5 Must-Have Gear Tips For PERFECT Wildlife Shots
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- These are my 5 must-have gear tips for getting perfect wildlife shots. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, these tips will help elevate your Wildlife filmmaking skills.
This is my suggested gear list for everything I discussed in the video. Leave a comment if you have any questions about this list.
Lens:
Sigma 60-600mm Canon EF Mount
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Sigma 60-600mm Sony E mount
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Sigma 60-600mm Nikon F
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Sigma TC 2001 Canon EF
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Sigma TC 2001 Nikon F Mount
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Tripods and Fluid Head System Recommendations
Budget options: under $500
SIRUI SQ75+VHS10 Carbon Fiber Tripod
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Mid Range: Options: $500 - $1000
Benro A673TM Dual Stage Aluminium Video Tripod S8PRO Head - 75mm Bowl
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Benro BV8 Twin Leg Aluminum Tripod Kit (BV8)
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Manfrotto Nitrotech 612 Fluid Video Head with Carbon 645 Fast Twin Video Tripod
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Ace Fluid Head with 2-Stage Aluminum Tripod
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Higher End Options: $1000+
Sachtler Ace XL MK II Fluid Head with Flowtech 75 Carbon Fiber Tripod
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Sachtler aktiv10 Sideload Fluid Head System with flowtech100
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ND Filters:
Hard Stop
Breakthrough Photography 105mm X4 6-Stop Fixed ND Filter
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Breakthrough Photography 105mm X4 3-Stop Fixed ND Filter
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Variable ND
K&F Concept 105mm Variable ND Filter (1-5 Stops)
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Meike MK-EFTR-C VND RF to EF adaptor
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Recording monitor:
Atomos Ninja 5.2" 4K HDMI Recording Monitor
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Libec Trigger Record (Be sure it works with your camera model)
www.libec-glob...
Camera used for this video:
Sony FX30
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My most recommended camera for Wildlife Filmmaking:
Zcam E2-S6 Professional Super 35mm 6K Cinema Camera
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I'm a little late to the party but my boys out here winning Emmy's!? Nothing short of amazing to see where life has taken you, so proud of you brother! Miss ya!
Thanks for breaking down all the gear details.
Love the video, James. Great tips as always - particularly when it comes to tripods. Been using the Canon 200-800 lately but would love to do a side by side comparison with the Sigma. Obviously with the Canon you give up some mm on the short end that gets offset with the 800mm on the other end.
Hi James
Thanks for sharing these tips, very helpful! Your videography is incredible!
Stef🦊
Thanks for this review of your equipment it was very nice to see. I have about the same equipment myself but have an older camera Sony Fs7 that I am very happy with. It has pre-record and also built-in ND filter. The tripod I use the most is an older Vinten Vision 10. I use Sigma 60-600 mm. super lens!! and sometimes uses the Sigma extender 2.0. Maybe I should use it more often? Thanks again for a great video. Best regards KD Arvidsson Sweden
Love this! Great tips, thank you so much James!
Thanks, man. Hope all is well.
Love the tips! What would you recommend for getting camera movement shots? Trying to find a cheap and portable slider set up for my rig to create those shots you always see on planet earth that track the animal while moving the camera
Solid information. Keep Well & Stay Safe 👍🇬🇧
Thanks, will do!
Great video with practical tips
Thanks!! Will you include any of these items in your kit?
Fantastic James thanks for sharing. Cheers
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Feel free to ask any questions about filmmaking gear.
Excellent video and great tips! I’ll start filming my dog and work my way up to wild bears…
I look forward to seeing your dog videos!
Hi James, really interesting video! I am using a Canon R5 (and plan to step up to the R1) with the Sigma 60-600 EF lens attached to the RF-EF filter insert adapter. My current problems are that the Sigma isn't parfocal so the focus slips immediatelly when zooming and of course that the counter-balance is gone when the length of this zoom changes. The rest is really good material for my amateur approach (at least I am stunned when watching the R5 4K films).
That is definitely the drawback of the lens.
There is no parfocal lens in the budget range but internal zoom isn't new. Sony 200-600 is an internal zoom lens, so you can either change the whole system to Sony or we can pray that canon or any third party makers make a tele with internal zoom.😅
@ YES!!! Come on Canon or Sigma. That 200-600 is a great lens but I feel way too restricted at 200mm.
@@janardananwildlife Totally agree, I had the Sony 200-600 on rank # 1 for my wish list of alternative equipment. I invested into my R5 system due to the price difference compared to an A1 system (A1 much higher system price). Then I hoped for years that a third party adapter (Sony --> Canon) would appear on the market (which it didn't). And now the specs for the A1 II are available, theres's no additional A1 II attraction --> therefore I head for the Canon R1 and wait until potential super telephoto lens(es) from Canon.
Wow keep making videos
Cheers! Will do.
How did you learn so much about photography and all the different settings and equipment? It’s a bit intimidating for a newbie.
I learned on TH-cam to start and then on-the-job training. Take it one step at a time. Start by knowing your setting inside and out, film everything that moves and get 1% better every time.
I thought I saw you using a SmallRig PH8 Professional Fluid Video Head. I just bought one a few days ago to use with a Benro Mammoth tripod. What are your thoughts on the head? I bought to upgrade from a Manfrotto 502 fluid head.
I was using a Manfrotto Nitrotech head with the ifootage TC7 legs in the shoot you are referring to. How do you like your Benro so far?
@@jamesfrystak Ahh, Ok. I absolutely love the Banro legs. Just an absolute game changer in stability compared to the Manfrotto 290 Xtra 3-Section is was travelling with.
Hello James, what was the name of the site you mentioned for the trigger record button? Thank you Gary
It's called Libec. I have a link in the description.
James what format are you filming with on the ninja v. I've chosen the prores HQ with large files. Wondering if one of the other settings will produce similar quality taking up less space. Thanks. Jim
Hey James, any tips for choosing how heavy duty of a tripod/head to choose? I have a 26lbs rated Cartoni that is not quite up to task with the sigma 300-800mm lens (whole camera rig is around 20lbs). I'm trying to decide if stepping up to a ~ 35lb rated rig will be enough, or if I should step up even more to around 50 lbs, or even 75ish lbs? hopefully without weighing myself down tooooo much... all these would be 100mm bowl with matching sticks.
Go for a 100mm bowl and don't push the rated capacity of your head. In your situation, I would go for a minimum of 35lbs payload and to 50lbs to have room for expansion.
@@jamesfrystak thanks James, I appreciate it! Was leaning towards that 50lbs range, so that's good to hear.
Merci pour tous ses conseils 👍🎥vous enregistrez en RAW systématiquement et pouvez-vous me donner votre avis sur la canon C80 et serait elle appropriée pour filmer les animaux sauvage
Cordialement
Jmarc 🤠
I shot Raw when I can, and the C80 is a great camera for filming wildlife!!
After spending a lot i decided to buy a 100 dollar tripod and not i can even film a still video because it cant even hold still the 180-600 lens 😅😅
LoL same thing I got $120 smallrig tripod and if it's a clam day it does okay but any kind of moderate breeze it's wobble city, now worried I'll make a mistake with an upgrade... Looking at the $400 mark, should probably just go the next level up after that though .. 50-500mm sigma here
@ Maybe the solution is gonna be from video fluid head, not the tripod. Because my tripod has ball head. Im going to go to the store and test it before buying. Do the same test at the store first. Im planning to test fluid video head on my tripod if that works then i only have to buy that.😅
@@ShotbyAras oh yeah, you NEED a fluid head, I've got the smallrig ct210 with the fluid head, probably would work fine with a smaller lens but for the longer ones it's pretty shakey, so be sure to go for one that will take more weight, of course it will cost at least 3-4 times as much. Think it's a combination of both, if I have the tripod with only one leg section out it's not bad so for low close to the ground it's "okay", but just a heavier duty tripod and bigger fluid head would be best