What's in your camera bag?

[Sharra]

I’ve always been curious what other YANAP posters here have in their camera bag for bodies, lenses, etc.; what gear they like or use the most, what’s on their wish lists, and what their favourite photography subjects are. You can be as detailed or as general as you like. Anyone care to share? I’ll share my list if anyone’s interested, but I don’t want to go first. 🙂

[fstopper89]

I’m a Canon girl.

5D Mark II, 40D, and Rebel T2i. (I’m sort of loaning/giving my 4oD to my friend for him to use now since I got another body, could sell it but he’s been wanting to get more into photography and I wouldn’t make much on it by selling anyway.)

Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 OS

Canon 35mm f/2.0

And a few not-so-great EF-S lenses, ok for nature shots but not portraits.

My wish list is a 24-70 f/28 (or similar focal range) but my 70-200 is a great portrait lens on the full-frame body so it’ll do for now. I also need either a 50mm or 85mm fast prime. I’ve borrowed a Canon 24-70 2.8 before for a few things but need to get my own.

I also have a Canon flash unit.

[dont.care]

1ds iii
5d iii
5d ii
24 1.4
50 1.2
85 1.2 ii
100 2.8
200 2.8
24-70 28 ii
70-200 2.8 ii
I wanted a loosely similar range in primes as my two primary carry lenses.. 1ds and mk iii are my carry and mk ii is backup
600 series flashes and several 430 ex II’s and obviously a hot shoe trigger for optical/radio

 

I guess it’s worth noting that the hot shoe trigger is not one device for optical/radio but rather an ste2 and an ste3 depending how many flashes i want to use in my setup.. super bright times of days an obstacles are not so great for infrared (optical sensors). which drove me into having to buy the ste3 ontop of the 2.. I guess I coulda used a 600 to optically control all but its really pointless when you lose groups under radio.. i’m workin on just getting rid of the 430 ex ii’s an going straight 600’s..

[fstopper89]

Ajay, what are the advantages of the 1Ds series over the 5D series?

[dont.care]

None really that I can think of off the top of my head.. Not going to compare the old 5d, never had one, nor any other 1d series camera although I can imagine seeing how they’re both relatively older cameras (1ds iii 5d) I’d assume that the 1ds iii would win over that one.. I’m wanting to get rid of both the II and the 1ds III for another 5d III.. Quite frankly the 1ds has seen two owners and the mk ii is becoming irrelevant as well and I have no desire to own a 1dx.. I have a 60D as well but generally not worth noting other than it’s flip out screen is kinda cool..

but to be honest as stated above: A real advantage? I can’t think of one.. It’s an older camera I still use because the IQ for all intents an purposes is somewhat similar and has a menial advantage over the mark ii in frames per second on continuous drive mode .. as far as using it in darker conditions? nein. it does have more af points thereby allowing me to select a wider area but really that doesn’t mean anything to me, i do fine with the 9pt in the mark ii.. but really the REAL winner is the 5d III.. So for whatever you reasoning in asking me instead of just looking it up; if you’re in the market for a camera, I’d suggest selling your crop frames and use the money toward a mark iii.. but other than that i’m all O_o about it.

 

[IHF]

Not really a gear head at all at this point in the game, possibly never.  I don’t even have a proper camera bag that is able to hold what i currently have, so I have to pick and chose what I’ll be bringing with me.

canon 7D

50mm 1.4

28mm 1.8

100mm 2.8

2 continuous  soft boxes. (not in the bag lol but I felt it relevant)

next purchase?  I’m ready to take on flash, and open a new can of worms 😉 so soon I’ll be buying a simple cheap flash kit.  Im thinking a shoot through as well.  I also want a tripod really bad.  I’ve been wanting to explore landscape as well, and my hand held shots just aren’t doing a thing for me. They just make me want more control over exposures than I do now.

next lens? Maybe a 135mm, but I’m still exploring all that my current lenses can do for me, so it’ll be a while before another lens is on the list, but that focal length would really make me happy.  I picture myself taking gorgeous portraits with it, and maybe even a little wildlife.

I move really slowly, and enjoy every minute of the process of learning.  I think having too much “in the bag” would be overwhelming.

[fstopper89]

I was just curious because I thought the 1Ds was marketed as a slightly higher-end line than the 5Dii, iii, etc. I definitely would sell my crop bodies but my next purchase will be a lens. (Though I do want to keep my Rebel for now since it’s the camera I’d take along for trips/vacations when not doing professional work because I wouldn’t fear damage to it as much) I like the 5Dii but like you said the iii is where it’s at now. However I’d have to purchase an update to Lightroom if I got the 5Diii, as LR3 will not read the files from it.

[JLiu]

Kit:

Nikon D3s, D800, and D700 bodies

Zeiss 21/2.8 ZF.2, Sigma 35/1.4 (Just got this…haven’t played with it yet), Nikkor 24/1.4G, 50/1.8G, 85/1.4G, 105/2.8 Micro, 70-200/2.8 VRII and three SB-900 speedlights.

Next purchase – I’m pretty set on gear.  If I decide to start working on macro, I guess I could look at a ringlight and some extension tubes.

[Kimera]

Have a giggle then.

Canon Rebel XS, extra battery, polarizing filter, 2 UV filters, aluminum tripod, 75-300mm Ultrasonic, 18-55mm kit.

… and THAT’S IT.

[IHF]

Kim, thank you

you made me feel much better ;). Rock on girl!

[dont.care]

well a 1ds iii is marketed as a higher end camera but honestly a 5d III smokes it, and comparatively a 5d II is a ‘better’ camera.. I didn’t buy it new and I got it with 240k+ shutter actuation’s.. it’s worked without a hitch thus far.. albeit it’s days are numbered regardless

 

I hate fauxtogrophy:  “Not really a gear head at all at this point in the game, possibly never.  I don’t even have a proper camera bag that is able to hold what i currently have, so I have to pick and chose what I’ll be bringing with me.”

Yeah, 1 shoulder bag with extra batteries, CF/SD cards, filters, 2 primary lenses on cameras and cameras on me.. everything else stays in a locked box or in the vehicle depending on venue and how readily available access is in the event I should need something.. I keep all flashes/stands/softboxes/umbrellas in a bag if I want to use em and I usually have 1 flash on camera and one in my shoulder bag .. Other than that… I’m not carrying all of that around either

[fstopper89]

My bag is a Canon backpack and is bursting at the seams with everything in it (The 40D stays in another bag since there is no room) But I’d like to get a more simple shoulder bag because in some situations it’s easier to grab and switch lenses than getting it from a backpack.

[dont.care]

yup the hardest thing to overcome is how to pack.. i think fumbling with lenses is no fun as i’m a minimalist on the job.. Everything else is redundancy/specialty and I’m not toting all that stuff.. L lenses if anything are heavy.. If I need it, I got it — if I don’t, it doesn’t wear me down either and probably wont see the light of day.

[cameraclicker]

I agree with Ajay, the 5D Mk III is better than the 1Ds Mk III.  My reasoning is that the ISO capability is much better.  However, the 1Ds is much older and it is a studio camera so high ISO is perhaps not that relevant if you have a bunch of 500 watt strobes to provide light.  I still enjoy using it.  Depending on what you are shooting, the 1Ds is still a great backup to the 5D Mk III.  Like Ajay, I think the 1Dx is interesting but not worth the extra cost for one more stop of ISO and less pixels.  If I shot a lot of sports and needed an extremely high frame rate, then it might be worth it.  The 5D Mk III can do a lot more than you really need for portraits/weddings.   Frankly images out of a Rebel T2i are pretty good, but then, I still like images from my 30D.

I like LowePro StealthReporter bags.  Even with the top open you can pick them up by either handle and they don’t dump the contents.  They also make sling bags and regular backpacks.  If I need to take a lot of gear, I will use a Computrekker Plus to carry onto the plane and put a StealthReporter in my luggage.  The StealthReporter can hold extra batteries, power supplies, chargers, all the junk I need for several days but not on the plane, and extra space can hold socks and whatever else.  For walking around in summer, a Kata Bumblebee backpack is nice because it has a frame so my back can breath.  It is the size of a Computrekker Plus but only holds as much as the smaller Computrekker.

 

[dont.care]

Cclicker: the iso is the reason I don’t use it in dark conditions  which is highly limiting and I don’t want to cause a lot of people epilepsy with off camera flashes.. Which is primarily my reason for wanting to sell the 5d ii and the 1ds iii for an additional 5d iii and still have a 1.6 crop frame 60d for an ‘essential backup’.

[Author]

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