i have a confession to make. i’m an addict.
i’ve become addicted to the hunt for new gear. lately, i feel like i am constantly scrolling through the used section on adorama’s website. searching for some great unpassable deal on the next piece of kit that’s going to take my photo game to the next level.
i say it’s an addiction because no matter how much i acquire, it’s never enough. there’s always one more thing i need to complete the cycle and end the search.
the latest round of acquisition was initiated when i tragically dropped my camera while on the summit of mount monandnack in new hampshire, breaking my Canon 24-105mm f/4 image-stabilized lens in two and putting an end to a six-year run of photography that almost exclusively relied on that amazing piece of glass.
at the time, i had been eyeing new lenses to expand my kit as my wife and i became more and more committed to our traveling lifestyle, and i saw the halving of my lens as a metaphor for what i needed to do: split the difference, and expand my range outward in both directions. 24mm was no longer wide enough, and 105mm not nearly long enough to quench my thirst for new compositions. and so it was, that i dove unwittingly into the world of online reviews.
until that point, i had no idea how many channels and blogs and review sites existed. i also didn’t know how far cameras and lenses had evolved in the six years since i last seriously looked into purchasing new equipment in earnest. so instead of what would’ve formerly been a choice between quality canon glass and cheap third-party knockoffs became a true search for the specific set of parameters that define my own personal perfect kit.
after countless hours of poring over and weighing the highly nuanced and extremely technical pros and cons of dozens of lenses, i came to realize that the characteristics that i most highly prize are image quality (duh), portability, and value for money. in the end, i opted to buy:
a tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4 variable aperture lens. its image quality is absolutely superb, it weighs just over one pound, and it cost less than $700 - by far lighter and cheaper than any other worthy ultrawide with autofocus on the market,
a canon 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, which replaces the 50mm f/1.8 ii lens and comes with two added aperture blades for smoother background blur as well as a quieter autofocus motor and a more professional finish (to be completely honest, i probably would’ve been just fine sticking with my old 50mm ii lens, but i didn’t want customers to have reasons to doubt my kit), and
a tamron 70-210mm f/4 telephoto lens, which is among the lightest and cheapest in its category, and produces top-quality images, performing well even in low-light conditions despite its lack of f/2.8 aperture.
that’s where it should’ve ended.
but something happened along the way, and i became like adam in the garden, suddenly aware of my nakedness. i couldn’t seem to stop the train of thought that kept carrying me back to youtube and the camera store, where i was inundated with shiny new things. and i coveted.
my wife and i made a deal before i started buying up new lenses. i was allowed to purchase new equipment so long as i earned enough money to fully offset the cost through photography work. so i started to shop for gigs, and quickly realized there is a huge market for portraiture in nyc. to get into that game, though, i needed to get a softbox kit, a second flash, light stands, a flash meter and a reflector. so i obviously wasn’t done spending. part of me was anxious, but another part of me was excited by the prospect of a new genre of reviews and tutorials to dive in to, and the devil on my shoulder was very pleased.
luckily, a portable portrait setup can be acquired for pretty cheap on amazon or from camera stores like adorama, but it all adds up, and the tally on the ledger continued to rise.
shortly after acquiring my lenses and lighting equipment, i was hired to photograph an infant baptism, and i came to realize - the hard way - that having three lenses instead of just one versatile lens like the 24-105mm came with its own unique challenge: i needed to be able to access all of those lenses and slap them onto my camera body quickly during event photography in order for them to be useful. so i had another choice to make. should i acquire a second camera body so that i have quick access to my long and wide lenses simultaneously, or should i find some cheaper solution that doesn’t require another $1-2k investment? i definitely couldn’t afford another camera, so the research began anew.
that’s when i came across a camera system that i wish i would’ve known about all along, one that could’ve saved me from ever breaking my lens in the first place. in case you’ve never heard of it, the peak design system comprises a combination of several different items that work together to provide seamless integration of the photography workflow.
the capture clip can be used to mount a dslr/mirrorless, action camera or two spare lenses (depending on which attachment is applied) to either a belt or backpack strap so that they are readily accessible, drastically reducing the time it takes to move from the stored to the active state. the leash l-2 (first generation) camera strap uses tabs that remain on the camera body to allow for quick attachment to and detachment from the strap, which can remain wrapped around the photographer’s body whether or not the camera is connected. meanwhile, the photographer can leave an arca swiss compatible plate attached to the camera at all times to attach it to either a tripod or the capture clip.
the reason i dropped my camera in the first place was that i was so used to letting it hang on my black rapid strap. i was walking to my gear pile after shooting a long exposure, and forgot it wasn’t on strap (the black rapid screws into the bottom of the camera and therefore is not compatible with tripod plates). if i was using peak design gear at the time, i could have saved a crap ton of money and avoided this whole spiral of acquisition in the first place.
wow, this post turned into an endorsement real quick, didn’t it? apparently i’ve been watching way too many product reviews lately. let’s get back on topic.
so yeah, i’ve bought a lot of shit in the last couple of months. including a couple of things i haven’t even talked about yet. a high-speed compact flash card to use in tandem with sd cards to ensure that i have built in redundancy of storage to avoid catastrophic loss of images for paying customers. a used set of kenko macro extension tubes that turn all of my lenses into macro lenses for detailed product photos and photos that make minute details larger than life. and probably some other crap that i am forgetting to mention.
so i told you at the beginning that this is a confession. i’m not confessing about how much i’ve spent, though. i don’t feel the least bit bad about it, because every piece of equipment has been used for steady, paid work over the last few weeks. and the customers have been very satisfied with the results, so i can confidently say that i made good purchasing choices, no regrets.
this confession is to say one thing: