I’m often asked about the equipment I use.
Photography is not about the gear you use, it is about the pictures you take. There are many very expensive pieces of kit out there, and you don’t need any of them! With a little bit of research you can find equipment out there for a fraction of the cost with very little to no loss of functionality.
For those of you starting out, you should give the secondhand market some serious thought!
I also strongly recommend against buying everything at once, buy things when you need them and not before. Over the last few years I have incrementally tweaked what I use. Ensuring everything is as lightweight as possible whilst still functioning extremely well for my photography.
Links here are affiliate links to the actual items I have bought. If you follow any of them and proceed to purchase I will receive a small commission but you won’t pay a penny more than the list price. Many thanks if you help me out.
CAMERAS:
OM System OM-1
My latest camera and main workhorse. I finally upgraded to a “pro” camera. This one has a stacked BSI sensor making it slightly more sensitive and allows for multiple SD cards for redundancy.
Olympus OMD E-M5
Mark III
I was missing certain features in the E-PL7, so I went looking for an alternative. This camera has a electric viewfinder and is completely weather sealed. It also has a slightly better sensor.
Canon RP
I was able to pick up Canon’s first mirrorless camera at an absolute bargain, and I am using it for astrophotography. The larger sensor really helps in capturing details in the stars and milky way.
Olympus PEN E-PL7
My first micro four thirds camera. I chose M43 because the lenses are extremely light, compact & affordable. I still use it as a backup or underwater camera.
Olympus µ DIGITAL 600
My first camera for underwater. I still use it as a backup camera for when I am diving sometimes, when I expect to go through narrow passages or assist with training.
GoPro Hero 2
This is still my camera of choice when I am teaching, and need to film my students. It is very small, and the image quality is still more that sufficient for most applications, and you can pick one up dirt cheap.
LENSES:
Panasonic Leica DG
8-18mm f/2.8-4 ASPH
This lens accounts for at least 90% of my images. It is superb. It rarely leaves my camera body. It also has the benefit of being weather sealed.
Olympus M.Zuiko ED
14-150mm f4.0-5.6 II
I got this lens together with my E-M5, and it has replaced my 40-150mm lens only because this one is weather sealed.
Olympus M.Zuiko
Digital 100-400mm
f/5-6.3 ED IS
Sometimes you need a little more reach, and this lens is amazing for that. Wildlife, birding or detail shots, this lens can do it all. Be careful though, tele lenses are at the more expensive end of the spectrum.
Lens Canon RF
16mm f2.8 STM
A kit lens that is surprisingly good, and very light.
The center is very sharp, and although the edges are not as sharp wide open, it still is very acceptable.
Surprisingly good for astrophotography.
XIAOYI 42.5MM F1.8
A budget portrait lens that gives incredible value for money!
Olympus M.Zuiko ED
8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO
The 7artisans is a great lens, but speed matters a great deal for astrophotography, and the boost the Olympus 8mm lens provides is quite substantial. It also does not hurt this lens is weather sealed.
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3 EZ
This lens accounts for at least 90% of my images. It is superb. It rarely leaves my camera body. It also has the benefit of being weather sealed.
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 40‑150MM F4‑5.6 R
The optics on this are very good, but its price is in kit lens territory! Extremely lightweight.
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 14-42MM F3.5-5.6 EZ
The kit lens that came with my camera. Quite a good lens and extremely compact because of the pancake design. It has lost its place in my bag to the 12-50mm lens.
7artisans 7.5MM F2.8 Fisheye
One of the most affordable wide & fast lenses out there. Ideal for the beginning astrophotograper!
TRIPODS
Rollei C6i
Carbon Tripod
A gift from a friend, and my main tripod. Lightweight, strong, and compact, this is definitely one of the better affordable travel tripods out there!
Cullman
Populär Tripod
A vintage video tripod, but oh so sturdy! It belonged to my father and now it serves me very well.
I have replaced the head though, as ball heads are just so much more practical!
Mini Octopus
Tripod
A no-brand generic mini tripod with flexible arms. Great for when you want to travel extremely light, or just to have something when going for a stroll.
ACCESSORIES:
Kase Wolverine Magnetic Circular Filters
Constantly having to screw in my ND filter was getting a little cumbersome, and led me to miss shots. With the magnetic filters I can put them on and take them off very quickly. There is also no colorcast at all.
K&F MV35 ND8-ND2000 Filter
A variable ND filter that helps me create long exposures. Advertised as 3 to 11 stops, but the last few stops are to dark and do not work well, and there is a small colorcast. Still incredible bang for your buck.
Olympus PT-029 Underwater Housing
This underwater housing allows me to use my camera under water. It is rated to 40m, but has successfully protected my camera down to almost 60m, and has never let me down!
GoPro Dive Housing for Hero 2
Underwater housing for my GoPro, rated to 60m. Same as the other one, this one also has not failed on me yet.
Newell Battery Grip BP-RP for Canon RP
To be able to use multiple batteries at the same time, and to keep the heat of the batteries away from the camera, I added this battery grip to the camera.
OM System BLX-1 Batteries
So far I have never run out of power, and a single battery has lasted me an entire night of shooting, but I always carry at least once spare. Call it a superstition.
Olympus BLS-5 / BLS-50 Batteries
Although a single battery can last you all day, it can never hurt to have a few spares. I use both Olympus branded and 3rd party batteries.
Canon LP-E17 Batteries
The batteries for the Canon RP do not last all night, so I have to use multiple batteries. I use both Canon branded and 3rd party batteries.
SOFTWARE
Adobe Lightroom
Clasic
I shoot in RAW format, so I need to touch up every single photo I use and Lightroom is amazing at it! The only downside it that it is on a subscription plan.
Adobe Photoshop
Sometimes you just need a little more editing power than Lightroom has to offer, and Photoshop is exactly the right program for the job! Also on a subscription plan.
Luminar 4 &
Luminar AI
Similar to Photoshop, but with a few unique features. A good thing about Luminar is that it’s just a one-time payment and no subscription.
Sequator
Very powerful star stacking software for Windows that will align and stack consecutive shots of stars to reduce noise and bring out faint stars. And it is free!
StarStaX
A free, very simple and easy to use piece of software that will let you stack images to create star trails.