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CalevPhoto

Photographing the Earth, one millimeter at a time…
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Confessions of an equipment junkie

I admit it.  I am an equipment junkie.  I want all of the best photo equipment and lenses no matter how much they cost and I love showing my equipment off.  In particular I love hearing now that’s a camera, as people walk by.

You know that you are the same, so it’s best to admit it now and get it over with!  Therefore, with that spirit in mind I will discuss the gear that I currently use.

Camera:

Canon 5D Mark II – I really like this camera and have already discussed it at great length on this blog.

Lenses:

Canon 70-200 4L IS – This is my walk around lens and the lens I most commonly use for shots of my kids.  I bought it over the 2.8 because it is much lighter and the IS is better.

Canon MP-E 65 – This is the lens I use for the majority of my insect shots.

Canon 180L Macro – I use this less often than my MP-E 65, but it is my main lens for larger insects and flowers.

Canon 16-35 2.8L II – This is the main lens I use for real estate and for landscape shots while traveling.

Canon 50mm 1.4 – I rarely use this lens, but it does come in handy for low light situations.

Canon 100-400 4.5-5.6L – This is my zoo and wildlife lens.

Lighting:

Canon 580EX – This is the first flash I bought and I still prefer it in some ways to the 580EX II, which sometimes has difficulties with the Pocketwizards.

Canon 580EX II – It’s nice to control the flash from the camera, but otherwise it is no big upgrade.

Canon MT-24EX – This is the flash I use for most of my macro shots.

Pocketwizard MultiMAX – I love the added versatility over the Pocketwizard Plus II, but I rarely use multiple lights in my shots these days.

Other:

Really Right Stuff L Bracket – IMHO their L brackets are the best.

Gitzo 1348 tripod – The tripod is a bit big, but is extremely sturdy.  It is great for real estate and for around town, but not so great for traveling.

Markins M20 head – Great head for less price than the Really Right Stuff head.

Gitzo GM-5561 monopod – Expensive but amazingly small and strong for a monopod.  I almost always have this on me.

Really Right Stuff Tilt head – Works great when tracking birds or other things.

Kirk Macro Rail – I shoot most of my macro shots handheld so I now use this mainly for panorama shots – to adjust the nodal point of the lens.  It’s not a bad macro rail but I would probably buy the Really Right Stuff one if I had to do it over again.

Lumiquest 80/20 system – I almost always have this on my flash.

Wimberley macro brackets – When I am using a flash with my 180L, these are always on.  I also use them for drop shots.

In my next post I will cover the gear I hope to get.

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Posted in General Photography 2 years, 10 months ago at 12:36 pm.

2 comments

2 Replies

  1. Dude – that’s a ton of gear! I assume you don’t use it all at once, but what kind of camera bag do you use?

  2. I use the ThinkTankPhoto Airport Accelerator to transport my equipment, then a Slingshot bag in the field.


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