Portland Head Light

Loafing

A1 Diner

Twinkle

Chick magnet

Maine winter

Get your goat

Somali style

Learn your lesson

Tap dance

Organ transplant

Steamy

What's in Edwin's Camera bag - Part 5

Odds and Ends

The bottom of the backpack


Nikon D200 camera and 18-200 5.6 DX lens

"The best camera is the one you have"
This is a nice little outfit that I take in the canoe or throw in the backpack while hiking.  It is small, light, and covers a wide range.  There are tradeoffs,  the lens is slow and the camera is not so great in low light so it is really for sunshine shoots.  Distortion with this zoom is pretty bad as well.   But the alternative is usually no camera at all.  If the worst does happen I will not feel as bad watching this sink to the bottom of the lake as I will with the D3 . I've actually taken a number of really nice images with this.

Remote Control

Nikon D2x and 12-24 4.0 DX 

The D2x is long in the tooth but very rugged.  With the wide angle zoom it makes a good unit to strap to the car hood or clamp to an airplane strut for remote or time delay shots .  

What's in Edwin's Camera bag - Part 4

Does it seem dark in here to you?

Nikon D3s camera
Nkon D700 camera
Nikon 135 2.0 DC (note that I really HATE the always slipping DC ring)
Nikon 85 1.8
Nikon 50 1.4
Nikon 17-35 2.8
single sb800 flash for a touch of bounce

When I need to work fast and the light is scarce fast fixed focal length lenses are the way to go.  Sharper than most of the zooms ,  faster to work with than my beloved old glass.  The D3s is a really amazing camera in low light.   Changing lenses introduces dust which can be a problem and it is hard on the rear elements when you jam stuff into the bag as fast as you can without caps on.

What's missing?

The new Nikon 24 1.4 super fast wide angle is calling my name.  Also the Zeiss 50 1.4 and  the new 85 1.4 would be pretty sweet.      The Nikon 85 1.8 and the last generation 50 1.4 are fine lenses but not well made (they sound and feel like cheap plastic)

What's in Edwin's Camera bag - Part 3

Up close and personal 


Nikon D3s camera
Nikon D700 camera
Zeiss 120mm 4.0 CF Makro Planar lens with nikon adapter
Hasselblad bellows rail for the Zeiss lens
Nikon 105 2.8 lens
Nikon 85 1.8 lens
Nikon 60 2.8 lens

This is what I use for shooting food , bugs, and flowers.   The 120 Zeiss is hands down the sharpest lens I have ever put on a camera. It is really just amazing.   Add the bellows and you can count the angels on the head of a pin. It is also huge and slow.  You have to shoot stopped down so it can be pretty dark to compose and focus.   The 105 Nikon is probably my favorite Nikon lens.  Really sweet.  I always focus manually with it.  The 85 I use a lot for food shoots , wide open to blow out the background and give a lot of separation.  I am less enamored of the 60 and use it mostly when I cant get far enough back to make the longer glass work.


What is missing?

Zeiss 100 2.0 ZF Makro   I really want one .

What's in Edwin's Camera bag - Part 2

My (current) favorite things


Nikon D700 Camera
Nikkor 55 1.2 lens (1971)
Nikkor 85 1.8 lens (1965)
Nikkor 28 2.0 lens (early 1970's)
Domke F6 bag
8 or 16 gb cards and extra battery

This is the bag I carry then I'm shooting things I am passionate about and fancy myself a great artist.   I am having a love affair with early nikon glass.   With small modifications to the mount they work really well with full frame digital bodies.   There is something of a dreamy creamy quality to them when used wide open that is hard to match with anything else.    They focus so smoothy and feel so good in your hand  compared to modern plastic stuff.   The D700 is by far my favorite camera body.  Small and light with stunning low light performance.  I shoot by the light of tea candles and dying fireflies with it and the 55 1.2   I could never use these with the DX sensor Nikons.

What's missing?


I'd still like to have a nice 35 1.4 of the same vintage (they are expensive and get beat up).   Occasionally I will throw in a modern 135 2.0 when I feel the need of something longer but generally not.  Any of the Zeiss ZF lenses would be at home here.  I really like the 100 2.0 makro.

What's in Edwin's Camera bag - Part 1

I often get asked what gear I carry and I'm afraid there is not really one answer.  I actually carry multiple bags configured differently for different things.  This week with snow having made chaos of my plans I'll show off a few things -

The basic zoom bag

Nikon D3s camera
Nikon D700 camera
Nikon 17-35 2.8 lens
Nikon 28-70 2.8 lens
Nikon  80-200 2.8 lens
Nikon 105 2.8 Macro
a couple of sb800 remote flash units and a battery pack for them
extra cards and batteries.

This is the ready for whatever kit.  Big and heavy but all the bases are covered and there is a bit of redundancy in case I have problems with any one item.  The fast Nikon zooms are sharp enough and the 105 is just a really nice piece of glass that lets me work close.  With the zooms I do not have to change lenses so often which helps keep dust out of the camera body (a big issue for me)

What's missing?
I really need to replace the older zoom lenses with the newer 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8 and I would be able to get by with just those two instead of the current 3 zooms for most things.  

Moment to reflect

Sidekick

Newborn

Snow Falls

Let it snow