The Gear I Use.

I think it is safe to say that I do not have the best equipment in the world, and yet, I manage to get images which I think can be broadly described as "usable". This is because camera technology has come on so far that people are getting great photos on even budget solutions. As for the stuff I use it isn't going to get anyone excited but will hopefully show what you can do with a comparatively small budget and I will also tell you what I think of each piece of equipment.

So first up the body, I have a Canon 100D, I love it because it is tiny. Chase Jarvis once famously said "the best camera is the one you have with you" and when your camera is as small as a 100D it is easy to take around with you. It has relatively poor low light performance, a decent 18 megapixel aps-c sensor and a measly 4 frames per second burst mode with a buffer of only 7 photos. Overall not a particularly impressive set of statistics but the size was really useful for getting a cheaper underwater housing. The images you get out of it are ok, they don't have the dynamic range of a better camera, they aren't as detailed as other cameras and they're noisy compared to newer cameras but it gets the job done.

Lenses. I have 5 lenses for different occasions. First up the 10-18mm F4.5-5.6 EFS IS STM lens. I use this for wide angle landscapes and underwater photography as it is great at emphasizing the foreground subject and showing it in the surrounding environment. It is sharp and the front element doesn't turn when focusing which is very useful for using a polariser or graduated filter. Next there is the 24mm F2.8 EFS STM which is a nice middle ground lens, it isn't so wide that you get distortion but isn't so tight that you get no context for your subject. The wide aperture means you can get nicely blurred backgrounds and makes it ideal for astrophotography. This lens is a pancake lens so is really small and is what I use when I am travelling light. This is also probably the sharpest lens I own. Then there is the 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 EFS IS STM kit lens. Not really a huge amount to say about this the 18-55mm zoom range is useful and the images you get from it are relatively sharp. It has a relatively small aperture and is cheaply made although is very good value for money. The 60mm F2.8 EFS USM macro is a lens i only recently got and I love it, when I used Nikon I had a 105mm F2.8 sigma lens which was great and had a bit more reach than the 60mm which was useful when photographing moving subjects like insects. The 60mm is very sharp though and very solidly built and has enabled me to get some stunning shots of flowers. My only complaint is that in even slightly low light it has a tendency to focus hunt which can get really annoying. My last lens is the 55-250mm F4-5,6 EFS IS STM lens which on a cropped sensor is equivalent to about 70-400mm which makes it a great telephoto lens for shooting wildlife,. The auto focus is fast and accurate and the image quality for such a cheap telephoto is amazing.

I recently got a load of Cokin filters, 1,2,3 and 10 stop ND filters 1,2 and 3 stop graduated filters and a polarising filter, all in the Cokin P size which is great if slightly small for the 10-18mm. I particularly enjoy using the 10 stop filter as it allows for really long exposure which gives pictures of waves an ethereal look that would otherwise be missing. I have found very few problems with the Cokin filters but with my planned move to a full frame camera I hope to get a set of Lee 100mm filters.

A tripod is probably one of the most important parts of any landscape photographers arsenal and so I did the logical thing and bought a cheap one from a brand I had never heard of off Amazon. It works great but for ease of use make sure when you get a tripod you get one with a ball head. Also snap legs make setting up the tripod much quicker. Finally I wanted a tripod that could turn upside down for macro photos which mine can. I paid about £50 for mine so that is a good ball park.

Finally for my underwater work I use an Ikelite housing for my 100D and I haven't had any problems with it the dome port it came with works with my 10-18mm and my 18-55mm and I also got a port for my 60mm macro. Underwater you need light so I got an Ikelite strobe as well, the DS160, it is great too except for one small problem where it fires in sync at all powers except full power and i have no idea why.

So that's all my kit really, other little things i recommend include: a remote trigger preferably with an intervalometer built in, a lens cleaning kit, a spare battery, a good sized bag, a spare SD card, a hot shoe spirit level and some sort of rain cover for the camera.