What are your top 5 pieces of equipment...

[LearnMyShot]

have a look at this and see if it's of interest
ttp://www.learnmyshot.com/ just trying be of some help

 

[Plato]

Camera
Lens
Sun

 

[maris]

1. Tachihara 8x10
2. Manfrotto tripod
3. Fujinon-W 300mm lens
4. Pentax spot meter
5. Enough film holders

 

[Formatted]

1. Canon D40
2. Canon 100mm f/2.8
3. D5000
4. 50mm f/1.4 AF-S
5. Mac Book Pro

 

[max3k]

What about

1. Breakfast
2. DSLR Camera
3. Lunch
4. Lenses/Tripod
5. Dinner

 

[Jeremy Z]

Hmm, I was hoping for fewer smartass responses and more well-thought-out responses. (i.e. no plural items when I specified 5 max.)

 

[usayit]

see sig.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Hmm, I was hoping for fewer smartass responses and more well-thought-out responses.

Not sure what you consider a smartass response since I see only one that would qualify for me and it would be hard to get fewer than that.

Top 5 ... Top 2 are my eyes and my brain although you're probably not asking about that. Next are the camera body and 2 lenses. I only have 3 pieces of equipment. Wish I had a macro lens.

Did most of my shooting years ago without a tripod, do own one but never used it much. Flash was only used for indoor shots, camera body has one in it today.

I would say:

1. My imagination
2. My eyes
3. My legs to get me where I want to take a photo
4. Camera (SLR+lens)
5. ND Filters, and lots of them

I absolutely agree with those two posts and I'm sorry to not see more posts that include the brain (encyclopedia of art and photo history, subconscious referral guide to the guidelines, imagination/creativity) and the eyes although I would have mentioned the singular eye myself, as in the vision.

My third one would be patience. Not of use in every type of photography, true, but in enough of them to be worth mentioning.

The rest of my list would go into pro gear and you're not interested so I will skip it.


I have said it before and I will repeat it here. Too many photographers obsess over the gear (and technical stuff) and forget about the much more important vision/creativity. There are plenty of great technical photographers out there but that is not the way to be interesting.

 

[table1349]

Hmm, I was hoping for fewer smartass responses and more well-thought-out responses. (i.e. no plural items when I specified 5 max.)

Ok, you want serious answers here is mine.

Football
1D MkIII
400mm f2.8
Gitzo monopod
Knee pads
Lots of water

Baseball
1D MkIII
300mm f2.8
Gitzo monopod
Knee pads

Basketball
1D MkIII
85mm f1.8
Sport strobe
Pocket Wizard
Floor seat

Track
1D MkIII
70-200mm f2.8
Gitzo monopod
Walkstool
Lots of water

Field
1D MkIII
400mm f2.8 (I don’t like being a shot put or javelin catcher)
Gitzo monopod
Walkstool
Kneepads

Soccer: See Football

Volleyball
1D MkIII
35mm f1.4
70-200 f2.8
Sport strobes
Pocket Wizard


Glamour
5D MkII
85mm f1.2
Broncolor moonlights
Softbox(s)
Seamless white paper background

Macro
40D
100mm f2/8 Macro lens
Macro Flash bracket
580EX x 2
Gitzo Monopod

Would you like me to go on? I can, as I have barely scratched the surface of the many different facets of photography I shoot. The problem is every form of photography I shoot has different favorites.

 

[usayit]

I tried and tried.... I can't think of 5 things that would do everything I like and keep me satisfied. It depends on what, when, how heavy, digital versus film, the phase of the moon.. etc.. Photography has long sense become primarily for enjoyment. As such, I'll deem something to be more important than another simply because I feel like it. I'm kinda like Gryph in that I think of "kits"... many of which are in separate bags waiting at the door.

---
Pocket
------
LX3 (sometimes TZ5)
CS-2

---
Zoom
-----
1dMII (film > 1vHS)
24-105L
100-400L
550EX
Traveler monopod

---
Low light zoom
-----
1dMII (film > 1vHS)
Tamron 35-135 f/2.8
50mm f/1.4
Tripod

---
MF+
----
Pentax 645
Pentax 645 45mm f/2.8
Pentax 645 75mm f/2.8
Pentax 645 150mm f/3.5
Tripod

---
Macro
-----
Samsung GX-1L (Film > Pentax LX)
Tamron 90mm f/2.5
Tamron 1:1 adapter
Vivitar ring flash
Tripod + focus rails


---
Rangefinder 1
-----
M8 (Film > M6)
35mm Summarit
75mm Summarit
12mm Heliar

---
Rangefinder 2
---
Rd1
M8 (Film > M6)
35mm Nokton
50mm Noctilux
Traveler Monopod

---
Rangefinder 3
----
M8
Rd1
24mm Elmarit
50mm Summarit
90mm Summarit

Hell.. sometimes I just want to shoot with old stuff

---
Vintage Rangfinder
----
M3
35mm Summaron f/3.5
50mm Summicron f/2
90mm Elmar f/4
135 Hektor


I can go on and on.... Asahiflex, Pentax Screwmount, Pentax K1000 + 2 lenses...etc...

Hell.. I've even started carrying replacing the RD1 with the G1+adapter to get "telephoto-ish" FOV out of the same lenses.


In the end.. none of the above is as important as the two in my sig...

 

[Jeremy Z]

My point was to pick one set of 5 major pieces to cover all your shooting. I think we usually have more than we need, and are spoiled by it. We end up focusing too much on equipment and not enough on the shot. We feel like we need a certain piece of super-expensive gear.

The eyes & brain response is not what I was looking for, because one cannot make a photograph with that alone. It is assumed that that is the starting point

The idea was to probe a bit and get ideas for a minimalist kit that can do everything. Maybe not ideally, because many of us don't have thousands of dollars for a cabinet full of f/2.8 telephotos anyway. For instance, wouldn't a good 200-400 telephoto get the job done for an amateur? Of course a 400 2.8 would be better, but this just isn't realistic for 90+% of us.

 

[Jeremy Z]

...for your kind of photography. Hobby stuff, not pro.

Assume you have all the incidentals like batteries, camera bag, memory cards, and a pocket tripod.

1) SLR body (I like Pentax, w/ body integral anti-shake)
2) Wide/normal/short tele zoom lens (18-55 kit lens is fine)
3) Bounce flash (top-of-the-line from Pentax)
4) Compact, high-end point & shoot camera (I like my Canon S90)
5) Telephoto zoom lens. Something in the 55-200 range.

This is just for fun, to see how different peoples' choices pan out.

Looking again at the original question, I did specify hobby-grade. (mostly thinking about price)

Here's what I was thinking with my kit:

- The SLR body and kit lens or even a pro-grade all-around zoom for those who find the kit lens a limiting factor. This can do portraits, landscapes, candids, close action outdoors, architecture. I thought a lot of the portrait people would add a 50mm f/1.4 as a portrait lens.

- Telephoto zoom: sports, candids, wildlife

- Bounce flash: indoor people pictures, esp. candids. Weddings.

- Compact camera: vacation pix. Always with me and can do 90% of what I want to do. I'm on vacation with one now, and you might be surprised at what can be accomplished with such a camera.

 

[Dao]

Even for hobby, it varies for me.

If I bring my camera to work and walk around down town during lunch break, I will just one body(most likely the Rebel instead of 40D), standard zoom and a prime inside a small bag

If I go to the birthday party, zoo, a trip, hiking, with family or by myself ... I will bring different gears and use a smallest bag that will fit them.

 

[usayit]

My point was to pick one set of 5 major pieces to cover all your shooting.

Here's my problem. I can't think of a single bag of items that would cover all my shooting. For example, my first inclination is rangefinder. It is next to impossible to shoot anything beyond a medium telephoto nor can you shoot Macro with it.

I think we usually have more than we need, and are spoiled by it. We end up focusing too much on equipment and not enough on the shot. We feel like we need a certain piece of super-expensive gear.

Do you mean "have" as "own" or do you mean "carry" at any point in time?

If you mean carry.. I know exactly what you mean!! You might recall that at one time, owned a significant amount of high end Canon equipment but I too realized that I was being distracted and my back hurt. I sold almost all of it and refused to do that again unless it was for a paycheck. In general, it is my point never to carry more than a small shoulder bag that I would feel comfortable with all the time. not just for shooting.. at the mall, dinner, visit friends/family.. etc.. I don't even carry 5 things in that bag...


Rather than being broad with the term "Top" or "Best" perhaps a better approach would be to give a specific scenario. Like this:

"If you were going on a long (months) backpack excursion through Europe, what 5 photo gears would you bring?"

In my case,

M8
12mm Heliar
35mm Summarit
75mm Summarit
Gitzo Traveler Monopod

All of that (except monopod) would fit in a bag the size of a small purse/satchel. Easy, fits, lightweight, simple... Leaving most of the room for essentials like cloths and shoes.

[EDIT]
Now I think about it, I'd probably consider leaving the M8 at home for the M6. No fuss with batteries/charging/media cards.. etc.. The M6 is completely mechanical so its not useless if the battery dies. Oh and that 12mm looks stunning on a full 35mm frame.

 

[table1349]

My point was to pick one set of 5 major pieces to cover all your shooting.

Here's my problem. I can't think of a single bag of items that would cover all my shooting. For example, my first inclination is rangefinder. It is next to impossible to shoot anything beyond a medium telephoto nor can you shoot Macro with it.

Exactly. I didn't buy SLR's to be locked into one setup like with a P&S. That is why there is the wide range of gear that there is. The simple fact is, my 5 favorite pieces of gear are the 5 that I own that gets the shot. That's really what it is all about, getting the shot and there are no 5 pieces of gear that will cover all of my shooting.