What's in my camera bag, part 1
I often get asked about what I shoot with, what my favorite gear is, the lighting I use, and other similar questions. I decided to put a series of posts together detailing what I shoot with and what lives in my bag because (a) people ask me and (b) hey, it's fun to check out what others use. Or maybe it's just me who thinks that, but whatever.
I've purchased nearly all of my camera equipment from either B&H or Amazon, with a little bit from Adorama, and all are awesome places. My lighting equipment (with the exception of my Canon flashes) have all come from Paul C. Buff.
My first installment of this series: my full frame body and prime lenses. I've done a One Week, One Lens on all the lenses below so far except the 50 and 85, so if you search my blog tags you'll be able to see samples of what these lenses can do.
Caution: Lens and camera porn ahead!
Canon 5D Mark III. This is my baby. It's a fantastic camera. I love it. That is all.
Canon 35mm 1.4. This was my first L lens. While not a portrait lens, it's a beautiful lifestyle and fairly wide-angle lens and has a really close minimum focus distance, which can come in really handy.
Canon 50mm 1.2. I've had all the 50mm lenses that Canon makes. The 1.8 is a great value and a very good first prime lens. I struggled with the 1.4 for over a year before I gave up on it; many love that lens but mine was plagued with the autofocus problems that the lens is known for and was not able to use it much. It took me a long time to decide to get this 1.2. When I got it, I was immediately in love. It's the perfect lens for documenting the world around you. Much of my vacation to Barbados in January was captured with this lens. It gets above 1.2, but not much.
Canon 85mm 1.2. Once you shoot at 1.2, there is no going back. The 50 1.2 opened my eyes to shooting at 1.2 and then I got this beauty (which could also be used as a weapon in the zombie apocalypse due to its weight). I mean, the subject isolation you can get from 1.2 is amazing. I could place a goat with a tutu in front of 75 slimy green ogres, and if you shoot wide, all you'll see is your tutu-ed goat. This lens is a step up from the 1.8, which is also a very nice lens, but this lens offers a stop more light and gorgeous color rendition amongst its many strong points.
Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro. It matters not to me that this lens has no IS or red ring. It produces beautiful macro images for those times when you want to get up close and personal with bugs, flowers, or peoples' eyes. It's also an unsung hero as a very good portrait lens. And it's not heavy. Score!
Canon 135mm 2.0. I don't want to play favorites and make my other lenses feel bad. But I think this lens is my favorite, at least for outdoor portraits (though it's awesome in a studio too). The photos that come from it are magical. I wish I lived on a warm tropical island with waves not only for the lovely climate and surfing but because I would be able to be outside ALL THE TIME to shoot with this lens.
Stay tuned for the next installment of what's in my bag...sadly I haven't found any ice cream or cookies in it so far.