He started out with a Nikon F2 AS, which was fully manual in its operation. This meant that he had to set up the flash and set the aperture and shutter speed. Furthermore, the flash was not adjustable, but could only fire at full brightness. When Tsai discovered the presence of butterflies, he would pay attention to their every movement and consider how to draw near without frightening them.
蔡百峻首先面臨的是攝影設備不完善，初始他使用 NIKON F2AS 相機，這種全機械式的相機，拍照時要調整閃光燈、光圈和速度，而且閃光燈只有全光，無法改變出光源；發現蝶蹤時，還要專注牠的一舉一動，思考如何靠近又不會驚嚇到牠。