I have a lot of gear. I shudder when I think about all the money spent over the years. Although camera gear may not be the most important part of photography, it is crucial to producing the best image file. I have to admit that I am a techie. I love camera gear, especially brand new camera gear. Over the years I have bought and re-bought many items. Below is a list of what I use now. I also try to give my reasoning behind each purchase.
- Camera Bag: MindShift Gear BackLight 26L Backpack. I have purchased at least a dozen camera bags, none of which completely met all of my needs. This MindShift is the closest thing to perfection that I have seen on the market.
- Camera: Nikon D850 DSLR Camera. I have made the natural progression through DSLR cameras, starting with the Nikon D600, then the D800E, then the Nikon D5, and ending with the Nikon D850. Why would I move on rom the D5 to the D850? The D5 is a phenomenal sport and wildlife camera with the ability to take great low-light images. However, I found that I did a lot less sports and wildlife compared to travel and landscape.
- Lenses:
- Wide Angle Zoom: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED. Perhaps my favorite lens. It produces amazingly sharp images with very little vignetting.
- Mid-Range Zoom: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED. There is a newer version of this lens that now has VR. This lens is my all purpose, walk around lens.
- Telephoto Zoom: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 FL ED VR.
- Telephoto Zoom: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR. I just purchased this lens for an upcoming trip to Namibia.
- All Purpose Zoom: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. Nice travel photography lens. Good walk around lens.
- Portraiture: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G
- Macro: Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED. Great lens though I wish I bought the 105mm macro so I wouldn’t have to be so close to my subject.
- Filter System. Because the 14-24mm lens does not support any threaded filters, I needed to choose a bulky filter system. My only regret is the filters (especially the Little Stopper) produce a color cast which I need to remove during post processing.
- Lee Filters SW150 Mark II Filter System Holder for Wide-Angle Lenses
- Lee Filters SW150 Mark II Lens Adapter for Nikon AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G
- Lee Filters SW150 Mark II Lens Adapter for Lenses with 77mm Filter Threads
- Lee Filters 150x150mm SW150 Little Stopper Neutral Density 1.8 Filter (6 Stop)
- Lee Filters 150x150mm SW150 Circular Polarizer Filter
- Lee Filters 150x150mm Soft Graduated Neutral Density 0.9 Filter
- Threaded Filters. Though I don’t need these filters as I have a 77mm adapter for my wide angle filter system, I often find them easier to use in the field.
- Circular Polarizer: B+W 77mm XS-Pro Kaesemann Hight Transmission Circular Polarizer MRC-Nano Filter
- Neutral Density 2-Stop: B+W 77mm MRC 102M ND 0.6 Filter
- Neutral Density 3-Stop: B+W 77mm SC 103 ND 0.9 Filter
- Neutral Density 6-Stop: B+W 77mm 1.8-64X Multi-Resistant Coating Nano Lens Filter
- Hard Drives.
- Samsung T5 Portable SSD – 1TB – USB 3.1 External SSD. I use this drive as my travel backup drive. It is light and durable. And, 1 TB is the perfect amount for traveling, especially for wildlife. I have a second one of these drives for all my current year’s images, those images I am still doing post-processing. The drive is super fast.
- WD 4TB My Passport Ultra USB 3.0 External Hard Drive. I use this drive as part of my image backup strategy. Every few months I place a copy of my images onto the drive and put in my safety deposit box.
- Synology DiskStation DS1515+. Primary backup system for all my images. This system is RAID based providing peace of mind for local backups.
- Clothing
- Jacket: REI Co-op Magma 850 Down Hoodie 2.0. Super light and super warm jacket.
- Gloves: Freehands Men’s Stretch Thinsulate Gloves. Excellent for cool weather though not warm enough for cold weather. I am currently evaluating an upgrade.
Where I purchase my gear from:
- B&H. I buy most of my gear from B&H, especially if it is camera body or lens. I get nervous that other non-camera companies sell grey market equipment. They have also just come up with a method to give a credit back for sales tax. Additionally most items are delivered in two to three days. For used equipment I have sold to B&H, given a fair price, though not as much as a private sale.
- Amazon. Great place to purchase accessories such as: batteries, memory chips, hard drives, etc.
- Really Right Stuff. Excellent but expensive tripods.
- MPB. Buy and sell used equipment. They are not speedy bu the pricing for both purchases and sales are typically better than B&H.
- Think Tank. My vendor of choice for camera bags.
I’m on the hunt for the following: travel tripod.