I have a Dura Ace bar end 10 speed indexed shifter (SL BS 79)

Wondering if I can run an older Ultegra or 105 rear derailleur with similar characteristics or if it has to be Dura Ace? A guy told me Dura Ace stuff can be odd.

Thanks- my first look at building a bike with more than one gear ratio!

Those shifters are compatible with older 105 back to 1050, with older Ultegra/600 back to 6208, and all indexed Dura Ace except 740X.
Also all imdexed Deore up to and including 9 speed.

thanks!!
Ok seeing a lot of RD 5700, 5600, 6700, 6800 for sale. All those Ultegra/ 105 options work you think? It wasn’t shifting my Shimano Zee DR at all but that’s not surprising

5500,5600,5700,6500,6600,6700, sure. Those are all solid derailleurs and good ones/new ones are out there at good prices.
5800 and 6800 are 11 speed components and are not compatible with those shifters.

What is a Shimano Zee DR?

Thanks again! Goes to show you if it comes up in a search for 10 speed it doesn’t mean anything.

Zee is a ultra short cage, clutched mtb derailleur. I am happy to share why I came into possession if you are in to long stories. I am learning. Single speed is way simpler

I'm using 10-speed Dura Ace bar end shift levers (the same SL-BS79) mounted on Gevenalle "brifter" brackets to shift both a 9-speed Ultegra RD-6503 rear derailleur and an 8-speed 105 RD-1050 rear derailleur using Shimano 10-speed cassettes. Both set-ups work extremely well.

Shimano road/MTB shifter/derailleur compatibility was great from 7-speed 105/Ultegra/MTB groups and 9-speed Dura Ace right up until 10-speed MTB and 11-speed everything.

Yep! The DR pictured above I am sure works great with the matching trigger shifter! I actually tried but it didn't fit over my drop bars well and was too close to my brake levers. Wound up sending it back.

The Zee derailleur you show is based on Shimano's 10 speed MTB geometry, labeled Dyn-Sys. Shimano's road and MTB RD and indexed shifters up to and including 9 speed were for the most part compatible. Starting with 10 speed MTB though, the road shifters were no longer compatible with a MTB RD to shift a 10 speed cassette properly.

Yeah I proved that out empirically - I wound up buying a dyna sys trigger shifter but I couldn't get it to work on my drop bar config without a large amount of dremel and BS.

My new plan is to ditch the 11-36 cassette, go with a 11-28 cassette and get a nice, older Ultegra, 105, or Dura Ace RD and use my current DA shifter.

Live and learn and spend a little and learn some more.