Photographic Equipment
Site visitors regularly inquire about our photographic equipment.
List updated October 09, 2005.
Current Equipment:
- Canon EOS 20D with BG-E2 Battery Grip
- Canon EOS Digital Rebel with BG-E1 Battery Grip
- Canon Viewfinder Extension EP-EX15 (2 ea)
- Canon Angle Finder C
- Canon 28-135 IS USM zoom
- Canon 100-400 IS USM zoom
- Canon 2x Telextender
- Canon 12mm Extension Tube
- Canon 25mm Extension Tube
- Canon Speedlite 550EX
- LumiQuest Promax Midibouncer
- Better Beamer FX-2 modified to use the LumiQuest Velcro mount
- Neutral density filters (kept on lenses to protect the front lens elements)
- Circular Polarizing filter 77mm
- Celestron C-5 Terrestrial spotting scope with Canon EOS T-adapter
- Canon 10x30 IS binoculars (3 ea)
- "Other" binoculars for House, Cars, and Pelagic trips (4 ea)
- Manfrotto 475B tripod
- Manfrotto 3021BN tripod
- Manfrotto 3231 monopod
- Manfrotto 3160 Video Fluid (pan) Head
- Manfrotto quick-release plates on all cameras, scopes, and supports
- Canon remote shutter release with home-made extension
- IBM ThinkPad A22m Laptop with 40g HD
- 60g external HD for backup (2 ea)
- CardBus to CF-Card adaptors
- High-speed CF-Cards (1g (2ea), 256m (4 ea))
- Porter Case Elite PHPL Deluxe Divider Case
- Cycle Design Run-A-Long Lite (stroller) modifed to carry our equipment
- Domke PhoTogs photo vests (2 ea)
- Home-made "teepee" blind/hide
- Sabco Concealment Systems Standard Tracker (camouflage ghillie suit)
- Camo "flutter" cut into sheets to wrap around cameras and binoculars
Photo numbering:
- Photos taken with Canon EOS 20D are numbered beginning with "a"
- Photos taken with Canon EOS DigiReb are numbered beginning with "r"
- Photos taken with transparency film are numbered beginning with "t"
- Photos taken with negative film are numbered beginning with "n"
- Photo panoramas are numbered beginning with "p"
Digital "Film":
- Default for 20D: I set "digital" ISO to 400 and -1/3 exposure compensation
- Default for Digital Rebel: I set "digital" ISO to 200 and -1/3 exposure comp
- I adjust "digital" ISO from 100 to 800 as needed
- I use flash if needed setting flash exposure comp as needed
- I use Large-Fine jpg to shoot faster and get more files on CF-Card
- I experimented with RAW files but found no improvement for my needs
- I shoot hand-held, mostly at 400mm (20D/DigiReb = 640mm equivalent)
- Canon IS (Image Stabilization) lenses help minimize camera shake
Former Equipment (as in, "Before Digital"):
- Minolta SR-1 with 100mm telephoto
- Canon EF body (2 ea)
- Canon FD 55mm f2 (2 ea)
- Canon TL-b body
- Canon FT-b QL body
- Canon F-1 body
- Tokina 50-250 Zoom (2 ea)
- Canon T-70
- Tamron 500mm mirror lens
- Canon EOS 7e body (2 ea) with BP-300 Battery Grip (2 ea)
Film (as in, "Before Digital") in prefered order:
- Agfa RSX II 200 for "normal" shooting; never "pushed"
- Fuji Provia 400F for "fast" shooting; some "pushed" to 3200
- Agfa RSX II 100
- Fuji Provia 100F
- Kodak E100G
- Kodak Gold 100
