What's in the bag - Volume 2

To kick off this series of camera gear posts, I will state that I sort of “fell” into being a Nikon loyalist. I am familiar with it's functions, button placement, areas of excellence and have remained in the Nikon camp due largely to the fact that the investment in lenses is so significant that I can't rationalize switching. So this will not ever be about Nikon vs. Canon. I use Nikon and that's why I'm featuring all the products that I am.

So for starters, I am currently shooting with a Nikon D800. I started out with a Fuji S2 which is a dinosaur by current standards. In its day, it was the Ferarri of cameras and cost a fortune when it was new. I came to own mine when a fellow photographer was unloading old gear and I was in the market for an SLR (Single Reflex Lens) camera. It was a great deal, came with a couple of lenses and it was all downhill from there.

For the past two-ish years, I've been faithfully using my Nikon D700 but after our house fire in March of last year, I lost my backup cameras so replaced them with the D800. It has a super fast recording speed, the sensor makes me very happy when dealing with super-fine detail on extra large prints and the bonus (which currently remains unused) is the video function. Full HD, lots of versatile uses for that function but I need to spend a little quality time with my manual to get a grasp on that one.

This camera is pretty hardcore and requires a faster CF card than I was using with my D700. At first, I thought my new camera was broken or had a faulty shutter button when it crapped out during a shoot. I picked up a new, faster card and we were cookin' with gas! (PS- always have a backup camera body if shooting for-hire. I called my D700 back into action in this situation! Never know when you're gonna need it!)

A little tech talk about this body – it has a full-frame sensor which means the sensor is roughly 24x36mm (similar to a 35mm camera from the film days) and doesn't crop what the lens sees. A non full-frame sensor will crop by 1.5, thereby reducing the amount of image that fits into your frame and affecting how your lens sees. For a good explanation of crop factors, see this article.

I've used this new camera on less than 30 sessions but despite being a smidge heavier than the D700, I quite like it. Can't wait to get it out of the studio once the weather improves and start to ROCK the outdoor scenes.

What do you shoot with? Are you using a point & shoot or are you using an SLR? If you shoot with an SLR, are you on “P” or A or are you brave and adventurous shooting in full manual? Tell me what you shoot on and why!!

See you soon

Vanessa