We All Need Photography Equipment Suited To Our Individual Needs

Photography equipment is essential for photographers. We all own at least a little. Tending towards the pack-rat personality and being a long-time photographer, I probably have more than most though I don't keep anything that no longer works. So lets start this section with the equipment I currently use and why.

I have one really cheap, plastic three mega-pixel Kodak point & shoot with no zoom and no manual settings. This camera does snapshot work for me when conditions are just too wet or dusty or rough to want to risk anything else. It does a surprisingly good job and makes good prints up to 5"x7" from j-peg files. I think of it as the digital version of my old film fixed-lens Minolta Hi-matic rangefinder: a decent basic camera.

One step up the scale is my Canon Powershot A-640. It has a 4X zoom, a 10 mega-pixel sensor, full manual control when needed, easily fits in most shirt or coat pockets and weighs around half a pound with four AA batteries. It does not have image stabilization or a hot shoe for external flash and it also records only j-peg format files. The reason I picked this model was the swiveling LCD screen, which allows shooting vertical or horizontal ground-level shots or using at waist level or overhead. I carry this camera with me everywhere I go and after almost two years it has never let me down. This Canon can hold its own whenever it is not practical to carry a DSLR and is much less intrusive for street photography.

My first digital camera and still my main workhorse is the original Minolta Maxxum 7D DSLR at six megapixels. My Tamron 28-105 f/2.8 "SP" is the all-purpose lens of choice and a survivor from film days when it was usually paired with a Maxxum 9 body.I am partial to OP/Tech neoprene neck straps(they really do make the load seem lighter and absorb a lot of shock when walking).

A Sony Alpha100 ten mega-pixel body rounds out my main cameras. It makes great files and works fine but is just too small and light to seem like a "real" camera to me. I am afraid to use it in the rain for very long and don't think it would survive a fall but so far it has done the job well. I got the 18-70mm Sony kit zoom with it because it was such a deal. Again, this lens is perfectly adequate though very lightweight. It is certainly a nice combo for a casual hike or for walking around town. So far my build-quality doubts have been unfounded. For more information go to the camera choices page.

The Lens is the most important piece of photgraphy equipment any of us own. All of my lenses are from the film era. There is a 16-35mm f/3.5 Minolta "G", a 70-200 f/2.8 Sigma "EX", a 200-400mm f/5.6 Tamron "SP", a 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Minolta(for light hiking), a Tamron 2X tele-converter for when the 400mm just isn't long enough and 12, 24 & 36mm automatic extension tubes for when any of the lenses won't focus closely enough. There have been no quality issues to make me want to upgrade to "digital" lenses. And I just have not missed my single focal length lenses or true macro lens from pre-autofocus days. For more specific recommendations on lenses go to the Lens Choice page.

Three circular polarizing filters are always with me: 77mm size for the 16-35mm, 70-200mm and 200-400mm, 55mm size for the 18-70mm and 75-300mm and 82mm size for the 28-105mm. I spend a lot of time near salt water so all lenses always have either the polarizer of a UV/Haze filter on them. I still occasionally use a Cokin split neutral density filter but usually find it easier to do shadow and highlight developments of the raw file at home.

Other assorted photography equipment includes a magnifying angle-finder for low-level shots, two TTL wireless shoe-mount flashes, an electronic cable release, a Bogen tripod with quick-release ball head and vertical/horizontal center column and spare batteries and storage cards. If I am traveling or anticipate extra-heavy shooting I will take my laptop and card reader along. Everything except the tripod lives either in a Tamrac backpack or a SeaHorse waterproof hard case. There is also a waterproof case for the Canon A-640 for use while snorkeling. More info on the extras available on the Photography Accessories page.

Please click the various links below to get more information and pro/con reasoning on specific equipment. It is just as important to get the photographic gear that fits you well as it is to get shoes that fit you well! This stuff is expensive so make sure to buy what is right for you the first time. For more equipment information from previous pages please visit the Photography Equipment Archive.

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