What Equipment Do You Use

[lexcell]

EricZ asked me a question about the equipment I use and what I carry into the field in another thread so, I thought I'd begin a new thread here discussing the equipment I carry into the field and why.

First off, remember, I do this for a living so, I carry alot of equipment. I go places to photograph, most people photograph places they go.

As I think most of you already know, I am a wildlife and nature photographer so my equipment reflects the type of shooting I do.

My bags are...MP-5, MP-3 and MP-1 depending on what I am out photographing. They are designed and sold by Moose Peterson and they will fit in any overhead compartment on any plane...even the small commuter planes. This is important to me because I don't ever want to let my equipment out of my possession.

My stock equipment that goes everywhere with me is...
2-Nikon D3
Nikon AF 16mm 2.8 Fisheye
Nikon AF-S 14-24mm 2.8
Nikon AF-S 24-70mm 2.8
Nikon AF-S 70-200m 2.8 VR
Nikon TC-17E 1.7X teleconverter
Nikon SB-800 Speedlight
Nikon SC-29 TTL Flash Cord or SU-800 Wireless transmitter
Canon 77mm 500D Close Up Lens
HiTech ND.9 Graduated ND filter
Singh Ray Vari-ND (2-8 stop variable neutral density filter)
Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizer
Spare batteries for the camera and flash
A couple of card wallets full of Lexar 8 & 4 GB CF Cards
Shutter Hat cover to protect my equipment from the elements if it is nasty.

This equipment goes with me everywhere I travel. If I am traveling light, this may be all I carry in my MP-5 bag

If I am heading out for big game I carry all that plus...
D300
Nikon AF-S 200-400mm 4.9 VR
Aquatech rainshield to protect against the bad weather
in my MP-3 backpack

And, if I am out for smaller game or birds I trade the 200-400mm for the AF-S 600mm f4 VR in my MP-1 backpack.

I use a Gitzo GT3540LS tripod with a Really Right Stuff ballhead for everything up to the 70-200mm. If I am going to be using the 200-400mm I carry a Wimberley Gimbal head and if I am going to be using my 600mm I change out my tripod for the Gitzo GT5540 instead.

I have a Hoya HMC UV filter on every lens that can take a filter for protection and I use the new Nikon slim line Circular Polarizer.

In addition to that (as if that's not enough), I may carry my Nikon AF-S 105mm 2.8 VR Micro if I am going out specifically for some macro work. A Nikon AF 28mm 1.4 if I am going to be doing some night work like star trails, etc. A Nikon AF-S 300mm F4 for hand held birds in flight.

This is what I take with me on a trip. Depending on the subject and the distance I have to travel on foot to get to my subject, I scale down what I carry in the field. I will set up my biggest lens on the tripod with a body attached, a moderate zoom on another body over my shoulder and either my MP-5 or a fanny pack with a couple of wide zooms, fisheye, teleconverter, batteries and flash cards. this way I can be quick to respond to almost anything that happens.

Let me know if you have any questions. Anyone else who wants to share what they use and for what, please join in.

[JulieM]

Laurie, I'm tired just reading it let alone carrying it! :D

[NMarti]

Julie
I think Laurie forgot to mention the chiropractor who travels with her. ;):D

That is a lot of equipment. I can't imagine taking that much with me, but then she's a professional and I take snapshots. :o

[Whiplash-GT]

damn, 2 D3s??
and i was starting to like you :(

LOL

jokes aside, you're carrying around what i'm hoping to in the next year or so
right now i'm trying to tell myself i don't really need the D3, that the D300 will suffice (i haven't stopped arguing with myself for almost 2 months...and i haven't been able to figure out who's ahead :) ).
once that's figured out it's time to start looking at the better glass, right now i could use a 17-55 and 70-200, wedding season approaches, but the FX would mean the 14-24 and 24-70 as well as the 70-200


your list is very impressive Laurie!!

[GaryK]

Laurie

What is the Canon close up lens??? How does it mount on a Nikon?:confused:

[Joe M]

Very impressive Laurie. While most of us don't need all the gear you have. It is helpful to see the brands that a professional relies on to get the job done.

As others have mentioned the chore is must be to haul that stuff around. I'm curious, as a professional, what kind of pain reliever do you use? Do you go with aspirin, acetaminophen, or the nsaids family?

[lexcell]

Well, I used to be 5'9' and now I am down to 5'4" if that tells you anything about carrying all that equipment around. :)

As mentioned, most folks don't need all that equipment but, it gives you an idea of what professional wildlife/nature photographers carry around. I'd say that most of my colleagues have about the same setup.

[Not4wood]

I agree with Gary. How does a Canon lens mount on a Nikon body??

Seems that a lot of the Canon equipment is by far cheaper then the Nikon stuff with very good sharpness. If we could mount the Canon Lens on a Nikon Body and go a lot cheaper this would open up a whole new venue I think..

[lexcell]

Sorry, no such luck. It attaches to the front of the lens like a filter. It comes in a variety of filter diameters. Canon calls it a Close Up Lens because it has two elements.
It is excellent quality (not as good as a true macro but, good, nonetheless...plus it's small and I carry it everywhere.

[nkeevers]

Wow, I'm with Julie! I definitely couldn't carry all that stuff around with me...I have trouble enough with my camera and my tele...LOL! It's interesting though seeing what the professionals carry around. I go to golf tourneys all the time and I'm always amazed at just the cameras and zooms they have on them...those are big enough!

[richardallen]

I got back into photography so i purchased a nikon d-200, then the lenses started, 24-120, 50,70-200,17-37, then the 2x, 800 flash, and assorted filters. I had pages of tripods and ended up spending 450. for a giotto that i love, along with a couple of fast releases. I take pics for the HS sports, but my favor is outdoor woods stuff. I am sooo glad there is a delete button.

[Not4wood]

I got to play with my friends brand new 70-300mm Canon IS lens he bought at Abe's of Main. No shipping charge, No tax (at the moment anyway, and that might change very soon if these maroons in our government have a say). Very nice and very sharp, its not as heavy as I thought it would be compared to my Nikon D80 with my 18-135 Kit lens was almost the same if not a drop more heavy. Body wise, his Canon Rebel XTI is a lot lighter and the new lens just makes it a drop front heavy.

We were shooting our Local Theater Groups Full Dress Rehearsal and his wife and mine are both included. I did post some shots in another thread I think under Techniques if your interested. I can post a link to the Photo Album I have on Photobucket if anybody is interested. I have been uploading some as I make them available in small groups when there ready. I shot all of them in Raw and I have to play with the WB a lot. The Gels on the stage lights play crazy stuff with the Stage White Balance. Some are too blue, some are way to yellow and so on. Nothing is consistant with these guys. LOL

I gotta tell ya, this is really my first real big shoot with my Nikon and I shot this whole thing in Raw only. Raw is very forgiving, holds an awful lot of details even if you get the exposure wrong you can still pull it in using the ACR even before Elements gets to it. I was using my old Vivitar 283, changing the power level depending on how far my subject was. I shot on Manual in the camera and also used the aperture with the power levels to adjust exposure. I even tried my hand at draggin the shutter and I saw absolutely no subject movement but I was able to capture the background ambient light and it worked very well. I pushed my ISO on Thursdays shoot to 500 and I saw a slight noise in some of the areas if I made it kinda big on my Monitor when I was touching up parts of the shots. I used ISO 320 this afternoon and I saw no ill effects so far.

Yesterday, while I was at Staples I purchased my first SD Extreme III 2 gig mem card and I used it today. Very fast, I also kept an eye on the access light for my camera and it was on for such a short period of time I wasn't sure if it was the card or just the camera taking a peak. LOL Not one second extra did I have to wait for the camera at any point. I just shot away, every once in a while I had to stop and change batteries on my 283 but thats it. Even uploads real fast using my USB SD card reader in my puter. I would say twice as fast but thats me saying thats how it felt. I didn't make any extreme tests watching a clock. I shot 118 pics today, andd 120 this past Thursday and I would say todays upload was twice as fast.

[Ericr2zz]

Laurie,

I signed up for your DWLS workshops in the San Juan Islands. I'm looking forward to it.

Moose's recommendations were to purchase a Lee 4x6" ND 3 stop filter with no filter holder. However, I have a Lee "P" series ND filter with a Cokin Filter Holder, which is approx 3.3" x 4.8"

What's your theory on using a filter holder vs. holding the filter by hand?

I'm going to post this as another thread in case your system doesn't see this posting.

Thanks

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Laurie,

I am green with envy:). On a related topic, I cannot believe that I had not visited your website before now. Awesome! Just got back from skiing in Utah and your Bryce shots reminded me how equally beautiful the state is in summer. If you ever teach a course in South Florida, give me a call.

Keep up the good work,

Bob

[rtronick]

Look at my Sig. for Gear List.

Randy T

[lexcell]

Eric,
I use the Lee 4X6 filter as well. The P size is fine if you don't need the extra size for lenses with larger filter sizes. Like Moose, my filter holder is my left hand.
I look forward to meeting you in the San Juans.

[lexcell]

Bob,
Why thank you for the very nice comments on my website and images. I grew up in Utah. There is som beautiful country there.
I just so happen to be leading a photographic safari in St Pete area this week. I am looking into doing one next spring in So Florida. I will be posting it in the next couple of weeks.
Check my blog for the notice or go to my website and look under safaris.
I hope you can join me.

[Bob_Benner]

Very impressive list of equipment. I thought my D300 with my 70-200 vr was heavy just by itself since that covers almost 98% of what I shoot. Does the D3 meet your expectations of what you were hoping for from it?

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

This is just a quick post to demonstrate I am clearly in bed with Nikon!:)

2004

Cheers,

Bob

[C8franklyn]

That is too funny!!!!!

[lexcell]

Bob B,
The D3 exceeds my expectations! I love the resolution and the FX sensor with the new wide angle lenses is to die for. I have even bumped the ISO to 1600 and was quite pleased with the results.
It is one high performance, high resolution, dead accurate metering camera.

Bob S,
Nice family tree of Nikon history you have there.

[Bob_Benner]

Laurie, thanks for your answer on the D3 :). I really would like to buy one but $5,000.00 for a body is not to realistic for me right now. I could afford it, but ouch, OUCH :) It would be nice though. Hmm, no, I need to stop.

[lexcell]

Bob,
Yes, it is pricey. The key is to buy the best you can afford that does the job you need. You could buy 2-D300s and an extra lens for the cost of the D3.
However, if you need the features of the D3, there is no substitution.

[Bob_Benner]

I really like the idea of having a full frame DSLR. It would be nice Knowing that my 50mm lens is 50mm, 35 is 35, 105 is 105, etc, etc. I don't mind the conversion factor on lenses like my 70-200mm f/2.8VR, but for the primes and macro I would like to be at the focal length that they should be.

[lexcell]

Start saving those dollars. I don't see an inexpensive FX sensor in the near future. :)

[Bob_Benner]

Start saving those dollars. I don't see an inexpensive FX sensor in the near future. :)

Neither do I :rolleyes: Maybe if I get the wife the new furniture she wants, hmm:D

[LynnieCheb]

How nice to find a place populated with beings of my own kind! My DH (who has only been sharing my life for a few years) finds it odd that when we go on vacation I pack my gear a week beforehand. Clothing? - Couple of t-shirts and a pair of shorts thrown into a backback the night before we leave.........

I am in the process of selling most of my gear right now, though, to be able to afford a new Rebel Xsi (when they come out) and a telephoto. Maybe that way all my stuff will fit again into one bag and it'll cut down on my packing time. :D

[Bob_Benner]

Okay, my goal is to have a D3 in my hands by the middle of May:)