Brands

Below is a list of brand that I use. I have tried other brands and marks of stabilisation, filtering etc but these are the brands that I have settled on.

Most photographers out there, when you ask what brand they use, will say Canon or Nikon and to be honest these manufacturers do advertise very well and new sales are then picked up on what names they know or think they know as a professional camera brand but there are more!

I've been a Pentax shooter for many years now and have no will to be changing brand any time soon. They offer value for money and packed with features that you may not get with other brands at that price point, such as weather proofed bodies and lenses and pixel shift!

I've been a fan of Benro for quite some time now. and I now own 2 sets of legs and 2 heads from them. These cover a range of max and minimum shooting heights as well as speed or fine tuning heads.

Benro gear is built to last, their legs are multiple layered carbon fibre with magnesium alloy castings so are extremely sturdy and durable.

These filters are extremely good! No colour casts and very reasonably priced. Plus they're a Welsh company so even better for me! The Firecrest filter holder comes supplied with a circular polariser and sits at the back of the holder away from damage, a well thought out design that protects it. Formatt Hitech have a range of filters to suit every budget but I’d recommend their Firecrest range. Check out their official Facebook page as well as the users page for occasional discounts on their filters and holders.

They call it a photographers dream and it certainly is! Irix make some amazing lenses and in Pentax mount! The lens I use from them is the 15mm Firefly. Having a 15mm field of view lens that can take 100mm filters is pretty remarkable as it saves buying a whole new filter set as most ultra wide angle lenses need 150mm filters that cost a lot more and mean you either need 2 filter sizes when out in the field or upgrade everything to 150mm size! This lens is weather proofed, has an anti slip focus ring, can focus past infinity with an infinity click on the focus ring and can have the focus position locked which is great for night shooting when you can't see much!

What’s in my bag?

Here is a full list of everything that is in my camera bag. I’ll start with the immediate gear that I use generally all the time and then list supplementary lenses I own as well as other useful gear. NONE of my gear has been given to me by a brand but bought by myself so there are no paid brand affinities.

Camera Bag

F-Stop Tilopa - I’ve had many a camera bag, too many my wife would tell you so I’m pretty well versed in the brands, comfort and what you can get in them. This bag after trying many is the best camera bag I have ever owned. Comfy over long walks and with my full frame camera, lenses, tripod and other accessories, I barely feel the weight.

Camera

Pentax K1 Mk1 - I love this camera! The first "full frame" DSLR camera from Pentax now superseded by a Mk2 offering and it's such a workhorse. I choose to use this camera as with it's 36.4 mega pixel full frame sensor, weather proofing, five-axis image stabilisation, pixel shift technology, WiFi, built in GPS with astrotracer and smart flexible tilt screen it offers everything I could possible need.

Mamiya 645m 1000S - This is my medium format film camera that I love using. Fully manual, not even a meter and being 645 film only gives you 15 exposures per roll so it makes you slow down and appreciate the imagery you’re making. Built like a tank!

Pentax K3ii - This camera is my back up camera and the camera I use on the street when conditions get tough, as like the K1 Mk1, it’s weatherproofed. Being a crop sensor its smaller and lighter than the K1

Fuji XT20 - This camera is my everyday camera. Small and discreet and mirrorless with a high burst rate that comes in handy with street photography.

Pentax Z-1P - Love this camera. Pro quality 35mm film camera that has every possible feature you could ask for and then some!

Zorki 4K - My fake Leica! Built like a tank, weightly and heavy and a camera that makes you feel shooting in the same era as Cartier-Bresson or Doisneau.

Lenses

Rather than list each lens and it’s merit, I’ll just list them below. The first 3 lenses are my ‘holy trinity’ of lenses that are all ‘all weather’ and waterproofed.

Digital lenses

Pentax D FA 24-70mm f2.8

Pentax DA* 60-250mm f4 (modified for full frame)

Irix Firefly 15mm f2.4 (Pentax)

Pentax FA 35mm f2

Tamron 90mm f2.8 Macro (Pentax)

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS HSM (Pentax)

18-55mm R LM OIS (Fujinon)

Film lenses

Mamiya 80mm f2.8

Mamiya 210mm f4

Pentax FA 28-70mm f4

Jupiter-8 50mm f2

Stabilisation

Benro C4570F legs

Benro TMA38CL legs

Benro GD3WH geared head

Benro B5 ball head

Benro B3 ball head

Vlogging

Insta360 One R 4k action camera

DJI Pocket

Rode Wireless Go microphones

Boya BY-MM1 shotgun microphone

Accessories

Kase K9 filter holder

Formatt Hitech Firecrest filters

Benro Masters 10 stop big stopper

Zoom H1 audio recorder

Editing

Adobe Photoshop CC

Adobe Lightroom CC