What's In The Bag

[The Vulcan]

It occurs to me that it may be useful to newcomers in photography to see what the rest of us carry in our bag and the use we put it to.

Here's my bagful:-

Hasselblad 500 CM, A12 back, 80 mm Planar, Sekonic L-308s light meter, cable release

I'm still a film devotee and this medium format kit is used for landscape and anything else that stands still. It's a discipline to use this camera, and one I never want to forget. Manual metering, manual focusing, hyperfocal distance etc.

Canon EOS 5D and Power grip - 12.8 Megapixel full frame DSLR

This is my digital kit and chosen at a time that only Canon were producing an affordable full frame camera

Canon 24mm F2.8 -

Not the 'L' version so easily affordable. Sharp throughout and perfect for street, indoors, architecture and landscape - I've owned this lens for some 20 years and love the colour and contrast

Canon 85mm f1.8 -

Again, I've owned this lens for some 20 years and it's still very affordable. With a fast f1.8 it's perfect for low light, differential focusing and portraits.

Canon 17-40 f4 'L' -

This lens sits on my camera permanently. The most affordable Canon 'L' lens. I can't sing its praises enough. Used for snap shots, street, indoors, architecture and landscape. If I could choose only one lens, this would be it.

Canon 28-80 F2.8L -

Yet another "old" lens. Maybe not as sharp as it's 24-70 f2.8 'L' successor, but if you see a good one of these - BUY IT. It has a colour and contrast that is just so pleasing. I will NEVER sell this lens. The focal length covers everything from landscape to portraiture.

Canon 70-200 F2.8L and 1.4x extender

Undeniably the sharpest lens I own. Perfect for portraiture, wildlife, sport and landscape. It's a heavy beast and best used with a monopod/tripod. The 1.4 extender works very well on this lens too.

Canon 580 ex 11 flashgunand Stofen diffuser

The most "useful" piece of equipment I own. I rarely remove it from the camera. Fill-in-flash, lifting shadows from faces, saturation and freezing action. Its uses are endless.

Canon CP-E4 power pack

Enables rapid flash recharging and extends flash battery life. Extremely useful when shooting action.

Linhoff Tripod-

Another piece of old kit that's been with me for 20 years. I've never seen its replacement. It is so flexible.It adapts from 4" above the ground to 2 metres in height. Light and sturdy I carry this always, and use it OFTEN

Cullman Monopod

Indispensable when using the 70-200 'L' and extender.

And finally - A remote shutter release.

Married with "mirror up" and the tripod I'm assured of the maximum sharpness and enabling of the hyperfocal point when shooting landscape and interior subjects.

Sigma 12-24mm and Canon 100mm 1:1 macro

Only recently acquired so I'm unable to comment too much. Bought for interior and extreme angle use (Sigma) and lifesize macro (Canon)

Maybe others would like to follow suit ?

Edited April 1, 2008 by The Vulcan

[astral]

Well that certainly explains your back problems and the permanent list to starboard........

Probably a complete airline baggage allowance on its own.

Thanks for sharing.

[spellboundXY]

greetings hello,

when just around the city,

d80, w/ 18-135mm lens, w/ 8 gig sd card, w/ battery, and hood.

when out of town,

above + 2 gig sd card spare + 1 battery spare, charger, usb cable.

thats about it. simply.

am a perfect beginner in photography, never had a camera before. ever.

my d80 is just a month old.

thanks.

Edited April 2, 2008 by spellboundXY

[The Vulcan]

Well that certainly explains your back problems and the permanent list to starboard........

Probably a complete airline baggage allowance on its own.

Thanks for sharing.

I also used to be 6' tall - now standing at 5'8"

[Nordlys]

I'm on a trip away from home (in California) and I have those equipments in my camera bag (my standard kit on trips anywhere).

1) Canon EOS 5D + battery grip

2) EF24-105mm F4/L IS - not my most favorite lens but very versatile lens.

3) EF17-40mm F4/L - very compact and light weight but superb "L" picture quality.

4) Canon Speedlite 430EX - I wish I never have to carry this (too big and heavy for how infrequent I use this) but my camera doesn't come with pop-up, built-in flash.

5) EPSON photo storage P-5000 (with 80GB of HDD space and 4", 24 bit, 1.67 million color display) - you need this if you are on an extended trip away from home, especially when the file size of the image you shoot in RAW mode exceeds over 10MB per shot.

6) 77mm size P/L filter

[Who, me ?]

my newly bought canon 400D (Kiss)

Canon 18-55

Canon 55-200

Battery charger

That's it (For now)... I just feel naked when I see The Vulcan's packing list !!!

[The Vulcan]

I'm on a trip away from home (in California) and I have those equipments in my camera bag (my standard kit on trips anywhere).

Good news - lots of new pics to review when you get home?

[EthicsGradient]

Canon 5D - I replaced my 350D with this a year ago. Big viewfinder and great high ISO performance. The command dial is nice too.

Canon 24-70L - Heavy, bulky, but you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers. Very sharp, great colors, contrast, and bokeh.

Canon 70-200L f/4 (non-IS) - I don't always remember to take it out of my bag and use it, but I do really like this lens. It's lightweight, not too bulky, and produces great shots. I wouldn't mind the IS version but I don't really use it in low-light enough to justify the extra couple hundred dollars.

Canon 50mm f/1.8 - I bought this with my 350D and almost never used it... it seemed to front-focus pretty noticeably on that body. It works fine on my 5D and I've been getting a lot of use out of it, just throwing it on to the body and taking it out with me wherever. I'm planning on replacing it soon... for $70 new I'm not complaining, but it definitely has its shortcomings. (ugly pentagonal bokeh, for one)

Canon 380EX - More or less on permanent loan from a friend. Nice for on-camera TTL, but no manual controls.

Seagull TLR - A fun camera for getting back to basics (100% manual, no batteries or anything), but I think I'm going to sell it soon to focus more on digital.

Olympus XA - A great little pocket camera, sharp f/2.8 Zuiko 35mm lens, aperture priority metering, rangefinder focusing. I wish it could take film higher than ISO 800 though.

Canon Elan II (x2) - I picked up a pair of these for $20 each back in the States. I think I'm going to use one of them plus the 50mm f/1.8 and a ziplock bag + clear filter as a semi-sacrificable Songkran rig

Velbon Ultra Maxi-f - I've been using this for 3 years or so, it's been a great travel tripod. (19" long folded up, about 2 pounds, "macro-mode") but it's hard pressed to support the 5D+24-70L now. It more or less works in a pinch, and I'd have to spend hundreds on a carbon-fiber model if I wanted to equal the weight/portability of this one.

I've also got a pair of Nikon SB-24's with radio remotes and a few other accessories not too long ago that I need to get into using more.

[taxexile]

my old kit .

been in a humidity controlled box for a long time now.

nikon fm2 , wonderful manual slr from the 1980's

nikon f-80 ,

nikon af-d 20mm f.2.8 prime , a fantastic lens.

nikon 50mm f.1.8, another great lens

nikon af-d 28-105mm zoom.

gossen sixtomat light meter , polarising filter , a couple of nd filters , a graduated grey filter , cable release , tripod, monopod , nikon sb23 flashgun.

unfortunately , the cameras and lenses rarely see the light of day now , the sheer weight and hassle of carting the stuff around was killing the enjoyment of photography.

the f-80 with the 20mm gets an occasional outing though , i love wideangle shots.

my new kit.

nikon coolpix 8400 , 8m pixel med sized "prosumer" digital camera with a 24-80 zoom and a fitting that allows me to attach filters to the lens. i like the lens and the ability to use filters.

a canon ixy 900 IS , pocketable digital camera with a 28-105 zoom, very easy and intuitative to zip through the menus and change settings , unlike the coolpix.

digital shutter lag with grabshots is the only bugbear.

freeing myself of all that kit has been a revelation , a lot of the enjoyment has come back , but i cant bring myself to get rid of the heavy stuff , i always think that one day i might just need it again.