Let us know what you use...

[grazhopr]

I'd like to learn about your current gear, and possible upgrades if you don't mind posting it here. I've seen so many awesome shots in this place, I'm interested in seeing and learning the possibilities to improve my work, in terms of equipment. If you can, please include filters, tube extenders, flash, tripod, etc. If you have any tips as far as recording media that you'd like to share, that would be great as well.

[Buddy4344]

My focus on gear is my glass: I shoot a Sigma 10-20, and Canon 24-105L, Canon 100-400L, Canon 100 macro. For macro, I also have Kenko extension tubes which I like. I have two bodies: a Canon 300 (original Rebel w/6 meg) and a Canon 30D with 8 meg. Both bodies have 1.6 crop sensors. I almost always shoot with tripod or beanbag using a cable release. I have a Manfrotto tripod with quick release plate attached that I love. I also have polarizers, Grad ND, etc. but use them little.

I catalog in Lighroom 1.3 and process on CS2. I use Dfine 2.0 for noise (very good program).

Next two purchases: Canon 600L (for African wildlife) and a new body - hopefully a 5D (if new model comes out) or a 1D Mk3 if I hit the lottery. The former body is famed for landscapes and is full frame, the latter is the standard for pro wildlife photographers (that shoot Canon) and has a 1.3x cro factor.

[skeuos]

I have a bit smaller rig and quite a tight budget so I'd have to say my focus is on doing more with less bucks. I primarily shoot a Pentax K100D Super (the most affordable option with in-camera image stabilization at the time I got it). I currently only have 2 lenses - the Pentax 18-55 kit lens, and a Tamron 75-300 telephoto. The only filter I have of note is a Promaster circle polarizer for the 18-55 lens. I do have a cable release thanks to my industrious and talented electrical engineering father.

I catalog in the Pentax Photo Browser utility, edit my raw files in Silkypix 3.0, and do my final processing primarily in Photoshop CS2 (soon to be upgraded to CS3), although occasionally I use GIMP if I don't feel like switching from the PC to the Mac for CS2.

Edit to add - I use a Quantum tripod, which is a bit heavy but steady as a rock. I do need a new pan and tilt or ballhead though. Either that or a gorilla pod.

[Shaggydoo]

Canon EOS 350D-been using for 3 years
Canon 18-55mm kit lens
Canon 100mm macro
Canon 70-200mm F/4L-will be getting a teleconverter but have yet to decide between the 1.4x and 2x. I'm getting a bit tired of having to creep up on things. I would also like to photograph the smaller backyard birds-360mm(crop factor) is just not long enough to do that under most circumstances
various filters by:Tiffen,B+W and Hoya
Slik Pro 700DX-it's affordable and very sturdy

[JoeMc]

Ok....Now it's time to hear from the Dark side (NIKON)

I have a Nikon D200 10mp and a Nikon D300 12mp and both are fantastic cameras...My next will be a D3 or a D700, Not sure which and not in the near future.
Lenses are the following and in the order that I use most.
Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8
Nikkor 70-200 vr f/2.8
Nikkor 105 micro f/2.8
Nikkor 50 f/1.8

My next lens will be the Nikkor 85 f/1.4 (Ordering this week)
My wish list lens is the Nikkor 200-400 VR f/2.8 but just cant bring myself to spend 5000.00 + on it...Plus I really love my wife and wouldn't want to lose her....lol

I have many filters....But my favorites are my singh ray polorizor and my many ND filters. (Hoya pro for the most part)

I have a Manfrotto tripod with the quick release plate and a Gitzo....Both are great tripods... I too shoot with cable release most of the times....and because I often shoot in windy condition I use a sandbag a lot to weight my tripods down to keep them from moving.

I use Lightroom and ACDSee pro to catalog and edits are done in Nikon Capture and CS3...I use noise nija for noise reduction and CS3 and Photomatix for processing HDR

Cheers, Joe

[SMcEvoy]

And more on the 'bright' side - NIKON.

Nikon D50
Kit 18-55 mm lens

Nikkor 70-300mm f4-5.6 D ED AF Lens
Tamron AF 90mm F/2.8 Di 1:1 Macro Lens
Nikon SB600 speedlight flash.

Filters
Circular polarizer for all three lenses - invaluable. (Kenko & Tiffen). I use these for my outdoor shots ALL the time - including many of the florals.

I keep a skylight filter on all lenses at all times - also proved invaluable when I dropped the 18-55 - shattered the filter, but the lens was fine.

Own, but don't use much - 2 ND Grad filters - 1 stop each. I find they add a bit of a red tint that I'm not that keen on, but I have to play more with them.

Slik Pro 340 DX tripod - lightweight but very versatile and quite reasonably priced.

The ML-L3 wireless remote (best $25 I ever spent - awesome with the tripod - use it for my fireworks all the time.)

Custom Brackets Digital Pro-M http://www.custombrackets.com/script...?idproduct=130 (this is for my portrait photography - great for reducing red-eye, and simple to use because you can flip the camera horizontal to vertical lickety split without adjusting the flash each time.)

And on my 'please let me win the lottery' list...

Nikon D700 (about $3200 Cdn)
Nikkor AF-S Zoom 24-70 f/2.8 (about $1800 Cdn)
- and somewhere down the road an F2/8 600mm lens of some sort. I'll keep dreaming on that one.
Lensbaby - might be my next 'affordable' accessory

I process in Photoshop Elements 6.0 and use Breezebrowser Pro for creating my web galleries - very fast and easy. (Also bailed me out when I shot an entire vacation RAW by mistake - extracted the .jpg's in about two minutes compared to me having to go into each one to open, extract and save. It was close to 900 shots!)

[KHedquist]

Back to PENTAX

Pentax K200D body
Pentax *istDS body
Pentax Optio M20 - 7mpx point and shoot. It does a great job when I need to pop something in my pocket.

Sigma 50-500mm
Tamron 18-250mm my fave lens small light and versitile
Pentax 18-55mm
Pentax 28-80mm
Sigma 70-300mm
2x teleconverter

Kenko extension tubes

Pentax AF 360FGZ Flash

Filters - circular polarizer, ND4, diffusion, 80B, 812

Amvona Carbon Fiber ball head, quick release tripod

Manfrotto ball head quick release travel tripod

Photoshop CS3 Extended

A Cheap monopod

[Sambo]

WOW! Y'all sure do have alot of stuff!!!!! And I thought that I was bad!

I guess I'm the only Minolta/Sony user here.

Minolta 5D with a busted LCD screen
Sony Alpha 100
Currently using my Sony Alpha 700 12 MP (I love it!)

Various old Minolta lenses, but my workhorse lenses are:
Minolta 50mm F1.7 (One of the original AF lenses, and still sharp as a tack.)
Minolta 75 - 300
Sigma 18-200 (great for landscapes and street shots)
Sigma 105mm 2.8 macro

Polarizing filters for all.

Recently purchased two 4d (2 stop) rectangular GND filters

Off brand (Quandary) tripod with quick release plate, but VERY sturdy.

The Alpha 700 has an intergrated wireless remote that has become indespensable.

BTW, my wife, username cindylea, has the following equipment:
Sony 5MP DCS-H1 with a max aperature of f/8
A cheap K-Mart tripod.

Just goes to show that you don't need a bag full of high priced toys to get great photos! IMHO, she has the most important thing, imagination!!!!

Sam

[Punwit]

Sony DSC H5 7.2 Megapixels 12x
Sony 1.7x tele-extender
Sony .7x wideangle converter
Sony ND 8 filter
Hoya CP
Sunpak Platinum Plus Tripod -- cheap but serviceable

[pippafox]

hi Grazhopr
i have an olympus e-500 (twin lens kit)
the lens i mostly use is the 17.5-45mm, f 4.4 - f22
it has a uv filter to protect the glass.
the other lens is a 40 - 150mm, f3.5 - f22 which has a skylight filter also to protect the glass. don't trust myself not to damage the glass hence the filters.
ISO ranges from 100 - 400 (mostly use this range) it does go faster.
pretty basic really.

forgot to add a cheapo tripod, and i recently got one of those gorillapods but have not used it yet. think i may have chucked my pennies away on that last purchase - wait and see.

[grazhopr]

This is great feedback !

Thanks for sharing.

To add my part, I currently have a Canon EOS 30d, and shoot only with my kit lens, 17-85 mm f/4-5.6 for now.
I have a very old tripod my father used to use with his old Nikomat and a baby tripod that is older than me (I love this one in particular)

I catalog with Canon's DPP software and process with Photoshop CS3.

I'm getting a Canon TC80N3 Remote timer/shutter release and a Wacom Intuos tablet.

My future purchases include (hopefully), in order of priority:

* 17-40 mm f/4L or 16-35 mm f/2.8L
* 70-200 mm f/4L IS or f/2.8L
* Cokin or Lee filter system
* Speedlight 580 EX
* Extender (1.4x and/or 2x)
* Canon EOS 5D Mark II
* Possibly a new tripod

If you guys are interested, most Wacom tablets come with PS Elements and they offer a great deal that will allow you to upgrade to Photoshop CS4. You should check it out.

Share these with all friends here.
Following step by step now.

[Rrdjserv]

Canon EOS 40D

Canon 300mm f/4 L IS - for birds and wildlife
Sigma 150mm f/2.8macro - for insects and high speed
Sigma 24-135mm - seldom used
Canon 1.4x and 2x TC - use the 1.4 with the 300mm always
Kenko extension tubes - use for macros
B&W 77 circular POL - seldom use
Canon TC-80N3 shutter release - use for still shots
Canon 580EX Speedlite - use indoors and for high speed
Slik Master Classic tripod - don't use enough

I just ordered the Manfrotto 055MF4 tripod and the Manfrotto 486 Compact Ball Head. I hope I like them.

I have owned several cameras and lens in the past. Although I believe that it is more important to learn HOW to use your equipment than purchasing expensive equipment, I also believe that owning the proper equipment for your type of work does make a big difference.

And although I started taking photos as a kid with a box camera, I did not go hardcore until 4 years ago. I can honestly say that I am still learning.

--Rick

[Al S]

Canon 50D

Canon 28-135 IS Lens
Canon 70-300 IS DO Lens

[phobic0_0]

New to this, just bought my first....

Canon Rebel xsi 450D kit lens 18-55
bought a nice tripod and a book 450D for dummies!!! ;-)

The book has been helpful...

Been play with new camera, lots of fun... Going to Moab in a few weeks think of buying a zoom lens or a landscape lens, not sure which would be better there...