I have only one camera. My kit is like this MZ-5n, FA 50mm/2.8 Macro, FA 100mm/2.8 Macro, A 24mm/2.8. LowePro Nova 4 bag. Two 52mm Polarizers and one 58mm Polarizers. One Cokin Square Nuetral Graduated Filter(must for landscape), one Cokin Square Tobacco filter(overcast landscapes), one Cokin Square 81B filter.
Slik700DX tripod. Ramesh -----Original Message----- From: Lon Williamson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 2:19 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: my kit If I'm not serious, I take an Olympus XA and make do. About the size of a pack of cigarettes, the only camera I ever bought new for myself, and the only non-Pentax I own. BTW, wifey is now in possession of a new ZX-L to complement her ZX-M and ZX-30. Unlike _most_ of you cheapskate boogers here, our family SUPPORTS Pentax. grin. At least for _her_ purchases. She'll see the new AF360 under the tree come Christmas, too. -Lon, who is a cheapskate booger Herb Chong wrote: > > Message text written by INTERNET:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Herb, > > I'm curious about the type of equipment you use. It appears that to > do the outdoors/landscape stuff you might be doing a considerable > amount of hiking and such. What do you consider a reasonable type of > kit for your type of work? > > Thanks for sharing, > > Bruce< > > obviously, what i carry depends on what i am going to do, so i will have to > describe that too since i carry different kits depending on how long i > think i have to carry it and how far away from home i am going to be. it > also depends on whether main point of trip is photography or not and how > much other gear i have to carry. i haven't gotten to the point where i have > a regular partner coming on trips who is willing to carry some of my gear > in addition to all theirs so that i can bring more camera equipment. > > for short to medium day trips up to perhaps 8 miles in the summer and 5 > miles in the winter over moderate terrain, i'll carry my full kit. that > means my Nikon digital camera with its wide angle accessory lens, spare > battery for it, and, if i think there is going to be good wide panorama > possibilities, my Kaidan VR pan head with its levels and protractor and add > the fisheye adapter to shoot 180 degree full frame images. > > my film side is my ZX-5n with the FA 24-90, FA 50 Macro, FA* 24, Sigma > 15-30, FA* 80-200, and Tamron 2X extender. right now, i am shooting almost > exclusively Provia 100F and i bring about 8-10 rolls of it depending on how > much i think i might run into. if the day is low contrast, i replace many > of them with Velvia. my filter set is a skylight and polarizer to fit my > main lenses. only the macro doesn't have anything right now and i both > don't use it that much and haven't got around to buying an adapter ring to > fit the larger sized filters. the FA* 24 and FA 24-90 take the same filter > size and i have most of my filters for them. i keep an ND8 and an ND1000 > filter in the kit for the waterfall shots. i also have a Cokin P filter for > my gradient ND filter. i only have one right now and plan to get some more. > > if i think there is a need, i'll bring my Super Program body with a second > type of film in it, usually Velvia or else something ISO 400. i rarely > bring a second body though and i really would like to make it another AF > body if i could. i use a Velbon Chaser-4A tripod with a Velbon 253 ball > head. it's good light tripod but one day i will replace the legs with a CF > set and the head is barely adequate for the weight of the FA* 80-200, so > that will need replacing too. however, i want to stay under 4lb if i can > because it's a long way to go carrying 2 extra pounds. i have one of those > beanbag things with a tripod thread in it. i use the remote release a lot, > so that's in there. then there is cleaning stuff and spare batteries. > > all this fits into/onto a LowePro Rover AW backpack with several accessory > pouches. total weight is not quite 30 lbs, then i add lunch, water, spare > jacket, Swiss Army knife, flashlights, and it gets to be around 40 lbs. > moderate terrain to me means nothing i have to climb using my hands, less > than 2000 ft elevation gain, and nothing tricky to cross, like a swamp. i'm > a small guy and 40 lbs is a lot for me to carry. that plus i sometimes do > off trail stuff and that means a GPS unit too. > > any day trip longer or more difficult, i'll switch to my regular hiking > backpack and cut down a lot. i drop down to the digital camera with the > wide angle adapter and spare battery. i'll bring the ZX-5n body with the FA > 24-90 and the FA* 24 and have the skylight and polarizer filters. i have a > very light Cullman compact tripod and the beanbag. extra water and safety > gear occupies the other space. if i really think i need it, i try to make > room for my 80-200 and strap a cheaper but more normal size tripod onto the > pack. the one i used to use broke when i fell on it on a recent hike, so i > don't have that anymore. it will have to be replaced. i should get one of > the lesser expensive 80-200s to cut weight. if i do, then i would bring it > more often. if i really think that the weight will matter, i will drop the > FA* 24. > > these are the two kits i use when i know i am going somewhere mainly to > photograph. if photography isn't the main activity, all i will have with me > is my digital with the wide angle adapter and a spare battery. i might > bring the Cullman compact tripod if i think we're going to want a group > picture. some hikes i go on with groups like that. the only multiday hiking > trips i have done recently have been before i got back into film. they were > done digitally. > > in the gap between when wasn't using an SLR anymore, i had a Pentax 35-90 > WR P&S i used for while. then i switched to digital. it's only when i > started getting inquiries about using my photos for magazines and > newspapers did i decide to resurrect my 35mm film equipment, decided it was > inadequate, and upgraded to AF stuff. all of the AF film gear i have > described is at most a year old to me. for what i do, manual focus and > weight of the older gear, which i still have some, slow me down and make it > harder to get the pictures i want. i don't use them unless i have to. i am > now used to and like to work with auto everything with complete manual > override. nearly 10 years of shooting only with auto everything cameras > convinced me that automation performs very well and that they freed me to > spend my time concentrating on the image. for a while, i gave up the option > of manual override. i bought it back this spring, but i seldom need to use > it. > > my web site: http://www.bestweb.net/~hchong > > Herb...
