Oh you’re (another) photographer you say? What do you shoot with you ask? Is that photo Photoshoped? I love that last question. Asking a photographer about their kit is the small talk equivalent of asking about the weather. It’s the polite, logical next question to ask someone who calls themselves a photographer. That other question is usually just a little irritating, but forgivable when it comes from the uninitiated.
I started my kit off with a Canon EOS Rebel T4i with the included 18-55mm lens. I bought it in 2012 and quickly added a 35mm and 10-22mm (both Canon) lens to my setup. I bought a cheap tripod and a few filters to complement my load-out. I enjoyed, and still do, shooting landscapes primarily. I lived in Las Vegas at the time, so travel was very easy from McCaran airport AND we had the beautiful desert southwest out our back door. To enhance my landscape shooting I began a filter collection which included a polarizer and graduated neutral density filter. I also bought a cable release with an intervolemeter so I could shoot time lapses and do a little astrophotography.
The next lens I added was a 70-250mm telephoto for those shots my wider lenses weren’t getting me. The 10-22mm was still my go-to, though.
My next purchase was an Olympus TG-2. I needed something rugged for my frequent jaunts through the desert. I beat the heck out of that camera. Thought it lacked RAW capture, it had some great customization features that alowed me to get some good shots in some harsh conditions. When I wanted to haul around my DSLR, I would load it into a Pelican case to keep it safe and sound.
In 2014, my wife and I moved from Las Vegas to the U.K. for my job where our travels only increased, but changed character. We traveled a lot more, but mostly to grand European cities with the occasional adventure trip to the Alps or elsewhere on the continent. At this point, I wanted something a little sharper and more versatile. I invested in a Canon EF 24-70 f/4L which became my go-to piece of glass. I also upgraded to the Canon EOS 70D. I know that’s a full-frame lens on an APS-C body, but don’t quite have the budget for a full-frame yet.
Our daughter was born in 2015, and I decided it was time to add portraiture to my growing arsenal of skills. I bought a flash, a book about flash, a few flash accessories, and a new, lighter, more compact tripod.
Like I mentioned in the last post, my most recent addition was a Rokinon 10mm f/2.8 manual focus, manual aperture lens. I bought that for two reasons. First, I wanted a lens that would challenge me. Second, it makes me think more about composition due to its distortion and also forces me to shoot in manual mode which I do exclusively for all of my lenses now.
What do I carry all that around in? I started with a LowePro sling type bag I used until my kit started to grow. I replaced it with a LowePro 200AW. The extra capacity allows me to carry a lot more than camera gear and the side entry makes getting to my gear quick and easy. When I throw my daughter into her Osprey kid-carrier backpack, I slim down on gear and load my camera into a smaller, padded Ape Case. I can fit a flash in it as well.
As I continue to learn and my tastes change, I sometimes find myself relying more on some of my older gear. But I also find I want more quality that what I sometimes have. On a recent trip to Iceland, I rented a Canon 10mm f/2.8L lens. Wow was that sharp! It also had almost no distortion, especially when compared to my Rokinon. And it’s also VERY expensive to buy. As my daughter grows, I find myself groaning as I load my heavy DSLR setup into the Ape Case to put in the Osprey pack. A slim mirrorless setup sure would be nice to have. As my wife and I get ready to move back to the U.S., I think about how my photography style and likes will change. I’ll have to think hard about adapting my kit to our new surroundings and figure out holes I have in my lens line-up.
What do you carry?
