gear

the lenses

primes

I'm a big fan of prime lenses, they're small, they don't weigh much, they have exceptional optics (especially given how relatively little they cost) and, for 90% of what i do, 50mm is a great focal length. it could also just be that, maybe, i was listening too hard when my photography teacher told me "why do you need a zoom if you have feet?".

Sigma 24mm F1.8 EX DG ASPEHRICAL MACRO

My main lens on the d700. It's pretty soft at f/1.8 (but nothing that you can't fix in post), but by f/4 it's as sharp as any other lens i've used (including the sigma 30mm and the nikkor 50mm). the contrast is excellent, no color abberation to speak of (nb: i use it in conditions where you probably couldn't tell the difference between color abberation and iso noise anyway). it has noticable (and problematic at f/1.8) front focusing on the d700, but the AF fine tune at +19 fixed it. My only issue is that the focus ring wiggles a bit and i'm worried it won't last very long (i've only had it a few weeks), we'll see. I would have gotten the nikon 28mm f/1.4, but it costs a few thousand euros, used.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4.

Main lens on the d200 (and sometimes on the d700 too). The sigma is a perfect lens, if you're looking for a 50mm prime lens on a DX camera look no further. I used this on the d700 for a time and while the vignetting (on the FX frame) is a real pain, it looks kind of artsy, and the lens works great.

AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

I used to use this on the d700. The nikkor is just as sharp as the sigma 24mm but has pretty strong vignetting at f/1.4 and a little bit more color abberation than the Sigma, but if you have an FX camera you can't really use the Sigma (that's not totally true).

zooms

Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED

The 24-70mm is optically impecable and fast, its only draw backs are that it's big, heavy and expensive. I used the 24-70mm for all the pictures I took of los leopardos del silenciador.

Nikkor 18-200mm G ED VR

The 18-200mm is, in all honesty, a wonderful lens i never use. It does both wide angle and tele-photo, it's light weight and not too big, the quality is great and it's relatively cheap. In my case however I only ever use the 18mm-70mm range and I really need something faster than f/3.5 or f/5.6. At those apertures it's not nearly as sharp as it is stopped down (i think i like it best around f/6 or f/8, but that's just me). The 18-200 was used for all the day time pictures i took in oriomosso.

the cameras

Nikon D700

This has about the same sensitivity to light as your eyes (well, it feels that way at least). I was taking pictures in an old warehouse at night just after i got the camera. no moon, no stars, no flash, just a few street lights bleeding in through the windows, iso 1600 and i got wonderful (if poorly shot) pictures at 1/40sec. For some one like me, who does a lot of up close hand-held night photography, who carries his camera around with him all the time, and who works 100% digitally, the d700 is the best camera around at the moment.

Nikon D200

The D200, which can now be had for about €700, is a great camera which I'm lucky enough to be able to use as a backup camera. It's fast, has great controls, has great quality (up to about ISO 800), and is small and light weight. Except for those times when you're shooting hand held at 1/15s@f/1.4 and still can't get enough light the d200 is almost as good as the d700 (ok, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but you can get it new for a third of what the d700 costs).

the lights

Nikon SB-800

Small, light and powerful. works perfectly off camera with the d700. I always have this in my bag.

Vivitar 285

I have two of these with flash zebra's hot shoe miniphone adapter. They're as big, heavy and durable as bricks.

AlienBee CyberSync

remote triggers. they work (100% of the time), they're light, the batteries last forever, they're a lot cheaper than pocket wizards. i've attached some velcro to these, and the flashes, so i can stick the two together and not worry about them dangling or dealing with bungie ties.

Ray Flash

A gimic, but a really really awesome gimic i actually use.

LumoPro LP653 Clamp

turn any chair, broom, rafter, stage light, mic stand, etc. into a light stand. a wonderful invention.

post processing

macbook pro 15"

the hardware

Adobe Lightroom + Photoshop

the software

coffee, lots and lots of coffee

the wetware

eizo flexscan S2231W

the monitor

other stuff

Tamrac Velocity 8

i upgraded to this from the velocity 7. it's big enough to hold the d700 with the 24mm and the sb-800 plus two bottles of hefeweißn and it's light enough that i don't mind carrying it around all night. the final bonus is that it looks nothing like a camera bag so it doesn't scream "steal me!".

Tamrac Velocity 7

same deal as the velocity 8 but smaller. with a small dslr this is probably all you need, i often carry around a lot of stuff, so it's not big enough for me.

gura gear kiboko

i only use this bag when i travel, but for that it's perfect. down-the-middle divisor is a great idea. FAA regulation size (which is a little bit smaller than what i can usually get on a plan in europe) and fits a ton of stuff. all the straps have pouchs, so if i'm not walking around with it i can zip it up and it looks like a suit case (including perfectly placed handle).

the camera that i wish i could still buy film for

a polaroid. hands down the best thing to take a party. ever.

the camera that got me back into photography

I didn't have a camera for a long time, then i got a nikon coolpix as a birthday present. best. birthday. present. ever. It died gloriously in the rum desert a few years ago.

the camera i learned to take pictures with

A fully manual Ricoh KR-5. It's at least 15 years old and still works like the day I (or my parents) bought it.