My photography Gear in my bag ! ( And video…)
” If it sounds right, it is right ! “ used to say Joe Meek, a famous Music Producer in the 60’s. And the same goes for : my photography and video gear.
I’m not a tech. fanboy, nor a pixel peeper.I’m choosing gear that might do “the job” right. Solid and who doesn’t fail every morning.
As I want to provide some good quality contents, i’ll need to get some good gear and most important, reliable ! I tried also to keep the package as compact as possible.
Information : Some of the links below are Amazon affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost for you, i will earn a small commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. ( Even another product of your choice !) … It would help me a lot !
OLYMPUS/OM SYSTEM
OM-1 : I am really confident when holding this camera. One of the best 5 Axis stabilization & truly Weather Resistant !
Backup camera : Olympus OM-D EM1 Mk2
OM-1 : A Micro 4/3 sensor, build like a Rock ! With a lot of fantastic features that i’ll review soon…
(Check the review of the Olympus OM-D EM1 Mk2/Mk3 : Check de review here)
For low light work, i’ve tried the Sony A7 III Full Frame camera…. It has fantastic specs but i really did not like its handling nor its ergonomics…And sold it !
→ After a 3 monthes wait i finally get the new OM-1 which is pretty damn good ! (And much more lightweight than Full Frame cameras)
Click on the link if you wish to buy the Olympus EM1 Mk3
My go-to lenses with these cameras :
- Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro
- Panasonic 8-18 f2.8-4 (Incredible Ultra wide angle)
- Panasonic 35-100 f2.8 (Weather sealed Lightweight telephoto)
DJI POCKET 2
What an incredible piece of gear ! It was an easy decision for me to buy the Pocket 2 as it packs almost everything i need. It is small, lightweight and really powerful.
It is capable to film 4K/60fps or 1080/120 fps!
With its 3 axes stabilization, the image remains stabilized while walking.
With the Creator Combo, you get a good wireless mic. Very useful to get a better sound.
A phone can control all the settings of the Pocket 2 using a small connector or wireless !
Click on the link if you wish to buy the DJI Pocket 2 Combo
DJI MAVIC AIR 2
A great small and lightweight (570g) drone ! It is capable to get some incredible footage.
Despite its compact size, it films at 4K/60fps with its 1/2 inch sensor.
When you fly, the 25 minutes autonomy is pretty low. For that reason i choosed the “Fly more combo pack”. For some extra buckets, you get 3 batteries, extra wings, a charger and a useful bag.
The drone is a really useful tool, but unfortunatly the regulations are increasingly restrictive.
Click on the link if you wish to buy the DJI MAVIC AIR 2 Combo
TRIPODS
GITZO
GITZO is one of the best Tripod brand but that comes with a price ! One thing for sure, i can easily rely on my Gitzo GT 2542 for my long exposures.
Gitzo has some different series and the GT 2542 is the Mountaineer one. Between the lightweight Traveler and the biggest Systematic for big, big cameras !
Nevertheless the GT 2542 remains lightweight enough for my purpose. (1.68 kg)
Get the Gitzo GT 2542 Tripod
For the Gitzo’s ball head, i’ve choosen the Sirui K-30X ball head
MANFROTTO
When the wind is not too strong, nor i have to put my tripod into the water, I still use Manfrotto Befree Advanced for my stills. It is a really small and lightweight one with a ball head (1.49kg). I still use it for video recordings.
In addition, it has a great price point.
Get the Manfrotto Befree Advanced Tripod (small & lightweight with ball head)
NISI
I’ve tried several brand and love the Nisi Quality and almost no color shift.
As all my lenses thread are below 67 mm, i use the M75 Kit.
My go-to filters are the ND8, ND64 & ND1000 and I use several Graduated Filters (GND)
My kit : NISI Pro Filter M75 Kit
FREEWELL
Variable ND for camera lenses
As the light might chance quickly, we need to decrease the amount of light coming in the camera. For that purpose, we use Variable ND filters. I’ve found that this brand has a fantastic balance Quality/Price.
Get the Freewell Variable ND filter for camera (used when recording videos)
ND for Pocket 2
Unfortunatly i did not find any Good Variable ND for the Pocket 2, so i choosed good ND’s instead of average varaible Nd’s.
Get the Freewell All day for pocket 2 (All the ND you need for your Pocket 2)
PHOTOGRAPHY BAGS
Choosing a bag is probably the hardest thing to choose and usually we end up having a lot of them… This one is too big, but that one too small….
For now on, i’ve got 3 of them…
Mindshift Backlight 26L
The one I use the most as it is big enough to put almost all my gear in ! ( Camera + 3 lenses + drone + pocket2+ filters & tripod). Great quality and confort.
Get the Mindshift backlight 26L (My Big backpack !)
Lowepro Fastpack BP 250
If i need to carry less gear… Perfect fot my needs !Exit Visual Builder
I appreciate to get my gear from the side of the bag. Much easier and faster.
Get the LowerPro 250 ( My small backpack… well not so small!)
Amazon Basics
If i don’t want to carry a backpack but i need some storage space, i use this Amazon Basics DSLR bag.
We can add a camera and a few lenses and some accessories. The build rather solid and it can even carry a small tripod ! Get the Amazon DSLR bag !
Andoer Bag
Sometimes, you just need to carry your camera with one or 2 lenses. I found that small bag reliable and damn cheap !
Get the Andoer Bag.
PEAK DESIGN
What a wonderful invention ! Hang your camera on your bag or your belt. Change your straps easily with their anchors…
Get the :
- Peak Design Capture V3 (Put your camera on your bag or your belt)
- Peak Design camera strap
- Peak Design camera wrist strap
3 LEGGED THING
As a landscape photographer, I quickly realized the use of an L-Bracket. I can shoot in portrait or landscape orientation withour moving the ball head .
3 Legged Thing has created some L-Bracket that fit with the Peak Design Capture !
Get the 3 Legged Thing Ellie SPD L-Bracket (Fantastic & fits with PD capture!)
ZOOM H1n
A cheap and really powerful stereo recorder.
Get the : Zoom H1n recorder (Cheap but really great !)
FIFINE K683A
My desk mic for voice over recording. What I like about it : It’s rather cheap for a nice quality sound and rather important, it has volume control, headphone input and mic mute button which are very uselful features.
Get the Fifine K683A
RODE VIDEOMIC
A Budget video mic to plug into you camera.
Get the Rode videoMic (Great budget mic)
RODE SMARTLAV+
Sometimes, the wind is too strong, or the camera is too far, I prefer using a small Lavalier Microphone. This one does the job !
PRESONUS ERIS 3.5 BT
As a content creator, I needed good quality monitoring speakers. As a nomad, it was essential that they were small enough in weight and size.
The Presonus Eris 3.5 BT naturally caught my attention. (Icing on the cake, for an affordable price)
With a reduced size and weight (less than 3kg for both of them for 21cm high) the sound is not sacrificed.
With a maximum power of 25W RMS and a frequency range of 80 to 20 Khz, the sound of these 2-way speakers is quite balanced with a bump towards the top of the spectrum.
I’m not a big fan of a lot of bass, so these speakers suit me perfectly. Especially with a nice precision in the high mids.
Big advantage compared to the competition: 100 Hz bass and 10Khz treble adjustment pots on the back (± 6db)
The sound is globally well defined and balanced.
Equipped with quite complete connectors (TRS, 2 RCA unbalanced, jack 3.5mm & bluetooth), they are usable as well for the mixing of contents, as in loudspeakers of listening of music via Bluetooth!
You press a small button on the back for 3 seconds, the bluetooth is available and you are paired! As simple as that!
Another point more than positive, headphone and auxiliary inputs at the front: after a mix on the ERIS, I go back to the headphones to refine the mixes 😉
PROS :
Weight and dimensions
Connections
SOUND
Price
CONS :
Not huge basses due to small Subwoofer (I’m fine with it for my work!)
If you are interested in these great monitors speakers : PRESONUS ERIS 3.5 BT
ADOBE LIGHTROOM & PHOTOSHOP
I process my RAW files within LR and if i need to work deeper, i switch to PS !
For a monthly subscription of 11.99 € TT/month, we got 2 industry references of photo developping and post processing.
In addition, included in the subcription, we have a a light “Premiere Rush” for video editing or a powerful tool to build 3D prototypes as well as a Lightroom dedicated to our mobile use. ( +20 Gb of Cloud storage!)
Some might find this expensive, but i appreciate the power of these softwares and their continuous updates.
Get the Powerful Creative Cloud Photography Plan. ( Adobe Affiliate link, won”t cost you a dime more and help me a lot !)
TABLET WACOM INTUOS PRO
A moouse is good… but when using brushes into our favorite photo software, a tablet is an absolute must have for a much more precise and faster work !
There are differents tablet sizes but i appreciate more the small ones as my hand has not to move a lot 😉
Wacom is an industry reference and their tablet work perfectly on Mac or Windows.
TOPAZ AI
To denoise my RAW files i found that Topaz AI does an excellent job.
As a Micro 4/3 sensor delivers more noise than a Full Frame camera, Topaz Ai is an essential tool for me.
GOOD NEWS : Get 15 % DISCOUNT on ALL TOPAZ SOFTWARES with the Promotion code : FRIEND15 by following this link :
TOPAZ AI PRODUCTS
DATACOLOR SPYDERX PRO
There is a point that sometimes we, as photographers my forget : our monitor color rendering. When we work on a picture, we want the colors be as precise as possible. For that reason we use a calibration tool.
I found the SpyderX to be a great and not too expensive one.
Get the Datacolor SpyderX Pro
LAMPS
You may ask what the Hell does he put the lamps in his Tech stuff ?!… Well.. As a landscape photographer, I often get up before the Sunrise or stay after the Sunset… 😉
Get the :
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