Here is my ideal kit for rainforest photography for Canon. If money were no object, this is what you would find in my bag in Costa Rica.

Canon DSLRs

For camera bodies, I would want a wildlife body and a body for everything else that gave me the ultimate in image quality. Of course, I’d keep a third body back home just in case.

Canon 1D Mark IV	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 7D
Great AF and a fast frame rate for birds in flight. The 1.3x factor would be great when I need a little more effective reach.	This would be my camera for all times when I don’t need the AF and frame rate of the Mark IV. Image quality is awesome, and the full-frame sensor delivers great IQ & high ISO performance.	In spite of the problems with so many pixels in a small sensor, a 7D would be a great camera to have when I really need even more reach, but it would be the third choice.

Canon Lenses

I’d take every lens in the lineup but these are the ones I would really want to have in the bag or at least as an option for certain trips. I would probably throw in a copy of the 24-105 mm f4L IS zoom too for aerial shooting and for those times when I really need coverage between 40 and 70 mm but it would be a specialty lens for me.

Canon 400 mm f2.8L IS	Canon 70-300 mm f4-5.6L IS	Canon 100 mm f2.8L IS
I love f2.8, and Canon has reduced the weight of this monster significantly. Slap on TCs for bird photos, and use this lens straight for environmental wildlife on the 5DII.	A great complement to the lens at left, I could see myself using this for landscapes, hummingbirds, wildlife with habitat, and semi-macro. The IS would be great for boats.	I’m not that convinced of the benefit of IS for macro, but this lens is sharp. And since this is a wishlist, I’ll go for the latest!

Canon 17-40 mm f4L	Canon 24 mm f1.4L	Canon 8-14 mm f4L fisheye
Though Canon has the 16-35 mm f2.8, it costs twice as much, and the fast aperture isn’t a big deal for a landscape lens. I have this lens and would stick with it.	For nocturnal photography such as stars and moonlit scenes, this lens would be great. Super fast aperture and sharp, distortion-free images!	I wouldn’t use this lens a lot but I’m sure it would be a blast to have.

Canon Flash

I’m actually pretty well set with the flashes as I have everything below except for the 580 EX. My 550 EX still works fine for now, but if I were getting my dream shopping spree of course I’d upgrade! Along with the flashes, I’d always have my Canon ST-E2 flash transmitter along.

Canon 580 EXII	Canon 430 EXII	Canon MT-24 EX twin flash
Expensive and heavy but a great flash unit with both master and slave capability.	Smaller and cheaper than it’s big brother, the 430 is still a very capable flash. I use a number of these for hummingbird photography.	The MT-24 is a great addition for the macro shooter. I like the ability to move the flash heads off axis, which gives many more creative lighting possibilities than the Canon ring flash.