My Gear

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Welcome to my blog! In this post, I am going to talk about my photographic gear. It’s 2020 and a lot has changed since I got my first camera. This post is not meant to be a description or review of all the gears that I have used until today. I would rather talk about which gear I use as of today, and why I think they serve my purpose. In this context, I would also want to mention that I have no affiliation with any brand described in this page.

Camera

Sony a7R II: This camera has been a great companion for me in my trips in the last few years. It’s small, lightweight, and it produces great quality images. I’m very happy with my purchase.

Lenses

Sony FE 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 GM Lens: My most used lens so far. I purchased this lens thinking that I’d be using it to mostly photograph birds and wildlife, but I have used this lens for landscapes more often than I thought initially. I really like the unique perspectives I get using a telephoto lens.

Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM Lens: A lot of my landscape shots are taken using this wonderful lens. If I were to take only one lens with me in a trip, I think this would be my go to lens.

Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM Lens: This is the first lens that I got with my camera. Although it produces outstanding images, I’m not using it as much as I would in the past. This has nothing to do with image quality, I guess I have grown a different taste over time.

Sony FE 90mm F2.8 G Macro Lens: I got this lens because I really like to take macro and close-up shots. I’m very happy with this lens because of the image quality it produces.

Sony 1.4x Teleconverter: Technically, it’s not a lens, but you can’t use it without a lens either. I use it a lot with my 100-400mm lens, because I really like the extra reach. I don’t mind losing a stop of light because I usually put them on my tripod.

Tripod

Gitzo Traveler Tripod α: This tripod is very lightweight, sturdy, easy to carry, and easy to use. I have used it with my a7R II, 100-400mm GM, and 1.4x teleconverter, putting up a weight of over two kilos on the tripod, and I have taken panoramas without any issues.

Filters

Lee Filters: They are known to be one of the best manufacturers to produce camera filters in the world, and I can clearly see that when I look at the image quality. I have several Lee 100 filters that I use from time to time — a Lee big stopper, a Lee little stopper, a Lee 3 stop hard grad, a Lee 3 stop soft grad, a Lee landscape polarizer, and a Lee filter pouch, and I’m very happy with all of them.

B+W XS-Pro HTC Kaesemann Circular Polarizers: I have two of these, 82mm and 77mm, for my lenses. Unlike Lee system, the B+W polarizers are more flexible, because they offer the screw-in functionality. In addition, their image quality is comparable to the Lee polarizer, so I don’t have to worry about using them at any time.

Tiffen Double Fog 3 Filter: I haven’t used it much, except for a few night sky photos.

Bags

Lowepro Protactic 450 AW II: This is my go to bag. I like this bag because it’s small enough to be taken in most airlines, it can fit most of my camera gear (plus a water bottle), and it protects the camera gear very well, even in very harsh weather conditions.

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How I torture my Lowepro Protactic 450 AW II

Lowepro Whistler 450 AW II: It has all the qualities of the Protactic 450, except that it’s a bit too big to be taken as a carry on item. I use it mostly as a storage bag to keep the camera gear that I’m not carrying with me while I’m out on a trip.

Lighting

Godox V860 II Flash: I got this flash to get creative with my lighting in macro photography. I’m very happy with this flash and I’m looking forward to using it more in the future days.

Godox Xpro-S Remote Trigger: This trigger helps me to detach my flash from the camera body, and create a more natural side or top light.

Rogue FlashBendener 2 Large: It’s a huge reflector and soft box kit that helps me to get an even lighting throughout the frame in my macro images.

Accessories

Haoge Lens Collar Replacement Foot: I use this replacement foot for my 100-400mm lens, instead of the one that came with it. I have seen that it has a better attachment to my tripod head, which given an extra stability while I’m shooting panoramic images.

Haoge MFR-100 Macro Focusing Rail: It helps me to move my camera at a very granular level while I’m photographing a tiny object and looking for the 1:1 magnification while nailing the focus.

NP-FW50 W-Series Batteries: I’ve got few of these spare batteries. I keep them fully charged with me when I’m outside, because usually they run out very fast and I need to change quickly.

Sandisk Extreme Pro Memory Cards: I’ve got few of them, they are all 128GB or 64GB. I prefer to have one big memory card to store my photos for the whole day, so that I can copy them at night and empty the card for next morning.

Remote Trigger: I’ve tried few remote triggers, unfortunately none of them are good. In my experience, they usually stop working at a time when I need them the most (e.g., photographing a beautiful sunset when light is fading away).

Neewer L Bracket for Sony Alpha Series: This is very useful for vertical shots and panoramas, however, it’s a bit heavy.

G-raphy Rain Cover: It protects the camera when I’m photographing in the middle of rain or snow.

Software

Adobe Photoshop: I used not to use it in the past but now I’m getting better at it.

Adobe Lightroom: I use it to post-process almost all of my photos.

Others

BenQ 27 inch 4K PhotoVue Photographer Monitor: I use it to edit my photos. I really like the color depth and high resolution that it provides.

X-Rite i1 Display Pro: I used it to calibrate and profile my BenQ photography monitor.