Gear

Since I became interested in fashion photography (and before that) I have used a variety of different cameras, lenses, and accessories. Being on limited budget, I often sold my old gear to finance the purchase of the newer/better one. Here I will list this gear and provide a mini-review. I will start with the gear used in the photoshoots I have already described in my posts... until I catch up with what I am using currently, at which time I will remove this disclaimer.

 

CURRENTLY USED GEAR

CAMERAS

Canon EOS 5D, 5D Mark II , and 5D Mark III  - my main battletank/workhorse cameras. When I decided to abandon the Olympus Four Thirds system, I knew I wanted a full frame camera. The only two obvious choices was to either go Nikon or Canon. In the end I picked Canon for two reasons  (1) I could get a used 5D for less than $1,000; and (2) several of my favorite fashion photographers used Canons :) I decided that they knew what they were doing and followed their example. I am yet to regret it. I still have all three 5D bodies. I mostly use 5DIII, and keep 5DII and 5D as backup cameras. 

Canon T90- a 1986 professional SLR camera. Uses manual focus FD lenses. Probably the best manual focus 35mm film camera ever made. The list of features is staggeringly long. Its only real downfall is the fact that it's relatively large and heavy compared to say 35mm Olympus cameras with similar features (but still smaller than most modern dSLRs.) This is my camera of choice if I decide to shoot film. In fashion photoshoots I occasionally use it to achieve the vintage look without resorting to faking it in Photoshop. It is also wonderful for multi-exposures, which I am yet to explore in fashion photography, but often tempted to. This wonderful piece of equipment was purchased by me for $150 on eBay (came with 50mm f1.4 lens ;) )

 

LENSES

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM - this used to be main portrait lens. Very sharp for a $350 lens.

Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon  - this is my main all-around lens. Unless I am shooting beauty portraits this lens pretty much stays on my camera. I'd call it "poor man's 24-70." I got it for $400 brand new. In a field sharpness test against Canon 24-70 I borrowed from a friend, Tamron was sharper (!) by a tiny fraction... We were testing both at 50mm, ISO100, f8, hand-held with shutter speed 1/250. I'm sure that in some extensive tests Canon 24-70 might win overall, but this is still a spectacular lens considering its price. I've heard that there are some bad copies of this lens floating around in which optics is rather poor, but then I've also heard the same about Canon.

Canon FD 35-105mm f3.5 - this is my standard manual focus zoom lens for Canon T90. Not as sharp as primes of course, but an excellent and reasonably priced lens (I got it for around $100 from eBay)

Olympus OM G.Zuiko 28mm 1:3.5 - great little manual focus prime. Goes for around $30-40 on eBay. I use it on my film Olympus cameras and occasionally use it on my Canon 5Ds via OM to EOS adapter.

Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm f1.8 - manual focus lens. Ridiculously tiny and quite sharp. I use it on my Olympus OM film SLRs and occasionally use it on my Canon 5Ds via OM to EOS adapter.

 

FLASHES

Canon 550 EX Flash  - Got it used for $195 from eBay. Almost as powerful as 580EX. A little bigger too. But quite a bit cheaper and seems to have all the same features. Used to be the headlining Canon flash. Can work as both the slave and master in the Canon infrared remote flash system.

Minolta Auto Electroflash 280 - an antique legacy flash I got for free when I bought one of my Minolta film SLRs (goes for $5-$10 on eBay.) I use it for occasional colored gel flash work. Recycling time is relatively slow and the controls are old school (ISO, distance, aperture dial.) It also seems to overheat with Lithium batteries too fast, so I am planning on trying it with Alkaline sometime. I have no idea if it is safe to use on modern digital camera (go here for more info on the subject) and have always used it off camera. The best thing about it is that the flash window itself is only 1" by 2", which means that it's small enough to use in combination with the tiny gel swatches that come in the cheap sample packs (Like this one for example:  Rosco Rosco Lux Small Swatchbook - under $6)... you can either make your own velcro edges on the gels or simply pull a swatch out of the pack and use clear tape for quick on-location setup... :)

 

ACCESSORIES

Canon BG-E4 Battery Grip for EOS 5D  - I use for three reasons... (1) Using it I am yet to run out of battery life during a photoshoot; (2) The vertical grip controls, which allow me not to twist my arm when shooting from this position; and (3) It makes the camera appear more professional ;)... I know this is a very silly reason, but since I am just in the beginning stages of my career I find it important to at least appear more professional than I actually am ;) Sure the whole size of the camera/lens competition between photographers is quite Freudian in nature, but having a bigger camera, has in fact made me feel more self-assured and confident... and in the end that's what matters. Plus the grip came for free with the camera, so it's not like I had to buy it separately ;)

43-inch 5-in-1 Collapsible Multi-Disc Light Reflector - I share the enthusiasm of whoever came up with the Amazon product name... Maybe this is crappy quality (although still holding up just fine so far) but at $16 delivered, this is as good as it gets ;)

LumiQuest SoftBox LTp LQ-124 - it's a relatively large square softbox(10" by 14"). Mounts directly on the camera via Lumiquest strap (or any other velcro.) Too big to be used if the flash is on the camera (blocks the lens,) but works wonderfully if used off camera. Still too small for full-body shots, but works nicely for portraits and upper body shots.

Westcott 2332 43-Inch Collapsible Umbrella Flash Kit  - the umbrella is good for the price. Nothing fancy, but works and is small enough for easy transportation. The stand is too light for outdoor use with umbrella - the smallest wind blows the damn thing away. So nowadays I typically use the stand in the studio and outside I typically mount the flash and umbrella on my heavy Slik tripod.

SLIK PRO 700DX Professional Tripod with Panhead - my wonderfully sturdy tripod. For additional stability (when using it to hold flash and umbrella bracket for example) I usually wrap a small bungee cord (like this one: Bungee Cord ) around its base and hang my camera bag in between tripod legs.

Camera Flash Gun - I might make a special post about this one one day... But for now here is a quick description: For the longest time I wanted to be able to project slides and negatives and use them in my model shoots. Trying to stay mobile I didn't want to use a slide projector, so I made my own projector out of an old broken 35mm SLR camera (Hanimex Praktica nova 1B.) The way it was achieved is as follows (be warned - this will render the camera compeltely useless for any other purpose):

    - Using my Dremel I cut out an 3.5"X1.5" opening in the back film door of the camera.

    - Compeltely removed the shutter (just pulled the damn thing out)

    - Attached a metal gutter outlet ($3 at Lowes) of the same size via two screws to this opening.

    - Glued a sandpapered rectangular piece of clear plastic over the opening inside the camera to work as a focusing screen

    - Put velcro industrial tape (hook side) on the inside of the gutter outlet.

    - That's it really - the negative goes where the film would usually go - between the "tunnel" opening inside and my diy focusing screen, flash goes snugly inside the gutter outlet. The velcro (loop side) on the flash head provides a secure fit. I can use any of my Hannimex lenses with this apparatus, but mostly use the 28mm and 50mm... Focusing is achieved via the focusing screen (before putting the flash into the opening) or by guessing the distance to the subject. I recommend using the flash zoomed in to 105mm or so and maybe not full power if possible, otherwise the flash lamp is too close to the negative and the negative will be burned after couple of flashes. So don't use any negatives or slides that you are afraid to ruin... Chances are you will either scratch it or burn it after using it in this apparatus for some time.

 

SOFTWARE

Adobe Photoshop - every photographer should have one. As a fan of Linux I have tried to use GIMP, but I am afraid that by the time I attempted to switch I was too used to working in Photoshop and did not have the time to needed to learn the new environment. That being said I am still quite happy with it and see no reason to switch to anything else.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - get it. Between this and and Photoshop I really don't need anything else.

 

GEAR USED IN THE PAST

CAMERAS

Olympus Evolt E500  - a prosumer level dSLR. Uses Four Thirds (4/3) lenses. This was my first dSLR. Like almost everything from Olympus it was a well designed and well built camera. Eventually I sold it in order to finance my purchase of Canon 5D. The thing I hated the most about this camera is high noise level at ISO 800 and above and the small viewfinder (especially when compared to the viewfinders of 35mm film SLRs,) since it made manual focusing extremely difficult. This was important to me since I extensively used it in combination with OM Zuiko manual focus legacy lenses. I tried to compensate for it with the following modifications: 

        - Split-screen focusing screen (some off brand eBay version - probably around $30-40);

        - Olympus EYECUP ME-1 MAGNIFIER , which allowed me to slightly increase the viewfinder image (1.2 magnifying factor.)

        - Auto-focus confirmation OM to 4/3 adapter (around $50-70 from eBay,) which allowed my camera to recognize when accurate focus was achieved and show a little green circle in the viewfinder when focus was achieved. Worked best with fast lenses.