthusiast in mind. Neutral olive colours and robust, non-rustle fabrics, thoughtful design. Insulated food pocket inspired. With three sizes in the range there’s a bag for every occasion Cons: Hard to find anything specific to fault here… a couple of spurious features I’d question….

Kite Caiman 8×42 Binocular Review

Kite Caiman Review

Pros: Solid entry-level binocular that’s comfortable and easy to use. Light, yet robust, this is an easy to handle binocular with good all-round ergonomics. Optically it delivers an impressively bright, sharp image across most of the wide field of view. Neutral colour balance, great contrast and minimal chromatic aberration. Cons: Slight….

Gear Review: Rockfish Groundhog Mens Wellington Boot

While you can pick up a perfectly functional pair of wellies for very little outlay, if you’re planning to spend a substantial amount of time in them it’s worth investing a bit extra for comfort, durability and support. That’s exactly what you’re getting when you buy the Rockfish Groundhog.