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We often get asked what gear we actually use day in and day out - like any business we have to justify our expenses, so we don't always buy the latest and greatest as soon as it comes out (and to do that you'd be continually switching between Nikon and Canon anyway, as they leapfrog each other with new releases). We purchase gear that we believe will get the job done, and that represents value to us (yes a D3 can do more than a D700, but we went with a D700 instead because the extra money spent on lenses gives us a lot more than a D3 alone would for example). This list constantly changes, we'll try to keep it up to date as possible. If a piece of gear doesn't perform, it goes, and if a new piece of kit is needed for a particular shoot and it's in budget, it gets added.
Current Gear | Needed-Soon Gear | Can't Justify (Yet) Gear | Retired Gear
Anyway, here is the current gear list, with links to reviews and comments as appropriate:
| Gear: | Buy From: | Remarks: | | Nikon D700 | B&H, Amazon, From: $2,629.99 | One of the best cameras ever made. Tough, reliable, great AF system, 8 f.p.s. at 14 bit (with grip). Amazing versatile, and our default choice for all non-telephoto work. Probably the best all round camera we've ever used. | | Nikon D300 | B&H, Amazon, From: $1,449.00 | Awesome camera - this is our most used body by far, ideal for telephoto work. Great AF system, gives a very high rate of keepers even with rapidly moving targets. Did have issues with Dead Battery Syndrome, but they were cured with DeOxIt and then a firmware update. | | Nikon D90 | B&H, Amazon, From: $879.99 | Usually lives with the 18-200mm attached. Great camera to keep in the front of the car on road trips, or if traveling very light. Capable of results equal to the D300, but the AF system is very weak compared to the D300, especially in low light, which prevents us using it more. | | Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $6,198.99 | Best lens I've ever owned, period. Amazingly versatile, great bokeh, fast, VR works, razor sharp wide open. Great for wildlife, airshows etc.
Only downside is it gets heavy hand holding after a while, and is heavy if it spends the day over your shoulder. | | Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $1,724.95 | Stunning performer, sharp, contrasty, the only downside being its weight. Great on either the D700 or D300. | | Nikon AF NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4D IF | B&H, Amazon, From: $999.95 | Amazing Portrait Lens. | | Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $979.95 | Reasonable sharp, very versatile, rarely leave the office without it. | | Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $899.95 | Does its job very well, nice sharp macro lens. | | Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $759.95 | Lives on the D90. There are other lenses that outperform it at just about every focal length, but none are as versatile, and ideal for a light-weight kit. Can produce excellent results. | | Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II | B&H, Amazon, From: $469.00 | Quality loss is barely noticeable in most conditions, extra reach can be very useful indeed. | | Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $465.00 | Probably the best "bang for the buck" in Nikon's current line-up - performs way beyond what you'd expect from a $500 lens, produces some excellent results. | | Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G | B&H, Amazon, From: $444.95 | Great low light performer, nice Bokeh. | | Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $419.95 | Very rarely used, but a decent performer. | | Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II | B&H, Amazon, From: $349.95 | Never leave home without it, very little quality loss. | | Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR | B&H, Amazon, From: $299.00 | Came in a kit with the D90, never use it, will probably be sold once we've reviewed it. | | HonlPhoto Speed Snoot / Reflector, 5" Shorty | B&H, Amazon | Useful as both a snoot and mini-reflector. | | HonlPhoto Speed Snoot / Reflector, 8" Regular | B&H, Amazon | Useful as both a snoot and mini-reflector. | | HonlPhoto 1/4" Speed Grid | B&H, Amazon | Great for controlling light, makes a good hair light. | | HonlPhoto 1/8" Speed Grid | B&H, Amazon | Great for controlling light, makes a good hair light. | | HonlPhoto Speed Gobo / Bounce Card | B&H, Amazon | Very useful for controlling light spill, despite being named after a Fraggle. | | HonlPhoto Speed Strap | B&H, Amazon | Versatile, useful, gets the job done without sticking stuff to your flashgun. |
Next we have the "Needed Gear" section - no kit is ever complete, and this is the stuff that would be extremely useful to us, but so far we've not been able to justify the expense (however that we expect that to change in the near future):
| Gear: | Buy From: | Remarks: | | Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $1,899.95 | This will probably be the next lens purchase now the D700 has been added to our kit. | | Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR | B&H, Amazon, From: $10,299.95 | Great wildlife lens, may need for planned trip to Alaska soon. | | Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II | B&H, Amazon, From: $2,189.95 | Most of our pictures are either taken at the wide or telephoto end of the range, but when it comes out this lens could be extremely useful. |
Then we have the "Would love but the wife would kill me if she found out I'd bought it" section - this is the stuff that we would absolutely love to have as part of our kit, but short of selling a kidney, it's unlikely we'll be able to justify the purchase any time soon (doesn't everyone have one of these lists??).
| Gear: | Buy From: | Remarks: | | Nikon AF-S VR NIKKOR 200mm f/2G IF-ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $4,999.00 | Droolworthy, but hard to justify. | | Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 400mm f/2.8G ED VR | B&H, Amazon, From: $8,599.00 | Would be nice to have, but hard to justify currently. | | Nikon AF VR Zoom-NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED | B&H, Amazon, From: $1,749.99 | Having a 'light' zoom lens that goes to 400mm would be very useful, but would prefer an AF-S lens at this focal length. |
Finally, here is the "Retired Gear" list - stuff we've either broke or sold, but for whatever reason is no longer with us:
| Gear: | Buy From: | Remarks: | | Nikon D200 | B&H, Amazon, From: $19.99 | Great, reliable, tough camera. Not great at high ISO's, and LCD screen is poor compared to the newer bodies, but performed very well during the three years we used it. | | Nikon FG | B&H | Great little camera, especially when used with the winder. Used for about 2 years, then gave it to my brother. Performed flawlessly. | | Nikon F Photomic | B&H | Used a pair of Nikon F Photomics around the globe for almost two decades and many, many thousands of slides. They never missed a beat, never had to worry about batteries, weather conditions, or anything else. Amazing cameras. | | Nikon F3HP | B&H | Used for about 8 years before going digital. In a word: Workhorse. Tough, ultra reliable, got the job done. | | 500mm f8 Mirror | B&H | Dated now, but very impressive in its time. | | Nikon 50mm f1.4 AI | B&H | My first Nikon lens: sharp, fast, heavy. | | Nikon 20mm f4 | B&H | Phenomenal manual focus landscape lens, one of my most used lenses. | | Nikon 24mm f4 | B&H | Solid performer, but tended to prefer the 20mm. | | Nikon 80-200mm f4 | B&H | Awesome manual focus lens, bought used from a local newspaper, and used it for almost 20 years. | | Nikon 135mm f2.8 | B&H | Decent fast/short telephoto - not spectacular but good for the price. | | Nikon 35-105mm Macro | B&H | Decent zoom with Macro ability, capable of pretty good results. | | Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm | B&H | Spectacular zoom in its day. | | Nikon 50mm f1.8E | B&H | Cheap build quality, OK performer stopped down, never used it much. | | 28mm, 35mm, assorted zooms etc | B&H | About a dozen (possibly more) manual focus lenses from third party manufacturers, mostly in the 28 to 210mm range, including primes, macro and zooms. Some of them were sold 20 plus years ago, so couldn't give a full list if I had to. Brands ranged from Tamron (Mostly good), Sigma (good), to Soligor and a few others. | | Nikon TC-14E | B&H | Great little manual focus teleconvertor - got the job done. |
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