Selecting the Right Equipment
If you’ve ever opened up a B&H catalog, visited their superstore in New York City, or walked around the exhibition hall at a big photo expo, you are probably well aware that the sky’s the limit when it comes to photography gear. From cameras and lenses to tripods and backpacks to software and memory and every little gadget in between, you could easily fill your entire house with photography related equipment if you wanted to. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and think you need all the bells and whistles when it comes to gear, but in reality you don’t need it all and there is no way you would use it all if you had it. I believe a lot of photographers get caught up in buying tons of equipment in preparation for every single possible scenario they may possibly encounter in the field with money (or lack thereof) being the only object holding them back in their quest to own more gear than kitchen utensils. While it may not sound like a bad idea, this concept is flawed. First, a photographer with this philosophy will easily end up spending a great deal of money on equipment he will rarely use. Second, he will likely be tempted to pack much more gear than he really needs for any given task, and will end up lugging around several unused lenses and inducing unnecessary fatigue, whether it be hiking up a mountain, skirting through city streets, or running down the sidelines. If the photographer packs lighter and finds himself in a scenario that demands a lens that he left at home, he may become frustrated, and instead of trying to look at the scene in a new light and capture it with what he has, the opportunity is wasted.
I fell into that trap too, but not very long ago I realized how wasteful it was to carry around a lot of gear only to use maybe half of it. I had surgery back in January 2005 to repair two torn ligaments and torn cartilage in my knee, but my knee has never been the same since, and every so often it acts up. A few years ago, after lugging 22 lbs of poorly balanced gear up and down the Barnegat lighthouse and jetty only to not be able to walk for a day and a half later that week, I decided I needed to clean up my act and went on a selling/buying spree to get rid of the gear I rarely used and buy gear I would feel more comfortable with and want to use more.
So how do you go about deciding what you do and don’t need? There are actually two parts to this question: 1) the gear you should own and therefore what you need to buy and 2) the gear you should pack with you for a given outing. What gear you need is largely dependent on what you shoot. Because I photograph nature and wildlife, the equipment I will use is much different from the equipment a wedding or fashion photographer might invest in. My camera equipment is specific to my needs, which is specific to the subjects I photograph and the conditions in which I photograph them. Get the gear that fits your requirements best.
My equipment can be divided into three basic kits, depending on the subject and style of shooting I am doing. For each kit, I carefully consider the camera, lenses, lighting, and support.
For landscapes, I require a high resolution camera with mirror lock-up capability and the ability to use either a self-timer or remote. I like to have the option of shooting from wide angle to short telephoto, depending on the scene. Because I am aiming for sharpness and high depth of field when shooting landscapes, it is not important to me to have fast lenses with wide apertures. I shoot all my landscapes with natural light, and I require steady support to hold the camera still during longer exposures. Sometimes, I find a circular polarizing filter or neutral density filter invaluable to me. One camera, one to two lenses covering wide-angle to short-tele, a good tripod and head, and a couple filters. That’s it. That’s all you really need. My current landscape set-up consists of a 5D Mark II, 17-40mm f/4L, and 70-200mm f/4L IS lens with a Really Right Stuff ballhead and Gitzo tripod, plus a polarizer and single solid ND filter. Sure I could have a super-wide lens, or a mid range zoom to fill the gap from 40mm to 70mm, but really, I don’t need them. I don’t need f/2.8 lenses, because I shoot all my landscapes at f/8 or smaller apertures. If I’m creative in the field, I can get an endless variety of shots with my setup. Why should I burden myself with more gear if I don’t need it?
For birds and wildlife, my needs are different. My subjects are smaller and farther away, plus they move, so I need longer lenses and fast, reliable autofocus. A sturdy tripod is again necessary because my equipment for shooting birds and wildlife is much heavier, and the longer telephoto lenses magnify any movement I make when the shutter is pressed. With the exception of wider angle environmental portraits when I can get close to wildlife, I do all my shooting with a single, very sharp, very fast lens and teleconverters. My primary setup is a 1D Mark II N and a 300mm f/2.8L IS lens, with a combination of 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. My setup weighs less and is easier to handle than a 500mm or 600mm lens, and it has the added versitility of allowing me to shoot 300mm at f/2.8, 420mm at f/4, or 600mm at f/5.6. The Canon 300mm f/2.8 is so sharp that it produces excellent results with the 2x converter, even wide open. My camera of choice, the 1D Mark II N has excellent autofocus and a fast frame rate to capture moving subjects. I also have a flash and better beamer for adding fill light to subjects, but I’ll admit I’m not much of a flash person and tend to use natural light whenever possible.
For close-ups of small subjects, I used to have a dedicated macro lens, but I used it so rarely that I have sold it and now use my 70-200 in combination with extension tubes and teleconverters. This works well for me because it enables me to have less gear, but still get the results I’m looking for. I plan to get a 500D close-up filter by spring for times when I need to get even closer. Because I have been careful about my gear selection, I require no specialty equipment, save for a few small, lightweight tubes, to do my close-up work.
All of my gear can fit into a single backpack, which makes packing easy when I travel. I use the Gura Gear Kiboko Bag because it is lightweight, small enough to fit into the overhead compartment of a plane, and has a harness that collapses into the bag itself, making storage easy. However, I also have a backpacking pack that I use when splitting up my gear for different trips. If I’m going backpacking, I only bring my landscape gear and extension tubes so I can do landscape and macro work. If I’m going to an area to shoot songbirds, I leave my wide-angle lenses and filters in the car. It just doesn’t make sense to carry around what I don’t need. Carrying extra gear will make you tire more quickly, even if only going a short distance, and it also puts your gear at risk. Any time your gear is outside it runs the risk of being dropped, stolen, weathered, etc. Why subject your gear to added stresses when you aren’t even planning to use it?
If you carefully select gear that meets your needs and is versatile, you’ll be able to get more shooting done with less equipment. If you pack wisely, you’ll be able to travel longer and farther on foot, and you’ll have a better time shooting. With my two cameras, three lenses, tripod, ballhead, and some accessories, I’ve been able to photograph everything from mountains to flowers and sparrows to seals. I’m not limited to paved roads or tourist traps, and I get out, see more, and shoot more. Sure there are times when I wish I had specialty items to get a shot, but 99% of the time I can get along just fine with what I have. Having less gear forces you to think about your shooting more, to be more creative, and to try harder, but overall that will make you a better photographer, and really, isn’t that the point?
on January 29, 2010 at 3:27 pm
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Kari,
Thanks for this article. It helped me a lot. I am a fairly new photographer that wants to upgrade and my preferences are telephoto and macro shots. So far. Anyway, thanks for sharing this info. Happy Shooting! Laura