Photograph Birds, Sloths, and More Oct. 12-19, 2025
A 3-toed sloth in the Panamanian rainforest
I’m happy to announce that I’ve locked in arrangements to take a small (8 max) group of photo enthusiasts to Panama Oct. 12-19, 2025 to photograph the incredible biodiversity of Panama’s Caribbean coast. Just a few miles from Costa Rica, we’ll be able to photograph tremendous biodiversity at a private island eco-lodge that abuts a rainforest preserve. One of the best parts of this trip is a boat trip along the Changuinola canal, where the rainforest animals are just feet away in the trees. Our expert guides will help us spot toucans, kingfishers, herons and sloths. We’ll also have many of these animals in our “backyard” right outside our air-conditioned cabanas. Non-photographer companions are welcome and receive discounted pricing.
Bonus: Save $200 per person when you reserve your spot before March 1, 2025.
Wildlife Photography in Panama with OM System Cameras
Jason’s back from his Panama rainforest wildlife safari, and reports on what it’s like to visit this tropical location. Moreover, we’ll discuss the OM System 150-400mm f/4.5 TC lens, which is an incredible option for serious bird and wildlife photographers with OM System cameras.
Grizzly bear, Denali National Park | OM-1 with Olympus 100-400mm lens
Many of you know that I purchased an OM Systems OM-1 body and lenses in April of this year. Now that I’ve had some time with the system, I wanted to share my experience using this camera. I’ve now used my OM System kit for travel, portraits, and wildlife photography, and I’ve been astonished by the results. Many of the concerns I had about this small format sensor are simply not issues when using today’s gear and software.
I recently presented a webinar on my personal experience with the Olympus OM-1 kit, and you can watch the replay below.
Here are some of my recommended kits for OM Systems/Olympus Users
I chose to leave these images un-cropped so you could get an idea of the framing. All of these subjects were within 5-10m from me. I shot all of them at 600mm and wide-open at f/6.3. Click any image to enlarge it.
One thing I will say about this combo, the Z9 and the 180-600mm have a combined weight of over 7lbs (3,300g). If you’re not using a monopod, hand-holding this lens will get tiresome after awhile. With a the Nikon Z8, you’re still dealing with a 6.3lb kit. (I certainly noticed it, although I was also at 9000′ (2743m) elevation…
Least chipmunk (Tamias minimus) having a snack. 1/2500s f/6.3 ISO 640 (auto) @600mm Nikon Z9Chickadee waiting its turn for the feeder. 1/2500s f/6.3 ISO 4500 (Auto) @600mm Nikon Z9Up close with the Least chipmunk (probably about 4m away). 1/2500s f/6.3 ISO 800 (Auto) @600mm Nikon Z9
The lens Nikon wildlife photographers have been waiting for
When Nikon announced the long-awaited 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 Z Nikkor telephoto zoom lens, I immediately placed a pre-order. This lens is the obvious successor to the 200-500mm f/5.6E VR (F-mount) for native Nikon Z mount. While the 200-500mm Nikkor is a tremendous value and excellent lens, the new native Z lens offers some substantial improvements, notably:
Internal zoom design with a short zoom ring rotation (70°)
4.3lbs (without collar or hood) vs. over 5lbs for the 200-500mm
Fluorine-coated optics
5.5 stops of vibration reduction
Excellent zoom range from 180-600mm
The Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens is quite a handful, but not hard to handle.
While few people would argue that a 4+ pound lens is “lightweight,” it’s certainly easier to hand-hold than the 200-500mm. Zooming while shooting is very easy with a very smooth zoom ring and short rotation distance. With the 200-500mm, I sometimes felt that I was cranking the zoom ring all the way around the lens.
If there were any features I’d wished were different on this lens, it would be the tripod collar design (removable collar vs. removable foot), and better focus range limiter options. Nikon only offers full range and a 6m-∞ setting. Other companies sometimes include a short-range setting, too. Keep in mind that at 4.3 pounds (1.95kg), hand-holding this lens for prolonged sessions will still get tiring; you may want to use it with a monopod. The 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 Z Nikkor is over a full pound lighter, but also costs about $1000 more.
In my brief testing, focus seems quick and smooth, but I’ll wait to try it on a Z9 body before coming to any conclusions on speed. The lens has a 9-bladed aperture design, which should help with bokeh. There’s no VR switch on the lens; you turn it on and off via your Nikon Z camera body.
I hope to do some real-world testing of this lens very soon, but I think with its price point of under $1700, Nikon has a home-run on their hands with this lens.
