Sunday, February 22, 2009

My stuff

Here we are to answer the question that no one was asking, "What's in my camera bag?". Here's most of my stuff.



Let's start with the bodies. On the right is my old Canon Rebel XT that is mostly my wife's camera these days, but if I need a backup body it's there. On the left is my baby, the Canon 50D. Attached to the 50D is the lens that stays on the most, the Canon 24-105L. This is a fantastic lens, with great contrast, color and range. Having image stabilization really comes in handy too. Attached to the Rebel XT is the first lens I ever bought, the Canon 28-200. The other lenses, starting from the left are the Canon 50mm 1.8, Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro, Canon 70-200 f4L and the Tokina 12-24 f4. My flash is the Canon 430EX and the two pieces next to it are Paul C. Buff wireless flash triggers. And last but certainly not least is my trusty Canon G9. I have lens hoods for all my lenses except the 50mm and I think they essential pieces of gear. Not only do they help to control flare by shading the front of your lens, but they protect it from bumps and scratches while you're carrying it around. Trust me, I know.

Not shown are an assortment of filters; Cokin 3 stop neutral density, Cokin 2 stop graduated neutral density and a B + W circular polarizer. Bag wise I have a Tamrac Expedition 5, Lowepro Nova 3 AW and another small Tamrac Model 515. I've come to realize that there's no perfect bag, but that hasn't stopped me from looking. I also have an inexpensive Slik AMT tripod that's not great, but serves my purposes.

I have extra batteries for both my bodies and varying sizes of Compact Flash cards to go with them. I took the picture with an old Canon Powershot A610 that's on it's last legs. It's been dropped several times and only works when it wants to.

Software wise, I use Apple's Aperture program for most of my organization and post processing. I also have Photoshop CS3 on my main computer for heavy pixel lifting. I recently purchased a new laptop and I installed Adobe Lightroom 2.2 on it along with an awesome Photoshop-like program for the Mac called Pixelmator. Pixelmator doesn't have all of the features of Photoshop, but it does have layers and masks (along with a whole bunch of other cool stuff) to get you most of the way there. Also, for $59, it's a heck of a deal.

I think that's about it. If you got questions, leave 'em in the comments.

7 comments:

OhCaptain said...

You have some very nice glass there. I think I might just need to do this same post.

Skeller said...

Thanks, Marshall!
I always enjoy a good gear post. The 24-105 is the lens that lives on my camera, too. It's just so dang versatile. And I've heard about & seen amazing images from the Tokina 12-24. Alas, it doesn't work on a full frame camera or I would have attempted to add it to my arsenal awhile ago. Instead, I'm lusting after the Canon 15mm fisheye. Always a want list, sigh. Btw, have you noticed recently that all the Canon lenses have taken a large jump in price, like 10-15%. Blech. I hate inflation.

fxmixer said...

Skeller I hadn't noticed the price jump on lenses. Very disappointing.

Anonymous said...

I have the 24-105L too and its pretty much constantly on my camera too. As you say, such a versatile lens with stunning quality. Canon have racked the prices up here in the UK by about 20% too. They did it just after Christmas so I'm glad I got most of my new gear just before. To be fair, I think Nikon gear has gone up here too. Mind you, everything has gone up in the UK, apart from the interest rates and taxes of course!

Anonymous said...

Great post,it's great to see the equip. that contributes to your awesome work.

I'm looking for a great versatile lense, do you think the 24-105 is more versatile then the 28-200?

I think they increased the prices thinking that we can use our whopping $13/wk stimulus fund on new lenses. :)
Thanks again,
B Dad

fxmixer said...

B Dad, versatility all depends on what you want to do with the lens. Obviously the 28-200 has a longer reach, but the 24-105 has MUCH higher quality. I find the trade off more than acceptable for the quality of images that I get.

Chris said...

Hi, I came across your blog after ready Skeller's panorama entry and her link back here. I love your photography! Its very inspiring and your blog is full of great info.

I've just recently got into photography and its great to come across a blog like yours and Susans. Seeing what's in your kit bag is like liquid gold for me. I've been trying to figure out what lense to get and after seeing your kit bag and the comments above I reckon I'll save for the 24-105!

Cheers,
Chris.