In my bag
This is for those who are interested in the equipment I use -
When I started taking photoraphy seriously, I made the mistake of thinking the equipment was important and bought various lenses and accessories just because I thought I had to. I carried everything around with me on the basis that if I left something behind I’d be bound to need it. However, as the bag got heavier I started to be a little more disciplined and I now try to be much more selective in what I take - sometimes deliberately going out with just one lens for the fun of seeing what I can achieve with it. Initially, this was frustrating but gradually you realise that being selective has benefits, aside from the obvious, in that sometimes you just have to improvise when come across an opportunity for which you perhaps don’t have the ideal lens. This situation forces you to think outside the box, about how you can achieve results with the equipment you have with you and allows your creativity to be freed. It makes you think less about the equipment and more about the image which is something I found I was much more comfortable with.
In my personal work I am very much a spontaneous and opportunist photographer - I don’t tend to plan things too much or work out where I should be at a particular time. I take it as it comes and work accordingly. I much prefer to travel light as I feel much more comfortable and actually enjoy taking pictures instead of carting around a heavy bag, tripod and too much gear, just in case, becoming tired and fed up in the process.I believe that this change has helped me to improve and in fact I have now sold several items of equipment which I found I no longer used or where I have discovered a better option.
I have bought and sold a few lenses over the past few years but have now settled on those from which I get the best results and with which I feel most happy. What I use now are, in my view, the best I can use for the images I like to take. I like to experiment and try out different ways of doing thingswhich is fun and can be very creative. I describe the items I use and why I use them, as well as what I no longer have and why I got rid of it as I believe that is most useful to someone trying to decide what to buy. I know when I am researching an item I think I need that I like to know why it didn’t work for someone as well as why it did for others - that way I can best make my decision and choose if I really do need it. As equipment often changes and gets added to, I will try to keep this updated. Feel free to ask questions or post comments if you choose.
Camera
I still have the very first digital camera I acquired, back in 1997 - a Canon Powershot G1. It is a great little camera and ideal if you need to travel really light or need to be more discreet. I still use it today. I chose it initially becuase at that time, when digital was only just happening, it was the only camera I found which used a Compact Flash card - all of the others at that time were using those flimsy little XD cards or others which, in my opinion, were not robust enough. The 16Mb (yes really) CF card I bought to add to the 4Mb one supplied, meant I could place the card into the Compaq iPaq I had at that time, for which I had purchased a CF Jacket. It was quite cool - I could actually see the JPG images shot with the camers on my iPaq screen and with a Bluetooth connection to my mobile phone, I could send them by email. Not bad for 1997! Having a working knowledge of Photoshop and digital imaging was useful and I got great enjoyment from using it with my own images.
I purchased a Canon 10D when they first became available, as the timing was just right - I was looking to make an investment in a digital SLR camera which I could use for the freelance design work I was by then doing and being familiar with the G1, I wanted to stay with Canon. I never regretted that decision. Despite the personal difficulties I encountered with my own memory issues and having to re-learn SLR photography, I found this camera was exactly what I needed at that time. It took a while to really get to grips with it but I persevered.
I replaced my Canon 10D with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II 
in 2004 - my first Canon 1 series and I still recall the thrill when I first took it from its box!. This is a camera which takes a while to get used to in order to get the best out of it but the image quality is superb. So too is its ability to focus quickly, especially in low light, and produce some stunning results. I find that I can lock focus on a moving subject quite quickly and track it. For sports or fast moving action such as animals running or birds in flight, the auto focus is unsurpassed and is a sheer joy to use. Mount this camera on a monopod (it is heavy, especially with a long lens mounted) or tripod and its ability to track moving subjects is just brilliant. I also love the ability to take SD as well as Compact Flash cards for greater capacity and flexibility. I am able to put an SD card into my Palm LifeDrive and download images to free up the card to use again and can also email them or FTP using a Bluetooth connection to my mobile phone or a WiFi Hotspot.
Late in 2005, I added a Canon EOS 5D 
to my bag. It was just love at first sight - the camera feels great to hold and being lighter and easier to handle than the 1D Mark II, I find it preferable for hand holding when using a short prime or wide angle lens although the balance on the IDMII is better with long lenses. The image quality from the 5D is absolutely stunning however and the full frame sensor is really superb for wide angles. The 5D gives me the best of both worlds as it compliments the 1DMII perfectly and gives some extra flexibility and a back-up body when needed. Paired with my beloved 200L prime, it is unbeatable for quality and is just great to carry and hold.
I had not appreciated just how important having a second camera body is, thinking it to be more of a luxury than a necessity, but since I have got more used to it I find that for landscape work it is unsurpassed. Now, when I go out with both cameras, I simply have a telephoto on the 1DMkII and a wide angle or 50mm on the 5D so I can quickly change between them. Often, when photographing landscapes, you suddenly spot a bird in the distance or a butterfly close by for example, and have to change lenses. Or conversely, you are taking macro shots of flowers and realise that the whole scene is inspiring.
The only thing I would mark the 5D down on is that the sensor tends to attract a lot more dust which is another good reason for not changing the lens too often. The big advantage with the 5D is the file size of the image after converting from RAW, which is accepted by the most stringent of photo libraries.
The Canon G1 digital compact still travels in the car - just in case - it comes in quite handy sometimes if I need to travel light or be discreet and it shares the same battery size as the 5D so I always have a spare, ready charged. The Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera 10.0MP, 6x optical zoom
is the newest version of this excellent little camera.
Lenses
All photographers have a favourite lens - mine has long been a Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II 
, prime lens, bought to replace a Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III
and which has since become the lens I use most often due to it’s sharpness, colour rendition and extreme portability. Being fast and relatively light, it is a great lens for handheld shots, especially in low light and when combined with a Canon 14XEF II 1.4x Extender
or Canon 2XEF II 2x Extender
it becomes a handy 340m/f4 or 400m/5.6 when needed.
Another favourite is the amazing Canon Eos 300mm F4L USM Lens
prime lens, acquired to replace a Sigma 170 mm - 500 mm - f/5.0-6.3 DG APO Aspherical zoom
lens, which I found too big, too heavy and unwieldy and the images rather lacked the contrast and dynamic range which the Canon L lenses give. The quality produced by this Canon lens is legendary and I am only just starting to discover how much fun it is to use. I have the non-IS lens which I find gives excellent, sharp results. Combined with the Extenders, this lens gives a very useful 480m f5.6 and 600m f8 although a tripod or monopod are essential supports. It can also be combined with extension tubes and the Canon 500D close-up lens
for some interesting macros, giving a much greater working distance of course.
Whilst zooms do give a little more flexibility, I feel that my photography improved since I acquired these primes since I now think more about my position when framing a shot instead of relying on the zoom. That said, I do now have a Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8 L 
zoom lens, which I acquired second hand on eBay at a good price, for occasions such as working from a hide or a tripod, when it is more difficult to change focal length quickly or in very dusty or sandy surroundings where frequent lens changing is not a good idea. Mine is the non-IS version which is reportedly slightly sharper, but no longer being made. It was strange having the ability to zoom at first as I kept forgetting and moving position. Not quite as sharp as the prime, much heavier and I did find it a bit unwieldy at first - so much so I considered replacing it with a Canon 100 mm-400 mm - f/4.5-5.6 L IS
on the basis that if I have to carry a heavy zoom it might as well cover a greater distance and Arthur Morris seems to rate this very highly for bird flight shots. However, I found the bigger lens that bit too heavy and never really got on with the telescopic push-pull zoom, so after a week it went back and I kept the 70-200. I am now so glad I did as this lens has become a real favourite and is used more often than I expected. It is especially useful for sports, events and any kind of fast moving activity. I shoot some non-league football and other sports events so for that this lens is perfect. It is also good for in-flight photography providing the birds are fairly close, as it does lose more definition when combined with either of the extenders than the primes do. Understandably, as this is a zoom but it does pair up well the extenders when needed.
For wide scenics and short focal lengths, I love the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
which I acquired to replace a Canon 20-35m, which in turn replaced a Cosina 19-35mm. The Cosina was quite good but lacked vibrance and was quite soft around the edges. The Canon 20-35 was better but I never quite got on with the diaphram on the lens. The 16-35L zoom gives excellent results with superb colours and contrast even when used wide open and at wide angles although it is possible to see some vignetting in the corners when used with the 5D. This lens is so adaptable and as it is fast, it is ideal for low light conditions. I have got excellent results with this lens shooting landscapes, close ups and interiors. Due to the 1.3 conversion factor on the ID Mark II the 16-35L is of course, even wider than it appeared on the 10D with its conversion factor of 1.6 so this can give near fish-eye effects if you are not careful. The first time I used it on the 1D Mark II, I was photographing old mills and forgot about this - I ended up with some very strange looking mill chimneys! The effect is even more pronounced on the 5D of course, due to its full frame sensor.
A Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens
handles the standard range and is perfect for very low light or where compactness is needed. This little lens has got to be the best value of all - trouble is, I always forget it’s there but when I do use it the results are always sharp and well defined. It gives brilliant results on the 5D making a light and compact solution for travelling.
I also sold my Sigma EX 105m 2.8 Macro lens, since for close-up and macro work I now use a Canon 500D close-up lens on the 200L and 300L with some great results. The 500D makes a very lightweight alternative to carrying a seperate macro lens and is good to keep in a pocket ‘just in case’. I have also used it with great success combined with extension tubes on the 300L and the results have been amazing. The 200L with x2 extender and extension tubes is also producing some really interesting results and is fun to use but a tripod is essential as the slightest movement will spoil the image. The depth of field with this combination is next to nothing so I tend to use selective focus and have achieved some very pleasing results. I continue to experiment with this set up further.
Storage
The pair of 256mb Compact Flash cards I used with the 10D were relegated to the G1 and for use as spares as the larger file sizes from the 1D Mark II prove them far too small for everyday use and on the 5D they would be hopeless. I replaced them with a pair of 2Gb and 1Gb CF cards and a pair of 1Gb SD cards with an old pair of 512Mb cards as spares. An old 64Mb SD card stays in the bag with the saved cameras settings. I sold my Smartdisk FlashTrax 40GB USB2.0 Portable Digital Storage Device
, along with my Palm Tungsten T3 PDA and replaced them with a Palm LifeDrive Mobile Manager / PDA with 4GB Hard Drive
which was much more convenient, doubled as a much needed Sat Nav solution in my car and was only one device instead of three. The internal 4Gb hard drive meant I could download images in the field when the SD card filled up and keep shooting for a much longer time. Using built-in WiFi or with a Bluetooth connection to my 3G mobile phone, I was able to email or FTP images within a few minutes of taking them if required, which has come very useful when doing news, sport and event assignments. I recently experienced a problem with the LifeDrive and could not get it to power on. I contacted Palm and they asked me to send it back for repair. I did so and a short time later I received it back in full working order. Since it was over a year old I was very impressed and I think they sent me another unit as it doesn’t look like my old one! Thanks Palm! I have subsequently sold this LifeDrive (see below).
When my youngest son accidentally dropped my old and much-loved, first generation iPod onto the stone kitchen floor, I was devasted, scouring eBay for a replacement and tried everything to fix it but replacing its hard drive just did not seem to be an option. Then I won the Stefan Buczacki Photographic Competition at the Southport Flower Show and with the prize money, treated myself to a brand new Apple iPod 30GB Video/White (5th Generation)
and Camera Connector. WOW!! Not only can I download my Compact Flash cards onto the iPod whilst I am out shooting but I can listen to music and the latest photographic Podcasts both whilst out in the field, in the car, on the train and at home. Superb purchase!
I have just replaced my LifeDrive with a Palm Treo 680 Smartphone
so I could combine a phone with my PDA and just have one device instead of two. I am well impressed It doesn’t have the internal hard drive of the LifeDrive but it does use an SD card, I can still use TomTom Navigator for Palm
and for emailing pictures and the iPod provides the in-the-field storage (and the ability to listen to podcasts and music) so it seems like an ideal solution for me.
I also had a nasty experience with a Lexar 1GB 80X Premium Compact Flash Card
- it just stopped working and I could not read from or write to it. I could not retrieve the images which were on it so I had to return it to the US. It took a couple of months but not only did they replace it for me but they also send a CD with the images they had retrieved from the old card - very impressive. Thanks Lexar!
Bags
A Lowe Pro Lowepro Stealth Reporter 550 AW
shoulder bag holds all the lenses except the 300L, as well as an Apple Powerbook, both camera bodies, a small flash plus a few filters, angle finder, extension tubes, remote release etc. When used with a Lowepro Street & Field belt, pouch and various lens cases, this makes a very portable system which is ideal for working out of the car providing a comfortable “walk around” set up for anywhere within a relatively short walking distance or for indoor assigment work. For long hikes, field trips, crawling around in the undergrowth or when the big lens is needed, a Mini Trekker Classic
backpack does the job admirably and has space for a Thinsular woolly hat and gloves (essential when sitting in a hide in the winter), knee pads, bottle of water, snack, hazelnuts (for squirrels!) and a lightweight showerproof jacket! Plus, of course, my iPod and mobile phone. This has recently been replaced with a LowePro Photo Trekker, a larger backpack more suited to the large ID body size but which is no longer produced so I was lucky to get one of the last around. I prefer it due to the curved shoulder harness although it is heavier as it carries more.
Support
I have a sturdy Manfrotto MN055PROB Classic Tripod
which allows the legs to be positioned individually so it can be set up on uneven ground or on an incline with no loss of stability and the adjustable angle legs also allow for low angle shots. I recently replaced the Manfrotto 128RC pan and tilt head with a Linhof Profii II ball head from Linhof Studios and I have to say it is the best purchase I ever made. Superb! It holds even the heaviest combination of 1D Mark II plus 300L with x2 Extender in place without the slightest creep, which was the problem with the 128RC, and still allows fluid panning which is essential for birds in flight.
Carrying a tripod around for any length of time is not much fun however and if I am not planning any macro or flight images I often use a Manfrotto MN681B Monopod 
where a lot of walking is involved as I find it much more convenient to use. This Manfrotto monopod and ball head is strong enough to support the 300L yet light enough to carry around and provides some very unique means of support when wedged against trees, fence posts, large stones etc! It is also indespensible where tripods are not allowed or practical such as for events and sports. Using the same quick release plate as the tripod, the monopod makes a very good and solid support when needed, especially with a remote release cable, and I can switch between it and the tripod easily.
A beanbag comes in very useful when doing low level work as well as for resting on gateposts and also the roof of the car or an open car window. Read more about my Digital Darkroom
Insurance
Camera & Photographic Insurance is one of those things we always begrudge paying out for as it seems we don’t really get anything for it. My opinion has changed after the recent incident with my Canon 1D mark II however and I now really appreciate what having good cover means. I have just renewed my Photoguard policy with Pavilion Insurance - it is worth every penny.
Photoguard - camera insuranceFlexible cover options mean you get the camera insurance cover you need and don’t pay for unnecessary extras. For amateur, semi and professional photographers.Their award winning site makes it quick to get a quote and easy to understand what is covered.
