>>358509I take wildlife photography, currently using 7D (best capability:cost ratio for wildlife camera. high speed and asp-c both are nice when you're trying to get them long shots). Also, it's rugged as fuck and solid in all weather conditions, which is really important when shooting wildlife.
100-400 L is GREAT as long as you get new models, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Due to early models having bad QC, people have the mentality of immediately bashing 100-400. Yes, the old ones are soft as fuck, but new ones are literally prime sharp:
http://www.birdphotoph.proboards.com/thread/352Of course with 7D2 coming out at Photokina and POSSIBLY the Unicorn (i.e., 100-400 mk. II), you may want to wait just a bit longer.
That's the IDEAL gear. But hell, I've started with Lumix FZ-38, and while far from perfect, it taught me a lot (and the 0.3 FPS is a great teacher when you're trying to catch that perfect shot of bird diving for fish, tiger jumping, or deers tackling each other). If you're lacking cash, 70-300 lens is a good place to start, too. If the animal is too small, just learn to get closer (not recommended with your wolves/lions/what have you). It's also quite light, so it's easy to always have it on you, has good maximum magnification, and short focusing distance, making it decent for macro shots as well, pic related - shot with my Tamron 70-300.
