Equipment that I use

a bit embarrassing making this list, looks more like a camera store than an amateur photographer's hobby, but its the result of many years of collecting equipment, each has its own uses, strengths and weaknesses.

see some of my photos taken by camera/lens combinations

Colour Calibration system:

• Datacolor Spyder 3 Studio - monitor and printer calibration

APS-H and full frame digital SLR gear:

• see Canon

• main uses:

  • low ambient light photography - eg. available light portraiture

  • astrophotography

  • action photography - eg. sports, wildlife

  • tilt-shift lens usage for creative selective focus effects, etc.

  • high dynamic range photography - eg. landscapes, panorama

• camera bodies:

  • Canon 1D Mark III dSLR

• autofocus lenses:

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II (52mm filter) - some purple fringing at f/2.2 and wider.

  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 IS (77mm filter)

  • Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 (58mm filter)

  • Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L (72mm filter)

  • Canon Extender EF 1.4x II

  • thought about the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS but way too heavy and too soft wide open at 200mm, and not good for astro work.

• manual focus lenses:

  • Canon TS-E 90mm tilt-shift lens (58mm filter) - June 2007

  • Canon TS-E 45mm tilt-shift lens (72mm filter) - June 2008

  • Canon TS-E 17mm tilt-shift lens - June 2009

  • Lens Baby Composer - June 2009

  • via AF-confirm OM-EOS adapter:

    • see below for Olympus OM mount lenses

• Canon EF accessories:

  • Canon TC-80N3 timer remote control

  • Canon LC-5 wireless remote control

  • Canon EF 25mm extension tube

  • 8Gb Sandisk Extreme IV CF card

  • see also under flashes at bottom

Olympus / Four Thirds format digital SLR gear:

• see Olympus E digital

• main uses:

  • general photography - travel, indoor architecture, street photography bushwalking

  • macrophotography

• camera bodies:

  • Olympus E330 with realtime AF live preview on flip out screen - almost unique

  • Olympus E510 with image stabiliser and live preview - unique

• autofocus lenses:

  • Olympus ZD TC-20 2x teleconverter 

    • the sharpest 2x TC with least aberrations ever made.

  • Olympus ZD 14-45mm (58mm filter)

  • Olympus ZD 14-42mm ED (58mm filter)

  • Olympus ZD 40-150mm ED (58mm filter)

  • Olympus ZD 7-14mm ED f/4 - unique, especially when used with image stabilised E510 or flip out screen E330 or E3

  • Olympus ZD 50mm f/2.0 macro

    • one of the sharpest macro lenses available (52mm filter)

    • with 2x TC gives high quality 2:1 macro (ie. long length of image captures a 18mm subject)

  • Olympus ZD 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD (67mm filter)

    • the most compact, light, closest focusing, high quality, non-DO lens with 100-400mm f/3.5 reach see here

    • perfect for sports events if you are not a pro and can't get away with carrying a 3.5kg super telephoto lens in.

    • great for portraits, going to the zoo, bushwalking, etc.

    • can even be used as a 0.47x macro with a working distance of 1.2m for subjects that are a bit skittish, and even fits the  Olympus ring flash system.

    • with 2x TC, becomes 800mm reach at f/7 and high image quality - what a combo!

  • Leica 25mm f/1.4 (July 2009)

• manual focus lenses:

  • via OM-FourThirds AF-confirm adapter:

    • see below under Olympus OM

  • via Contax/Yashica-FourThirds adapter:

    • see below under Contax

  • via Nikon F - FourThirds adapter:

    • nil so far

• Four Thirds accessories:

  • IR remote controls

  • 2Gb & 4Gb Sandisk Extreme III CF card

  • Olympus flashes see at bottom of page under flashes

Micro Four Thirds:

• for compact, quiet, dSLR quality shooting with almost any lens ever made and with HD video with AF capability.

• Panasonic GH-1 (July 2009)

• Lumix 14-140mm OIS HD lens

• Olympus M.ZD 17mm f/2.8 lens with optical viewfinder

• Canon EOS to MFT adapter - allows any Canon mount lens but at wide open aperture

• Four Thirds to MFT adapter  - allows any Four Thirds lens and AF if lens is contrast-detect capable

Other digital cameras:

• Olympus C8080WZ 8mp with 28-140mm f/2.8-3.5 equiv. lens

  • main uses:

    • silent shutter so useful where silent operation needed as at classical music concerts.

  • Olympus 1.4x teleconverter

  • battery holder

  • remote cable for Bulb exposures

  • 2Gb & 512Mb Sandisk CF cards

  • batteries as for E330

  • see Olympus 8080 camera

• Olympus 720SW compact, waterproof point and shoot

  • main uses:

    • take anywhere social camera

    • underwater, beaches, etc

• Panasonic FZ-20

  • main uses:

    • initially bought as travel camera for my wife but noise above ISO 200 is a big issue.

    • I rarely use this now.

     

Olympus C8080WZ with battery holder/vertical grip, 1.4x teleconverter, Metz 50MZ-5 with SCA adapter 

35mm film:

• Olympus OM system:

  • see Olympus OM

  • main uses:

    • infrared film photography using Kodak HIE (not available in medium format and as of 2008, no longer available at all), 25A filter and 21mm, 24mm & 28mm OM lens

  • OM camera bodies:

    • Olympus OM-2N black x 2

    • Olympus OM-2 silver

    • Olympus OM-1N

    • Olympus OM-1

    • these were mainly used for infrared film photography until Kodak ceased HIE film production.

  • OM mount lenses:

    • purple fringing comments relate to use on the E330 dSLR

    • 49mm filter threads:

      • Zuiko 21mm f/3.5 - very nice for IR work on Canon 1DMIII but does give a bit of a hot spot

      • Zuiko 24mm f/2.8 - very nice for IR work on Canon 1DMIII 

      • Zuiko 28mm f/2.8

      • Zuiko 35mm f/2.8

      • Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 - very nice for IR work on Canon 1DMIII 

      • Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 x2 - some residual purple fringing at f/2; XS fringing and coma at f/1.4; mild coma at f/2.8.

      • Zuiko 50mm macro f/3.5 - minimal purple fringing at f/3.5; 

      • Zuiko 75-150mm f/4

      • Zuiko 100mm f/2.8

    • 55mm filter thread:

      • Zuiko 135mm f/2.8

      • Zuiko 35-105mm f/3.5 with close focus - minimal purple fringing even at f/3.5 at 105mm

      • Sigma 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Mark II - close focus to 1.5m

      • Tamron 135mm f/2.8 - 

      • Zuiko 200mm f/4.0 - this a a great lens on the E510 for use at the zoo as it gets between the wires of fences nicely and gives 400mm telephoto reach image stabilised.

    • 58mm filter thread:

      • Vivitar 135mm f/2.5 - some residual purple fringing at f/5.6

      • Tamron 300mm f/5.6 SP flat field macro - close focus to 1.4m (1:1.65 with 2x crop)

      • Tamron 80-210 f/3.8-4 - some residual purple fringing at f/5.6

    • 62mm filter thread:

      • Tamron 200mm f/3.5 - some residual purple fringing at f/5.6

    • 72mm filter thread:

      • Zuiko 300mm f/4.5 - beautiful at f/5.6, can hand hold at 1/60th-1/125th sec on E510 with IS, not bad for a 600mm eq. focal length!

  • OM accessories:

    • OM motor winder II

    • Metz SCA 300 adapter

    • OM focusing screens:

      • 1-1 in box of 1-13: microprism only but has purple mark mark for flash sync curtain

      • 1-7: microprism clear field for super-teles up to f/11

      • 1-12: cross-hairs for micro work

      • 1-13 in box of 1-10 : normal split image microprism

    • OM TTL flashes:

      • Olympus T20

      • Vivitar

    • OM Varimagni finder

• Contax 35mm system:

  • see Contax 35mm

  • camera bodies:

    • Contax 139 Quartz with electronic cable switch & TLA-20 flash

  • manual focus lenses:

    • C/Y Carl Zeiss 50mm f/1.7 Planar T*

some of my Olympus OM gear

6x6 Medium Format Bronica SQAi film system:

• see Bronica SQ system

• main uses:

  • when higher resolution images needed as an adjunct to digital:

    • studio work, landscapes

  • infrared film

  • high dynamic range with B&W or colour neg film eg. landscapes

  • film grain uses eg. 1600ASA film for artistic, portraiture

  • mini Polaroids

• camera bodies:

  • 2 x SQAi bodies

• lenses:

  • Bronica 40mm

  • Bronica 50mm 

  • Bronica 80mm S

  • Bronica 80mm PS

  • Bonica 110mm f/4 macro PS

  • Bronica 150mm S

• accessories:

  • speed grip

  • motor drive

  • 2x 6x4.5 120 backs

  • 3x 6x6 120 backs

  • 2x 6x6 220 film backs (1 brand new still in box for future-proofing my system as light leaks in backs can be a problem)

  • 1x 6x4.5 220 film back

  • SQAi Polaroid back

  • AE prism finder S

  • AE prism finder SQ-i LCD prism finder

  • chimney finder

  • Metz SCA flash bracket
  • Metz SCA 300 adapter

my Bronica SQ gear with a couple of those big filters eg. 95mm polariser

6x6 Medium Format Twin lens Reflex:

• Mamiya C330f Pro body

• Mamiya Porrofinder, waist level finder and prism finder

• Mamiya 105mm f/3.5 lens

• I am looking for a 55mm or 65mm lens, if anyone has one in good order and wants to sell.

Electronic flash:

• see flash technology

• Canon EF e-TTL flash system:

  • Canon Speedlite 580 EX II x 2

  • Canon ST-E2 wireless transmitter for wireless TTL flash

  • Westcott Apollo 28" umbrella-style softbox for flash 

  • various flash modifiers

  • Sigma EM-140 DG ring flash for Canon

  • decided against Canon macro flash as Olympus more easier to use hand held given the weight of the 1DIII

• Olympus digital flashes:

  • Olympus ring flash

  • Olympus FL-50

• Metz flashes:

  • see Metz flash

  • 50MZ-5

  • 45CL-4 x 3

  • 45CT-4

  • 45CT-1 x 2

• Metz accessories:

  • 45 tele adapter

  • 45 bounce

  • 45 Omnifen diffuser

  • 45 manual adapter

  • 45 rapid charger

  • SCA 3000 adapters: Olympus digital; Canon film; 

  • SCA 300 adapters: Olympus OM; Nikon film; Bronica SQ film;

• other accessories:

  • wireless flash

  • optical triggers x 4

  • Orbis ring flash adapter for Canon 580EX or Olympus FL50R

• studio flash:

  • see studio flash

  • 350W x 2

  • 250W x 1

  • lighting stands x 3

  • background stands x 2 with background support

  • reflector holder

  • soft box x 2

  • honeycomb

  • snoot

  • coloured filters

• ambient & flash light meters:

  • Vivitar

  • Minolta IV F

Tripod gear:

• Feisol CT 3442 carbon fibre tripod with leveling base

• Manfrotto ball head (one day I might get a RRS head when I can afford it)

Photo bags:

• Naneu Pro Adventure K3L - dual compartment backpack with unique airflow suspension to keep your back dry

• Lowepro Stealth Reporter D550 AW - shoulder bag for photo shoots

• cheap day super lightweight hiking bag with bubble wrap for general low key urban use - not great camera protection but light and does not make you a target for thieves.

Astronomy gear:

• 10" f/5.6 1422mm focal length Newtonian reflector telescope

• HEQ5 motor-driven heavy duty equatorial mount on tripod

• 500mm f/5.6 Maksutov telescope

• OM-T2 adapter

• Canon EF-T2 adapter

• see my astrophotography