Slijkhuis.org
Equipment
Being a technology geek, I like to study publications about lenses and (digital)
camera's. At this moment I have chosen to work with the following equipment:
I have a lot of other things in my bag. Critical accessories that can make a lot of difference:
- Some 2GB & 4GB SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash cards
- 3 Spare BP-511 battery packs for the Canon EOS 5D
- 8 Spare AA batteries for the Canon Speedlites
- 1 Spare CR2016 battery for the Canon EOS 5D
- Sekonic 18% gray card
- An antistatic cloth
- Lens cleaning fluid and cleaning tissues
- An Air Blower
People ask me often why I use primes (fixed focal length lenses) for the most of my work.
Here are some of my reasons:
- Prime lenses usually have larger apertures than zoom lenses. The advantages of a faster lens can't be minimized. They permit higher shutter speeds, better auto focus in low light, a brighter viewing image and extra depth-of-field control. Serious portrait photographers favor primes because they like large apertures to throw the background out of focus and make the subject "pop". Most zooms in the portrait range of 85mm to 135mm are too slow to get decent background blur. Moreover, a fast prime is usually significantly less expensive than a fast zoom.
- Prime lenses are often sharper (have better resolution) than zoom lenses. There is no free lunch! If you want the utmost in sharpness, don't buy a zoom lens. Why are primes sharper? The laws of optics says that when all other things being equal (which they often aren't) a wider aperture lens will be sharper than one with a smaller aperture (because of diffraction effects).
- Zooms lenses by necessity have more lens elements than primes. This makes them more difficult to design, increases the risk of various forms of optical aberration, and can reduce contrast and increase flare. Primes have simpler optical formulas and, hence, fewer lens elements. Fewer lens elements means less reflective surfaces to cause flare, ghosting and loss of light. Because designers are dealing with only one focal length, they can design the largest possible lens shade to block glare.
- Primes have less glass incorporated in the design, so they're small, lightweight and ideal for travel.
- I know pretty much exactly how my primes will render a scene at the apertures I commonly use. With a zoom lens, it would take much longer for me to learn what it will do at all the different focal lengths.
- The perspective of a single focal length is easier to remember and bond with than a zoom. If you keep it simple, you will soon begin pre-visualizing images in the perspective of your focal length. With a zoom, people spend too much time zooming back and forth trying to find a pleasing image.
With all that said, I think it takes a lot more experience to use a zoom than a prime. You have to find your photographic vision more quickly and have a lot of discipline in your zooming motion.
"All the technique in the world doesn't compensate for the inability to notice."
- Elliott Erwitt -
There is a little equipment junky inside me, that has some wishes for new photography stuff.
The following things are on the wish list:
Previously owned equipment:
Remember; the photographer makes the difference, not the equipment...
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Canon EOS 5D with
Canon EF 50/1.4 USM lens |
Canon Speedlite 550EX |
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| Sigma AF 20/1.8 EX DG RF Asf |
Canon EF 35/1.4L USM |
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| Canon EF 50/1.4 USM |
Canon EF 85/1.8 USM |
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| Canon EF 100/2.8 Macro USM |
Canon EF 70-200/2.8L IS USM |
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| Lowepro Photo Trekker Classic |
Lowepro Pro Mag 2 AW |
