What Gear is Currently In My Bags?

I'm often asked the question, "What gear do you carry in your camera bag?"  To update everyone, I have two different bags of gear for two different types of photography.  I have a full frame digital SLR gear bag and a M4/3 gear bag.  Here's how I utilize them.

When I am photographing locally or when on the road but in my own vehicle, I almost always take the Nikon gear.  The quality and versatility of the D800E, to me, is unsurpassed for the kind of work I do.  Full frame digital SLRs are larger, heavier and bulkier than smaller formats, but when working out of a vehicle, that is not necessarily an issue.  The lenses are also large, but there are an extraordinary number of lens choices available for any type of photography you may wish to do.  Additionally, the accessories available for traditional digital SLRs is unsurpassed at this point.

There are benefits in taking my D800E instead of a smaller format.  I used to have to make at least 3 images, of varying exposures, to capture a very high contrast subject.  With the D800E and its sensor, which has an extraordinary amount of dynamic range, I now only make a single exposure.  You can pull an incredible amount of detail from the shadows and highlights.  If I want the "HDR effect" of tonal compression, I can still do that with one exposure, but it is more efficient to take three or more.

The camera also does a yeoman's job at tracking moving objects and keeping them in focus.  I find the focusing system to be very accurate and I have calibrated all of my lenses to this camera body.  The viewfinder is bright and shows 100% of the scene.  Live view works well for tripod work.  I find 4 fps fast enough for the photography I do.  As for image quality, it is really hard to beat that 36mp sensor for resolution, contrast, saturation and color.  Thirty-six megapixels even allows me more versatility to crop closely if I can't get close enough with my longest lens.  After cropping, you still have more pixels than most other cameras available.

To compliment the camera, I have a number of Nikkor lenses which provide me with very sharp, highly resolved, low distortion, contrasty images with good color reproduction.

For the past few years, I have been trying to downsize and consolidate gear so I have constructed a kit that serves my wandering and traveling purposes well without having the biggest, fastest lenses out there, while still maintatining excellent image quality.  Smaller, lighter, less expensive is better, in my book (and age!).

Here is what is in my larger gear bag.  This is a great bag if you have to work out of a bag, which is exactly why Domke developed it as one for photojournalists.  As you can see, this bag holds a lot more than you would expect.

Domke F2 tan canvas bag I bought from Jim Domke about 1978 or so.  Still my favorite bag.
Nikon D800E body with Blackrapid R Strap
Nikon 16-35mm f/4 G AF-S VR lens
Nikon 24-120mm f/4 G AF-S VR lens ( I recently sold my 24-70 f/2.8 to increase versatility with a single lens)
Nikon 70-200mm f/4 G AF-S VR lens ( I recently sold my 70-200 VRII to downsize)
Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G AF-S lens
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Di SP VC Macro lens  (not carried every time but when macro work is anticipated) (this lens is extraordinarily sharp and the images show it!)
Nikon TC14III 1.4 tele-converter  (gives me 280mm on the long end when needed)
Nikon SB800 with remote cord, extra rechargeable batteries and charger
3 extra Nikon batteries and charger
Circular polarizing filters
Variable ND filters
RRS L-Bracket and two hex keys
About 100gb in memory cards in a Think Tank Photo case
3 in 1 card reader and USB cord
Electronic remote release
Passport Colorchecker
Lens cloths and blower
Sensor Cleaner
Protein bars (in bag or in my pocket; being hungry while trying to photograph can be distracting)
Large plastic Zip Lock® bag, big enough to put my entire camera bag in for cold/warm/moisture control
Also, I normally take:
Induro 410 carbon fiber tripod with an RRS 55 head or a Gitzo carbon fiber monopod, again, depending

If I decide to carry a backup body, it will be a M4/3 with one lens, but I have never had a camera fail on me in 44 years of photography.  So, I don't worry too much about it. The odds are with me or maybe against me, but as I said, I'm not too worried.

My other kit is my M4/3 kit, which I choose if I am traveling by airplane or train and need to keep bulk and weight down to a minimum.  I keep this kit in my car along with a tripod to be handy for my daily travels.  I also use it if I am just going out wandering with no particular photographic intent.  The small, lightweight and high quality aspect of the kit is conducive to travel.

For a long time I looked for a bag that was small, lightweight, had a zipper on top. I wanted a bag that really didn't look like a bag in which I camera would reside.  I was tired of trying to hold the top flap on messenger type bags out of the way while retrieving gear so the zipper was an important component.  I can carry this all day without any stress on my back or shoulder.  It was also very inexpensive.

Ape Case Envoy Standard Messenger Camera bag in blue (most camera cases are black)
Olympus E-M1 with Peak Design strap, wrist strap and belt plate.
Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 lens
Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens
Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (for use longer lengths than 40mm and until the lens below is available)
*Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens (which will take the place of the Panasonic 14-140)
Olympus FR-300 flash with extra AA batteries
Circular Polarizer filter
Variable ND filter
Remote release
Arca Swiss style plate with 2 hex keys
Passport Colorchecker
3 extra batteries and battery charger
Lens cloths and blower
Sensor Cleaner
Protein bars
Large plastic Zip Lock® bag, big enough to put my entire camera bag in for cold/warm/moisture control
I also carry:
Gitzo Traveler carbon fiber tripod with a Markins head  or a Gitzo carbon fiber monopod, depending; both will fit in my suitcase for checked baggage.

*waiting for its release to complete this kit

If I carry a backup body for this kit, it is the Canon S90 that I use on occasion.  But, as I mentioned above, I have never had a camera fail me.  I've owned almost 50 different cameras during my photographic lifetime.  (If I take the E-M1 as a backup when traveling with my Nikon, I will only take the 14-140 lens)

For this travel kit, most things fit in the Ape Case.  I have a small, second Eagle Creek nylon shoulder bag that holds the accessories and I pack that in my checked baggage.  When traveling by rental car, that stays in the car while out photographing.

In addition to what I have listed, when I travel more than one day, I carry a Kata backpack with a 16" laptop loaded with Photoshop and Lightroom as well as two 500gb USB 3.0 bus powered external hard drives which serve as backups for my images.  The Kata also holds a lot of my normal travel stuff also.

These setups work well for me.  It took a while to settle on something that just "works."  I hope you can find everything you need to work just right for you in whatever type of photography you practice.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


All content on this blog is © 2014 Dennis A. Mook.  All Rights Reserved.  Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution.  Permission may be granted for commercial use.  Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.