What’s in my bag?
I thought I would do a little what is in my bag post in case anyone out there is interested. It is most definitely not a review of any of the gear I own as there is a world of reviews and information out there regarding all of the equipment in my bag. I own it because it is what suits me, my photography, my style and it is the best I have found and can reasonably afford.
The last 2-3years have been tough photographically with very few trips and even less motivation to actually get out and make photographs. The very few times I did get out however I was fairly happy with some of the images I did make.
My current camera and lens collection………..
So what is in my bag?
As you will see from the list below I’m partial to using prime lenses over zooms most of the time. The reason being that prime lenses are often sharper, better corrected and make me work harder to find compositions.
“It’s not what you look at that matters, It’s what you see”- Henry David Thoreau.
Sony 20mm F1.8 G: I bought this to replace the Zeiss Loxia 21mm F2.8 lens as I wanted a slightly wider fov, wider aperture and a lens that is better corrected for the various aberrations that can be apparent in astro photography. It has also been very highly regarded since launch and seemed to fit the bill almost perfectly. I have not yet had the opportunity to try it out so cannot comment on this lens but I sure hope it lives up to expectations as the Loxia was one of my favourite lenses for landscapes but I simply couldn’t justify owning both. Very closely resembles the 24mm GM and that lens is a joy to use which helped me make the tough decision of replacing the loxia 21mm..
Sony 24mm F1.4 GM
Since owning this lens I rarely used the Loxia for landscape photography, It is incredibly sharp, controls distortion and chromatic aberrations extremely well. It is relatively light and compact and is almost always attached to the camera when on a landscape trip. This lens is a joy to use with the manual aperture ring and custom button. One of the top 3 sharpest lenses in my bag currently. (Doubles as a pseudo 35mm f1.4 when in apsc mode)
FE 55mm F1.8: One of the first FE lenses I bought when I made the switch to mirrorless and it has remained with me ever since. It is sharp, small, light and a joy to use however it does suffer from a little coma and flare/ ghosting in some situations. Small enough to fit in the bag regardless or even pocket if space is limited.
Zeiss Batis 85mm F1.8: I debated between this lens and the cheaper Sony 85mm F1.8 for some time and eventually settled on the Zeiss as for me the additional weather sealing, sharpness of my particular copy, micro contrast,colour rendition and lack of coma made it a no brainer for the price I paid. One of the top 3 sharpest lenses in my bag. For me this lens has 2 downsides which are the lack of customisable button which I use for eye af and the close focusing distance it 80cm which limits its ability as a great all rounder.
Sony 90mm F2.8 G: My go to lens over the summer months as sunrises are way too early and the light is often too harsh throughout the day for my particular photographic style. I use it to photograph bugs and close ups of plants, flowers etc This lens is sharp, has great colour rendition, but relatively slow af in comparison to most of my other lenses. It is also very good at infinity and is a great substitute for the 85mm when I know I need to or want to shoot closer subjects as well as landscapes.
Sony 135mm F1.8 GM
Quite simply an incredibly well corrected and super sharp lens, it is almost flawless although it is heavy and expensive but that is something that I’m sure most would happily live with given it’s performance. I absolutely love shooting landscapes with longer focal lengths and capturing more intimate scenes. This is the perfect lens for doing that and it’s regularly partnered with the 24mm and 85mm for days out.
One of the sharpest lenses I own
My go to lens for dog portraits.
Sony/ Zeiss 24-70mm F2.8 SSM (A-mount): Having previously been a Sony A-mount and Minolta user I very slowly changed my lenses over to the mirrorless versions one at a time. My ageing 24-70 has remained as It is sharper than the 24-70mm GM that I tested and has full functionality of all focussing modes on the cameras I currently have when using the Sony LA-EA3 lens adapter. The main downside to this is the size and weight of the setup but I cannot fault the images it produces so it will be staying until the point it no longer works.
Sigma 100-400mm DG DN
Bought to replace the Sony 70-200mm F4 G. A decision I didn’t take lightly. I found at times that 200mm was not quite enough and the Sony version was way too expensive. The lens is relatively compact, light and easy to use considering the focal length it provides. I’m still not entirely convinced it was the right decision but it produces acceptably sharp images albeit this lens is probably the least sharp lens in my current line up although I’m being pretty harsh as it is up against some stellar competition.
Cameras
I currently and have for some time run with 2 camera bodies. The main reasons for this are:
So I always have a backup with me in case anything goes wrong with one of the bodies
I don’t like changing lenses ‘out in the field’ so I often have one with a wide angle lens and the other with a telephoto lens
Sony A7III: Bought to replace an old A7II which had recently required a new shutter. There is enough written on the web about the Sony A7III but put simply it is capable of producing images that are beyond what I currently produce. It has great dynamic range, fast enough AF and is capable enough for me at higher ISO’s and has never faltered since purchasing 3 years ago. The battery life and colours out of the camera are much improved over the MKII version which is also a great benefit.
Sony A7R III: Pretty much the same as the A7III but with higher resolution and a greater ability to shoot in crop mode giving me great flexibility with my prime lenses. Again it has been trouble free since purchasing approximately 3 years ago and the files are a joy to work with mostly making it easy to get the look I want from my images.
Accessories
Kase Wolvering filters and holder: I have discussed my reasons for using Kase filters in a previous blog and still to this day believe it was the correct decision and still wouldn’t be without them whilst shooting landscapes as they are an essential pert of my workflow.
We’ve covered what’s in the bag but what bag is it in?
The bag in question is a Mindshift gear Backlight 26l backpack: I needed a bag that would be comfortable, big enough to hold my full set of primes and filters and be suitably weather proofed or have a protective cover as Scottish weather is notoriously unpredictable and this bags ticks all the boxes although I do think I should have went with the bigger 30L at times.
Tripods
Gitzo GT3542LS: I have owned this tripod for approximately 7 years now and it has been absolutely faultless. It is strong and stable in most conditions and works perfectly providing I keep it clean particularly after being at the coast. It doesn’t fold particularly small and is fairly heavy with the head etc attached but a compromise I’m willing to make for it’s stability.
It is fitted with a Really Right Stuff levelling base and Acratech GP ballhead. I chose the acratech head for it’s strength, open ball design and 10 yr warranty. The open ball design was a no brainer for me as I spend so much time on beaches . It means no sand or foreign objects can get into the ball head mechanism and cause any issues. I can simply run it under a tap and clean off any dirt, sand etc.
Benro Rhino 24c: This tripod is a fairly recent addition and was mainly due to the weight of the Gitzo. My aim is to use this tripod on longer walks and hikes as it attaches to my bag much easier and is almost half the weight making it much easier to carry. The jury is still out in terms of stability but it has proved to be perfectly suitable on calmer days so far.
There will be a few changes and additions to my kit but overall I’m really happy with the gear I have at the moment.
Now I need to get out and put it all to good use.
