My Gear

I suppose a good follow-up to my first post should be one where I talk about some of the gear I own and use.

At the risk of alienating a few people, mostly you Nikon shooters, I'm a Canon guy. I've been a Canon guy for... well, for just about forever. For the past three years or so, I've shot exclusively in the digital domain. I have a Canon 10D, a 20D, and a 5D. Some of you might be thinking, "What? No 1D?" Sorry, but no. While it's certainly a fantastic camera, it comes with a pretty high price tag and, frankly, I don't need to spend that kind of money for camera features that, more often than not, I don't need. If i need more camera, I'll rent it as I need it. And if I need to use something full-frame with a sick number of megapixels, I would probably rent something medium format with a digital back.

As far as glass goes, all my lenses are Canon as well. I have a 28-135 IS USM, the 85mm 1.8 prime, and that incredibly inexpensive yet tack-sharp and versatile (and mostly plastic) 50mm 1.4 prime. Nope. No "L" glass, although my sights are set on getting Canon's 135mm 2.0 "L" lens and, if someone wants to be my sugar daddy or mommy, you can buy me a 70-200 mm "L" lens. BTW, I hear that 135 "L" is really sweet and, when I was still shooting film with Canon FD gear, my 135 portrait lens was my favorite hunk of glass. I'll probably also save some money for something wide angle (prime) but that's a bit lower on my priority list.

As far as lighting goes, I have some on-camera strobes (a Canon 550 EX Speedlite and a couple of 540 EXs) and monolights and hot-lights. My monolights are all Novatron. (Four M-300s and one M-500.) Personally, I think Novatrons are great lights and they've never failed me. I won't list all my hotlights, but I have a bunch of Mole and Arri lighting. I also have lots of stands and other grip equipment (e.g., C-stands, baby stands, juniors, booms, sandbags, apple boxes, etc.) and all kinds of modifiers (umbrellas, softboxes, reflectors) and, my absolute favorite, a 35" Mola beauty dish.

All this stuff is kept in a studio environment. Yeah, I have a studio. It's about 2,000 square feet with a dressing room/makeup station, two bathrooms, shower, standing sets, 16' ceilings, A/C and all that good stuff.

Okay. That's my gear, i.e., my photo gear. I also have video equipment and, when it comes to video, I'm a Sony guy. I have a VX2000 (miniDV), and a High-Def Sony Z1U. Plus, there's the sound gear, editing equipment... you get the idea.

So much for my "stuff."