What’s in My Bag

Tom — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:07:12 +0000

The following is what you’ll find in my bag, not all at the same time…

Cameras

Canon EOS 5D — Full frame DSLR with excellent image quality. Modern high ISO monsters may be able to literally see in the dark, but I bought this camera a few years back for its then industry-leading low light capabilities and it still shines. With low FPS and poor autofocus it’s not really a sports camera, but I’ve been known to make it work from time to time. I will use this camera until it crumbles from my hands into a pile of magnesium alloy dust.
The original 5D “classic” has since been replaced by the EOS 5D Mark II which continues the 5D tradition of excellent image quality. I’ve rented one whenever I shot a paid job, you read my thoughts on the 5D Mark II.
Canon SD880 IS — A really nice compact point & shoot with a wide angle lens. No longer available.
Fujifilm FinePix Z33WP — Purchased solely for snorkeling on vacation and other such underwater photography. Image quality and other features don’t stand out, but it’s cheap and it’s waterproof up to 10 feet.

Lenses

Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L — Fast, wide angle prime lens. I have the older “Mark I” version. The current lens is the mark II.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM — A fast prime lens with a normal field of view on a full frame camera, this lens does great in low light and is easy to bring everywhere due to its small size and weight.
Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II — An absolute monster of a portrait lens. The f/1.2 max aperture is as wide and fast as Canon makes, allowing for extreme low light shooting with very thin depth of field. Produces mesmerizing background blur. Very heavy, not something I bring everywhere. Focuses extremely slow.
Canon EF 100mm f/2 USM — Very nice image quality, good in low light, produces out of focus backgrounds, and focuses fast. I used this a lot on my old Digital Rebel XTi. I don’t use it anymore on the 5D since I have the 85 and 135, but I haven’t sold it because it’s a nice lens.
Canon EF 135mm f/2L — A great combination of light weight, telephoto focal length and a fast f/2 maximum aperture. Images are extremely sharp, produces great soft out of focus backgrounds. I use this often because I like the look of telephoto compression, and it’s easy to carry. Shooting at 135mm takes getting used to if you haven’t done much telephoto work.
Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG — I got this for one simple reason: 12mm. This is the widest rectilinear leans available on a full frame camera and while I don’t use it often, it shoots incredibly wide angle images when I want them.
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS — The 5D’s “kit lens”, this was my main travel glass for a while. Nice image quality, helpful image stabilization, annoying distortion at 24mm. I switched to the 24-70 as my general purpose zoom since I prefer the f/2.8 over IS.
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L — My general purpose zoom lens of choice. Great for travel, has excellent image quality and a fast f/2.8 max aperture. Some call this “the brick” because it’s heavy but I don’t think its weight is a big deal.
Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS — Stunning image quality, fast f/2.8 max aperture, very useful image stabilization. Great for outdoor sports, parades and other event situations where your subject is moderately distant and you don’t have much room to move around. I don’t carry it much for personal or travel photography because of its size, weight, and conspicuous white color.

Shooting around New York, I like to carry the 24L, 50 and 135L. Sometimes I’ll also bring the 85L. I prefer to travel light, and on trips usually bring just the 24-70L along with the 50mm for very low light shooting and the 135L as a small portable telephoto. For the few hired jobs I’ve accepted, the versatility of two cameras with the classic photojournalist’s combo of 24-70 and 70-200 is hard to beat, with the 85L thrown in the mix for good measure.

Lighting

Canon 430EX II Speedlite — Decent, small hotshoe flash. Doesn’t fully rotate 180 degrees in both directions, and every time I bounce with it I’m tempted to snap it.
Canon 580EX II Speedlite — Larger than the 430ex II and dust & water resistant, this flash puts out more power, recycles faster, and swivels all the way in both directions. Can also control other Canon Speedlites via infrared. It might be more expensive, but the 580ex II is usually one of the featured items in Canon’s annual rebates.
Bogen 3373 Retractable Light Stand — Small, light and portable. Discontinued. The new version is the Manfrotto 5001B.
A cheap umbrella adapter, exactly which one I cannot recall. Some of these come with metal hot shoe mounts… don’t use them. It could fry your flash. I use the plastic feet/stand that ships with Canon Speedlites, which can be threaded onto the top of my adapter.
Canon ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter — Cheaper than Pocket Wizards. Doesn’t have the range or the reliability of a PW, but they are expensive and I don’t do much off camera flash work in situations that would demand them.
LumiQuest Promax Softbox III — Small and cheap.
Impact 30″ Convertible Umbrella — Small and cheap.
Various homemade snoots, grids, and gel holders.

Tripods and Accessories

Induro Alloy 8M AT013 Tripod Legs — Not the lightest tripod around, but it gets the job done at an affordable price while still being strong and durable enough that I can put my gear on here and trust it will stay stable. The caps on the bottoms of the legs have all popped off and been lost, and the zipper on the bag broke almost immediately.
Giottos MH-1000 Large Ballhead — Easy to rotate the camera in any direction, the quick release is simple to use, and it features both horizontal and vertical levels.

Past Gear

The following cameras and lenses were once found in my collection, but have since departed, have been sold or replaced.

Polaroid PDC 2300Z — My first digital camera purchased way back in early 2001. It took 4 AA batteries which the flash would make quick work of, so I shot almost exclusively without it. So began the love affair with ambient light.
Sony Cybershot DSCW50 — Your basic inexpensive 3x zoom compact point & shoot at the time. Chalk up another casualty – I broke the zoom lens mechanism on this one.
Sony Cybershot DSCW80 — Replaced the DSCW80 with the same model since I already had the extra cards and batteries. Was not happy with the image quality.
Canon Powershot G9 — Very nice image quality along with RAW files and manual controls in a small package. Not small enough to convince me to bring it out instead of a DSLR most of the time though, so it was used infrequently and eventually sold.
Canon Digital Rebel XTi — My first DSLR, it had great image quality and worked well but I eventually found myself wanting a full frame sensor and better high ISO quality for low ambient light shooting.
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon — A decent replacement for the 18-55mm Digital Rebel kit lens. Its build is a little tougher, it has a fast f/2.8 max aperture at the 17mm end of the zoom range, and at 70mm it’s longer than the 18-55. I prefer constant max aperture zooms though, andn the long end of the Sigma the fastest you can use is f/4.5.
Canon EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 III — Bought and sold this one all inside 7 months. Why? 300mm for $180 and not much else. Many people say this is a great lens for the price. I disliked the image quality immensely, and the build quality was not great. With the amount of abuse I put my camera gear through, I surely would have destroyed this lens by now. Not to be confused with the EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM which as better image quality, image stabilization and a USM focusing motor.
Sigma 600mm f/8 Mirror Lens — 600mm of reach in a tough, affordable package. Fixed f/8 aperture and manual focus only. Makes round “doughnut” bokeh. I had seen photos by Miami Fever made with this telephoto beast, and it showed up in the B&H used department one day so I bought it on a whim. It was fun to use for a while but I eventually decided to get rid of it to fund more practical glass.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II — The first prime lens for many photographers, including myself. Fast f/1.8 max aperture for low light shooting, amazing sharpness and image quality for a very low price. The build quality is poor; I’ve broken at least 2 of these. Autofocusing in low light is difficult, plus the manual focus ring is small and there is no distance window. No regrets.

iPad Wallpaper: Sherman Memorial at Grand Army Plaza in Black & White

Tom — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:22:18 +0000

Black & white wallpaper of the General Sherman Memorial in Grand Army Plaza at 5th. Ave & E. 59th Street, New York City.