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Buck's
Camera Gear |
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| Canon
5DMKII / BG-E6 Battery Grip This is the primary camera body I use. It's a digital, full-frame professional level camera and, I think, pretty awesome. You can read all about it by clicking HERE. In addition to upgrading it with a battery grip, I've also upgraded the focusing screen to the Eg, which is a grid pattern for help with composition in the viewfinder.
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| Canon
7D / BG-E7 Battery Grip This next one is the secondary camera body I use. It's a digital 'Pro-sumer' level camera and also pretty terrific by most standards. You can read all about it by clicking HERE. The Canon 40D I used for the past few years is now my backup camera body.
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| Canon
EF-S 10-22mm This is my wide angle lens, mostly used for landscapes, but it gets plenty of other use as well. Distortion is very low for a wide angle lens, making it pretty much the cream of the crop in it's class. It was specifically designed to be used on the Canon "Pro-sumer" digital cameras - those with a crop factor of 1.6x, so it fits my 7D and 40D bodies. |
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| Canon EF 50mm
f/1.8 II This is a prime lens. That is to say, it's focal length is set at 50mm, so it's not a zoom. Generally, fixed lenses are much sharper, and that's why I got it, especially for portraits, though it makes a good all-around lens for products and landscapes as well. Reversed, it makes an interesting macro lens. |
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| Canon
EF-S 18-55mm This is the zoom lens often referred to as "The Kit Lens" because it is the one often sold with prosumer camera bodies as a basic 'starter' lens. It's not known to be a great lens, but I've gotten what I consider great shots from mine. Because it's an "S" lens, it fits my 7D and 40D bodies only. |
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| Canon
EF 85mm f/1.8 My newest lens. Another prime lens, this is great for portraits in particular, but of course that's not all. |
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| Canon
EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS This "L" glass is incredibly sharp and plenty fast for my needs. It's quickly become my standard "walk-around" general-purpose lens, mostly replacing the next lens down on this list with a nice step up in image quality. |
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| Canon
EF 28-135mm This is a medium range zoom lens, and probably the one I've used more than any other lens for everyday shots. It's a decent all-around all-purpose lens with a good range of zoom. |
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| Sigma
180mm Macro I got this terrific lens specifically for shooting macros at true 1:1 sizes for better clarity. As a prime lens, it has a VERY clear focus, compared to my zooms. I need more prime lenses now that I've got a taste. |
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| Canon
EF 70-200mm f/4L IS This "L" glass has brilliant sharpness, color and contrast characteristics, and is useful for everything from portraits to wildlife. |
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| Canon
EF 100-400mm This is my current 'Big Gun' zoom lens, mostly used for shooting wildlife from a distance. Someday, I hope to get a REALLY BIG GUN, like a Canon 500mm prime. (drool...) |
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| Canon EF
1.4X II Extender This lens fits between the camera body and other (Canon) lenses to extend their zoom by a factor of 1.4 times what the lens' original zoom was. So, for example, 400mm becomes 560mm. |
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| Canon
2x Extender This lens does the same as above, but extends by a factor of 2. So, for example, 400mm becomes 800mm. I should say at this point that you can't get something for nothing, and that's true with this extender. Focus is a little softer than I'd like, and I rarely actually use it. |
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| Canon
Angle Finder C This small lens fits onto the eyepiece of the camera and allows me to view and compose from angles not easily accessible, like when the camera is right on the ground, I can look in from above. It also enlarges the view by 1.25x or 2.5x for more precise focusing ability. |
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| Kenko
Extension Tubes This set of tubes fits in any combination between the camera body and lens to shorten the minimum focal distance allowable by the lens. In effect, it means I can put these onto my 'Big Gun' and turn it into a pretty powerful macro lens because I can then focus on things VERY close to the front of the lens. It was a low cost way to get decent macro shots until I could afford a real dedicated macro lens like the Sigma 180mm described above. |
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| Canon
580 EX II Flash Inspired by the writings of Strobist and a need for more light for my macros, I actually have two of these, and they really are terrific flash units. I use colored gels with these to help create special lighting effects, especially for backgrounds. |
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| Canon
ST-E2 Flash Commander This sits atop my camera body, connected via the hotshoe, and controls my off-camera lighting, including ratios. |
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| Radio Poppers These are the radio transmitters and receivers I use to communicate between the camera body / commander and the off-camera lights, including both my 580EXII speedlights and my studio strobes. |
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| Canon
CP-E4 Power Pack These connect to my 580EXII flashes to speed up recycle time and to extend shooting sessions without changing out batteries. |
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| Bogen-Manfrotto
3205GN3 "Tracker" Tripod This is a really good, sturdy, steady tripod, but not too heavy for me to carry into the field with me, which is important for the kind of shooting I like to do. And
it'sgreen. 'Nuffsaid. ;>) |
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| Bogen-Manfrotto 488rco Ball Head Parked on top of the tripod, this is what actually holds the camera in place for a good steady shot. |
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| Buck's
DIY Gimbal Head DIY = Do It Yourself, and I'm real big on that. Gimbal style heads are very expensive, so I made this myself to do the job. I'll have a write up with more info, photos and video later. For now, I'll just say that it works REAL well, and makes me VERY happy! |
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| Yongnuo RadioTrigger Found on Ebay at a very inexpensive price, this allows me to shoot without touching the camera, by remote control. It works up to about 100 yards, allowing me to get closeups of birds without spooking them. I also use this for shooting long exposures, so that my camera doesn't move at all from me touching it to press the shutter directly. It's the electronic version of the plungers and bulbs we used in the 'old days'. |
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| Sekonic
L-558R Light Meter This is what I use to measure lighting in special situations, such as portrait shooting with studio flash heads, soft boxes, reflectors and so on. |
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| Cokin
Filters I do all my color filtering in Photoshop these days, rather than on the camera, but I still use the polarizers and neutral density filters as needed in front of my lenses. |
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| Lowepro
Backpack This is what I use on extended field trips. It's the Photo Trekker AW II and holds everything I need for a photo adventure, including a cool tripod holder system, a place for my drink, and even a little folding field chair I found at the Discovery Channel store that I've attached to it. Beyond how much it holds, it's got real comfort, with lumbar support and a harness system second to none to fit a human comfortably on a long trek. |
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| Gisteq
Photo Trackr This GPS device records my position wherever I happen to be, then matches the photos I took with the position and writes the data into the photo's EXIF file for easy mapping purposes. With all my traveling, this comes in REAL handy, rather than trying to guess where the heck I was, exactly, as I try to map the photo into Google Earth. I've modified mine to hold two batteries in an external case, so that it will last longer, making it more dependable to me on longer adventures without feeling a need to check to make sure it's still functioning. |
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| Buck's
DIY MFB Another Do It Yourself project, MFB stands for Macro Flash Bracket. You can see photos of how I built and use it and read more about it HERE |
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| Other
Stuff In addition to the main stuff above, I've got an assortment of support jazz, like...
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| Links Photography sites on the web that I like
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One more link, to a photography cartoonist's funny
stuff:
Have fun and keep snappin'! | |
