05/24/2026
Really pi**ed right now… About 15 years ago when I began getting seriously into digital photography, I learned about what an amazing place the Galapagos is for nature photography. But it seemed out of my reach to travel there. Until recently… we made plans a couple of years ago for this trip then nailed it all down last year. I then bought my dream camera body in December; a Canon R5 Mk II. Even bought a new RF 70-200 lens for it. I was so looking forward to filling my memory cards with amazing photos. Even spent a few hundred bucks on an extra 512G card in case I ended up taking more than 10,000 shots or so. I had considered bringing an extra camera body, but brought 3 different lenses instead. Then today my camera essentially froze up while shooting, giving me this error message. The simple fixes I researched didn’t solve it: trying another battery, taking the battery and memory cards out, turning it on and off, etc. I’ve probably shot over 10,000 photos with this camera since I got it and never had an issue. I have several other Canon bodies that are years old and have never failed me, and now this on the day before we arrive on the Galápagos Islands. The problem seems to be with a shutter that will need an expert repair. Unfortunately that will have to wait until I return home. I did manage to get some good bird photos yesterday, but my whole goal in coming here was for the photography on the Islands.