Photography gear management is always a constant struggle between opportunity, minimalism, and affordability. After several years of experience, the latter two have won out.
Cameras
- Nikon Z6 – a simple mirrorless full-frame camera. It is far from my favourite camera and I have many problems with it, but I can’t justify buying something more expensive.
- DJI Air 3 – a drone that is relatively compact while still being able to handle itself better in bad weather than truly “mini” drones.
Lenses
- Nikon 24-120mm f/4 S – the workhorse, an enlarged standard zoom range with constant aperture.
- Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 – a telephoto lens on the cheaper-side, with a large zoom range.
- Nikon 40mm f/2 – pocketable and cheap prime with an interesting focal length.
- Nikon 28mm f/2.8 – equally pocketable and cheap, for a wider “standard” video view.
Other
- Zoom H1e – for recording audio, with a windscreen and shock mount.
- Spare batteries – a bunch of third-party cheap versions for Nikon, and an extra battery for the drone. A big downside of mirrorless cameras is that they have very poor battery lives.
- Cleaning kit – cloth, brush, spray, sensor swabs.
Bags
- Decathlon travel and hiking bags – cheap and generic bags, a small one for flight carry on and minimalist trips, the other for hiking or when I need to carry more.
- Peak Design ICU – camera cube organiser from an old bag that I put into my new ones.
- Peak Design Slide Strap – holds the camera, clips on and off.
Storage and editing
- Macbook Pro – suitable power for photo/video editing, with a bright and colourful screen.
- Adobe Lightroom – photo editing software. I hate the predatory subscription based model, but I’ve tried alternatives and they just don’t compare.
- Davinci Resolve – free professional-level video editing software.
- External SSD Hard Drive – fast, essential for working with high quality photo and video files.
