KIM OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY

My Photo Gear – What Camera Equipment I Own and Use

by Kim

When I first started out, I wasn’t sure what photography gear to buy. I knew I wanted to be fully digital, but hadn’t decided what system to start with. Canon and Nikon seem to continually be battling for first place, but many other brands are closing the gap. But honestly, gear is only a part of the equation, anyway, since it’s the photographer that’s ultimately in charge.

I ended up going with Canon since I’d been using their compact digital cameras for years and have been very happy with my images. Now that I also have more professional DSLR equipment, I can happily report that I’m still satisfied with Canon’s quality and durability. But I’m equally sure Nikon users would say the same.

Because of budget constraints, I simply can’t own everything I want. So the list below is what I currently have but it isn’t my ideal setup yet (I will update this page as I make changes to my arsenal). What makes sense for me right now is to rent additional gear when I need it.

Without further ado, I present to you my gear list.

Camera Bodies & Lenses

  • Canon 5D Mark II Body

    This is my primary camera body that I use for most of my shoots. Love it!

  • Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

    An awesome, lightweight and cheap lens. Does have focusing issues in dimly-lit spaces.

    This is a super fast lens and takes excellent photos despite the low price.

  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Lens

    While I covet the faster 70-200mm f/2.8 version of this lens, this one still serves me quite nicely. And it’s way lighter.

  • Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens

    On my 40D, this isn’t a very wide lens, but when I upgraded to the full-frame 5D this one gives quite the wide angle. It’s awesome!

Lighting

  • Canon Speedlite 580EX II

    I definitely needed to have this for lighting once I got the 5D since there’s no popup flash on that body (something I really wish they’d included for the sake of convenience).

  • Sto-fen Omni-Bounce Diffuser

    Comes in handy when you don’t want just direct flash and is super small and easy to pack.

Accessories

  • Think Tank Photo’s Pixel Pocket Rocket

    This nifty case holds 10 memory cards and has space for business cards, too. It’s indispensable for weddings and keeps all my cards in one spot.

  • SanDisk CompactFlash cards

    I have various sizes of memory cards ranging between 2GB – 8GB. I usually shoot in RAW and on the 5D that eats up space quickly, so I use the 8GB mostly. I don’t use larger cards yet because I worry that if the card becomes corrupt I’ll lose way too much data.

Bags

  • Lowepro Fastpack 250 Backpack

    I initially bought this to use while hiking, but I prefer to hike with minimal gear, and this isn’t practical for that. So this bag ends up with me when I travel on planes instead.

  • Ape Case Pro Medium Camera Case ACPRO1200

    I loved the idea of having a bright yellow fabric inside because it makes finding your gear way easier than when you have black equipment inside a black bag. But the bag itself is a bit heavy and when you add all of your equipment the whole package is obviously even heavier. It’s well made, but I’ll probably be changing to a lighter bag soon.

What do you use?

What would be your ideal camera gear setup? Do you have any must-have items that you’d recommend?

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