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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.

Related posts:

1. What should I expect to spend on camera equipment? I don’t know how many times I have heard the following question. I have a point and shoot right now and I want to buy an SLR. What type should I buy? This question is usually followed by several models – such as the Canon Digital Rebel models or the...
2. Equipment that I hope to buy In my previous post, I covered the equipment that I currently use.  The following is a list of what I am still planning to get. Canon TS-E 17 - This is simply too tempting, especially for my real estate work.  I am currently saving for this lens, which is good...
3. What equipment to bring on a jungle trek Sometime ago I had the opportunity to take a once in a lifetime trek to Manu National Park in Peru.  At the time, I only had a P&S Sony Cybershot 717.  However, now that I know more about photography, I thought I would share with you what I would take...
4. How to buy and sell used equipment I suspect a great deal of this blog will already be known to many of you, but for those who are just starting out in photography you may want to know what the best ways to pick up used equipment are.  Also, some of this info may be helpful for...
5. L-plates, camera plates, and lens plates When buying camera equipment, one of the most confusing areas I have found is in the area of lens plates and camera plates.  Therefore, in this post I will attempt to give the best explanation of them possible.  This information, with hope, will save you some money in the future,...

Tags: camera, equipment, lens, photography