So while im working away on some things that I can only post about in the coming weeks, I figured I might nerd out a bit with a gear post going over what’s in my bag. I’ve done some minor upgrades and expanded my kit a bit more so I can shoot a wider range of content. I think my kit is in a good place to share with you what I currently am working with and provide some small insights into my choices.
Photography with Fujifilm
So I was a Canon guy. Back in the day I had built up quite a setup as well. However when I started working for Media Design School, I had access to all the equipment I wanted that I noted I no longer needed to own any kit, and sold off my kit.
When I came to Canada, DNEG provided similar gear access, but it wasn’t as easy, and certainly any need for a camera had to be planned. It was time to get started on a new setup. What I was looking for was:
- Portability
- Great Manual Photography Experience
- Great Sensor
- Great Lenses
Fujifilm delivers on all of the above. Offering a crop sensor ecosystem that compares in quality to full-frame systems, I was able to start building out a very nice kit, starting with an X-T3. It has a classic camera styling that I love, physical controls for all exposure settings and is very well built.
In terms of lenses, Fujifilm is known for creating world-class optics, with most offerings being top tier. I was also quite happy with many of the 3rd-party offerings available. All Fuji X-mount lenses are very modestly sized due to only needing to provide crop sensor coverage (a drawback with using larger sensor systems).
As of today, here is what I currently have in my bag!
Photographic Camera Gear Summary
Fujifilm X-T3 – Highly capable, weatherproof camera body. Added a grip to improve handling.
Peak Design Camera Clip – Allows me to attach my camera to my bag shoulder strap.
Fujifilm 14mm – Top-tier prime lens that is the perfect tool for capturing wide-angle landscapes.
Fujifilm 18-55mm – This is no ordinary kit lens! This is a very high-quality walkabout lens.
Fujifilm 70-300mm – Recently swapped out from a 55-200mm. Great for landscapes and the odd wildlife shot.
Rokinon 12mm – Fast @ f/2, the extra width and speed are great for low-light dynamic shots, like starry skies.
Mitakon 35mm – Legendary speed @ f/0.95. Like an f/1.2 on full-frame. Negates the loss of shallow DoF.
TTArtisan 40mm Macro – Always nice to be able to photography something tiny. It’s a whole new world up close.
CPL Filters – Cuts reflections and enriches colors in a way that no post work can reproduce.
ND1000 Filter – Long exposures even in the middle of the day.
ND8 Filter – Provides some light control while letting you staying in the lens aperture sweet spot.
Ulanzi & Coman Zero Y Tripod – My favorite thing in a long time. Only 1kg and amazing quality. Love it!!
Aerial Filming with DJI
So if you’ve read my Backstory, you’ll know that getting up into the sky has become a part of what I like to do. You’ll also know that I don’t use super high-end pro gear (yet 😉 with a setup that is deceptively simple for the quality I’m able to achieve with it. Here’s what I got.
Aerial Gear Summary
DJI Mini Pro 4 Drone – Sub 250 gram drone that is feature-rich and produces great video and photos.
RC2 Controller – Great controller with a 1080p screen and touch control. The hood lets me keep the sticks in.
3 Batteries + Charging Dock – Enough for up to hour of real world flight, which is a lot of footage.
DJI Wide-Angle Lens – Widens my FOV to 14mm (@ 35mm equivalent).
UV Filter – Protective and improves hazing while maintaining complete light transmission.
ND Filters – Since the lens has a fixed aperture, these allow exposure control without using shutter speed or ISO.
64GB High-Speed MicroSD Cards – Perfect size for how much I shoot, with a spare in case I’m not able to wrangle media between flights.
Storage Gear Summary
SO how does one carry all this? Until recently, I had separate slings for my Fuji and DJI gear. They a very nice and I’ll continue to make use of them when kit size needs to be minimized.
The issue was, the lens upgrades messed with my ability to carry everything at this point. This can open the door to a situation where you just don’t have the right lens with you, when you need it most.
So to address this, I managed to source a backpack that holds everything easily, yet is still on the smaller side @ 25L.
K&F Concept Camera Backpack 25L – Fits everything I own, is rainproof and support laptop storage too!
Wrap up!
So there you go – a quick look at the gear used behind the images I create. Since that’s typically never shown, I hope for an aspiring photographer (or just a gear nerd like me), it’s of some interest. My kit maximizes functionality, quality, and creative freedom, all without breaking the bank and veering into the land of crazy diminishing returns.
Disclaimer: This stuff still adds up $$$ and is not for the faint of heart, but it could be a lot worse.
I’m thinking over time, I’ll go into more detail about some of the more interesting items in this kit, highlighting and providing examples of their use and sharing why I own them. Let me know if there’s anything you’d be particularly curious about, and I’ll put that at the top of the list to do first!
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