My Photo/ Video Gear
Truth be told I have always kind of disliked these types of pages. It’s hard to list out all of the gear that you use without feeling like you are bragging about it. Also, I think it can be some what discouraging to those just starting out in photography who see these kinds of lists and think that you have to have top of the line gear in order to produce amazing content - whether it’s photos or video. The reality is that the gear is meaningless without skill. What I have listed here is the culmination of the last 10+ years of my photographic journey. My first DSLR was a Canon Digital Rebel XT with the 18-55mm kit lens. Over the years I have bought, sold, and traded up to where I am today. Regardless, people really seem to like to know what gear you use so without further adieu here is the gear I currently use.
CameraS:
Sony A7R IV
This is my main camera for landscape/travel photography. The camera itself is compact, lightweight, and powerful. The 61 mega-pixel sensor has incredible dynamic range and allows me to capture images with amazing detail. In addition, the APS-C (crop mode) produces a beautiful 26 mega-pixel image with the added benefit of a 1.5x crop factor with whatever lens you are using. This dual resolution makes it a solid choice for landscape, travel, wildlife, or whatever.
Sony A7S III
This is my main camera for shooting video. Like the A7R IV, the camera Itself is compact, lightweight, and powerful. The only real draw back to this camera is it’s 12 mega-pixel sensor. While it has plenty of mega-pixels to produce beautiful 4k video in 10bit color up to 120fps, it can be limiting if you want to make a large print of a photo. However, with software tools like Adobe’s super resolution or Topaz lab’s Gigapixel AI, you can effectively upsample your 12 mega-pixel image to 48. So, in the end, I am not sure how much of a limitation it actually turns out to be.
Lenses:
Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master
This light weight prime is razor sharp corner to corner - even when shooting at wider apertures - making it ideal for video, landscapes, astrophotography, or travel. I mainly use this lens for video as its size and weight make it a good choice for use on a gimbal.
Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master
This is an outstanding wide-angle lens that is super sharp from corner to corner all the way through the zoom range. Combined with a with a nice wide aperture, it makes a fantastic choice for landscape photography.
Sony 24-105mm f/4.0
This is an excellent all around lens with awesome focal length coverage. It’s wide enough to shoot landscapes, but has enough of a zoom to capture the detail shots. It is also hard to argue with its constant f/4 aperture. If I find myself in a situation where I can only take one lens, this is the one I am reaching for.
Sony 100-400mm f4.5 - 5.6 G master
This is an absolute beast of a lens. It covers a large focal range right out of the box, and you can add a teleconverter to extend it even further. All this comes in a relatively small package that fits in your camera bag without much effort. That said, at just over three pounds, this lens adds quite a bit of heft.
Sony 50mm f/2.5 G Lens
Sony offers several lenses in the 50-55mm range and the prices vary significantly as well. This one is a modern take on the nifty-fifty. It is a great size for just walking around and it does not take up much space in your bag either. It produces a beautiful image and the f2.5 aperture produces a decent shallow depth of field.
Action cameras:
GoPro Hero 7
I have used a few GoPro Hero models over the years and the quality of footage has always been pretty disappointing. When trying to capture underwater video, one of the biggest disappointments was the ability to capture stable footage on a dive. In my opinion, the Hero 7 is the first model to actually produce useable footage straight out of the camera, thanks to their new HyperSmooth image stabilization. I haven’t used the newer Hero 10, but my understanding is the camera and stabilization has only gotten better.
Insta360 One X2
The Insta360 One X2 is one of the better 360 cameras out there. The number one thing I love about this camera is that as a 360 degree camera it captures everything, so you will never miss a shot. This latest generation of hardware is solid and a huge improvement over the original. Insta360 designed an excellent app that goes with the camera. It is both intuitive and easy to use, allowing you edit and export a finished video without leaving your mobile device. The software also has cool features like: being able to guide what the viewer sees, selfie stick removal, and incredible stabilization.
Drones:
DJI Mavic Mini 2
When it comes traveling with a drone, it is hard to beat the packability, quality, and performance of the Mavic Mini 2. At just under $500 you can capture beautiful 4k video, or 12MP stills, with a flight time of 31 minutes. The best part is that this drone weighs only 249 grams, which in a lot of instances means it is not subject to drone regulations. (That said, you should always make yourself aware of the drone laws wherever you plan on flying.)
Camera Bags:
Camera bags are a lot like shoes. Just like there is no pair of shoes that is perfect for every single occasion, there is no single camera bag that works for every occasion. Like most photographers, I have a collection of bags that I tend to use for different situations.
Nomatic McKinnon 35L Camera Backpack
This bag is probably the best travel backpack I have found. It has a cavernous space that can be divided up in numerous ways. There is enough room for a few days worth of clothes, as well as basically any laptop you want. It is comfortable to wear and can handle heavy loads without being overly obvious that you are carrying a heavy pack. This bag is ideal for flying with my underwater camera gear without fear of having to check it at the gate.
Shimoda Action X30
This is the latest addition to my arsenal of camera bags. This bag is a good all arounder whether you are taking to the trail or just spending a day exploring the city. It has a decent size camera compartment - good for a camera body and several lenses - but it also has room for a jacket and a water bladder, and can carry a tripod quite easily. It is exceptionally comfortable to wear for long periods of time, making it the bag I reach for most often.
Peak Designs Sling
This bag is handy for when you aren’t carrying a whole lot of gear or for when a full on camera bag would be unwieldy. It comfortably fits one camera body with a couple of lenses or one camera body with a long lens. Being a sling that goes over one shoulder, this bag can get a bit uncomfortable after wearing it for awhile.
Thinktank Airport Security 3.0
A rolling luggage carry-on style bag, this bag has been designed specifically to carry quite bit of photography gear and offer features directly helpful to the traveling photographer. It is quite sturdy, offers lots of padding/protection for your gear, and has a combo zipper lock and security cable built into it. That said, my experience is that this bag is close to the maximum size for a carry-on bag and will just barely fit in the overhead bin on most planes. Additionally, if you are in a later boarding group on your plane, there is a good chance that you will end up having to gate check this bag. This is never a good option when you are talking about expensive camera gear, in my opinion.
Tripods:
Peak Design Travel Tripod
Peak Design’s travel tripod is one of the best travel oriented tripods out there, and it is ridiculously overpriced. However, it is sturdy and has great features. It is lightweight, compact, and easy to carry on a backpack or in your suitcase. My only real complaint is its maximum height is a little short. But then again, when you are 6’3”, most things are a compromise.
Filters:
While I am being honest, I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with filters. When the situation is right, they can take a decent photo and help make it amazing - providing you know what you are doing. On the list below, I use the 6 stop ND and the polarizer the most. I find the 10 stop ND filter too dark for most situations and the effects of the graduated filter set can be easily replicated with out too much effort in Lightroom or Photoshop. Additionally, these filters and the mounting system are also ridiculously expensive. That said, one upside to the mounting system is you can adapt it for use on basically any lens. My advice is try renting the filters before making the investment. If you do decide to purchase, realize that not all filters are created equal. Do your research and get filters that are made with good optical quality glass and that don’t impart weird color casts to your images. If cost isn’t a concern, the list of filters below are good options.
Lee Big Stopper (10 stop)
Lee Little Stopper (6 stop)
Lee Graduated ND Filter Set
Lee Circular Polarizer