Is there anything missing from my bag?

Matblack

Matblack

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Matt
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I've really been enjoying my photography recently and I've aquired a few different lenses.

At the moment a lot of my focus (<- see what I did there ;)) is on my little girl, with shots like this


IMG_4625-Edit by Matb1ack, on Flickr

But I also enjoy the limited wildlife stuff I have done


MatblackIMG_0333 by Matb1ack, on Flickr

I want to be set up for whatever may come my way without being caught out, but also without having to have 100s of lenses.

Right now in my bag I have the following

40D w/ grip
17-55mm f2.8IS
50mm f1.8
24-105mm f4L IS
70-200mm f4L (non IS)
100mm f2.8 macro (non L)
420EX flash
110ND filter (haven't had a chance to try this yet)
Various other filters
The worlds oldest cheapest tripod

I'm wondering if any of you experts can see any major holes in my arsenal (ooo errr).

My thinking is that if I want to do any landscape I should look for an ultra wide maybe the Canon 10-22mm or the Tokina and if I want to go towards more wildlife it would be a longer zoom maybe a Canon 100-400mm.

At the moment I think the wider end is more likely as I don't have the patience for wildlife and the 70-200mm f4L is so sharp it will take quite a serious crop in PS if needed to get in close.

I've already put myself in the position of having two overlapping lenses because I bought the 24-105mm whilst I had the 17-55mm thinking I would be able to decide between one or the other and I fell in love with it but I can't decide if it's better than the 17-55mm so now I have both and I don't have the heart to get rid of either :D

The 100mm hasn't see much use at all yet but I't's deadly sharp and I want to keep it a while longer to see if macro appeals when the light gets better, I don't have the patience to sort out indoor lighting.

One thing which I thought might be a good idea is maybe to pick up a 5D Classic to go with the 50mm prime and the 24-105mm and give me a second body. I'm not sure what inprovement I would see in quality for portaits over the 40D though.

I've got photography fever at the moment and I'm itching to try something new but I'm just not sure which way to turn :cuckoo:

Any ideas?

MB
 
Ever so old :D

I borrowed one from my father recently and used it on the shot of my daughter above and was very pleased with the results, I am thinking that may be one of Red Snappers combos might be a good idea, it would allow me to do some shots of the three of us remotely too :)

The reflector I hadn't thought about, I tend to bounce the flash of the ceiling or a wall when I use it.

The other idea I had was to buy a 550 or 580EX and use it to trigger my 420EX giving me a two flash set up to play with plus a better flash for indoor work

MB
 
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Manfrotto 190XPROB, the feature allowing you to place the centre column horizontally is really handy and its very sturdy.

Soft box for the flash gun? might be handy with the family pics
 
Some kind of remote release might be handy, also a spare battery (although you may have omitted this from your list anyway).
 
Good call on the remote Comfy although I have a remote release and triggers already and spare batteries.

I think the lighting accessories are a good call, I have considered the idea of getting some things to aid in taking shots indoors and the reflector and lightbox might be a good idea.

I was thinking Red Snapper for the tripod, I want to get one so I can employ the ND110 filter on my 17-55 and 24-105 :)

MB
 
qx8ok2.jpg



? ? ? ?

PS: Nice cheetah ! (and baby )
 
First thing you need to do is make up your mind about full frame. It will turn your lens collection on its head.

But assuming you stick with the cropper, and all this is very subjective, then what I would do (in fact, what I did do with e 40D outfit) is this:

10-22 and polariser
580EX, stand, brolly etc
Tubes for macro on the 70-200L
Decent tripod
100-400L for wildlife

Sell the 24-105 and 100 macro.

BTW, personal comment, but both those images above - and very nice they are too - would benefit from quite heavy cropping ;) Or rather, framing much tighter at the shooting stage.
 
Consider my little selection is all I want for now (apart from one) so here goes and might give you an idea

2 x 40D (one on 69k and the other at sub 400)
Canon Grip (mainly for the AA stand by)
All lenses are Canon
10-22
17-55
55-250 (would like the 70-200 f4 IS)
400mm f5.6
430EX
Hahnel Giga Pro Wireless Remote
Very ancient Manfrotto 055CB and lighter Velbon Ultra Luxi F
Cullmann Magnesit Ballhead with two q/r's (fits both tripods, one q/r for the camera and one for the 400mm)
Rucksack and shoulder bag, both Crumpler
CPL Filter and couple of bean bags along with cleaning materials for lenses and sensors

Did have the 100mm f2.8 Macro, but hardly used it and just wasn't my thing, same goes for portraits too

That's about it and can take pretty much all I want with that little lot, not over expensive mainly because I can't afford it.
None of it treated like a studio queen, just looked after properly and will hopefully serve me a few more years yet
 
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'Tis the time of year to peer into the bag and wonder what's missing. Problem is that it can be a never ending spiral into gear aquisition for the sake of it. I would love to be able to afford to upgrade the Sigma zooms in my bag to their Nikon equivalents but can think of much more fun ways to spend that cash (besides, the Sigmas do the job just fine for my purposes).

I was lucky when I upgraded to FF a couple of years ago - Until then, I still used film (35mm) from time to time so had made sure all my lenses were FF compatible. Did mean they were a bit more expensive than Dx lenses even back then but the upshot is that I reckon I could now get back pretty much what I paid for them new (but replacing them wouldn't be cheap now and will be even more expensive in the new year after the VAT rise...)
 
HoppyUK said:
But assuming you stick with the cropper, and all this is very subjective, then what I would do (in fact, what I did do with e 40D outfit) is this:

10-22 and polariser
580EX, stand, brolly etc
Tubes for macro on the 70-200L
Decent tripod
100-400L for wildlife

Sell the 24-105 and 100 macro.
Click to expand...

Thats a possibility that may suit some people. Not me. 100mm is one of the essential lenses, and so far 100-400mm looks a bit too soft for the price and weight. 300mm f/4 IS + 1.4x would be my choice personally if I need to go that long.

10-22mm would work well, but then you could dump 17-55. 10-22 and 24-105mm is a better range in a more robust package IMHO.

5D mk1 may also work - the issues may be weather-sealing (lack of) and similar to 40D AF and lack of sensor cleaning. I was in a similar situation and got 1Ds mkII. It solved all issues, except dust nightmares.
 
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