On my old website I had a page dedicated to the camera gear I use and while it was frequently visited, I hardly maintained it. Mostly because gear changes SO much that the page simply became an enormous boring list of camera gear that one had to sift through. From now on I’ll just write an article every now and again if I come across anything interesting or if something significant changes about my kit.
That way it becomes more manageable for folks who like to read about gear and like to look at what others are using.
Without question the most significant change about my kit compared to last year. It’s no secret that I have a love – hate relationship with my previous bag. While it kept my gear safe, that was ALL it did. Meaning it was a pain in the butt to bring along anything but camera gear.
I’ve been eyeing the shimoda bags ever since they released the first explore series bags but couldn’t justify the investment. Nevertheless it stayed in my mind as “the perfect bag”, a wonderful piece of unobtainium that I kept seeing out and about on the backs of fellow photographers. Now I don’t want this to turn into an encomium for Shimoda bags, I’ll save that for the long term review, but so far the investment was more than worth it and I can honestly say I haven’t so much as looked at another bag since.
Handy pouch made once again by Shimoda Designs. Safely stores all my batteries and memory cards during a shoot. Fits on your belt, bag’s waist strap or just in your bag. Has an internal divider so it’s easy to see which batteries are charged and which are depleted.
Great little thing to travel with. Holds a few coins, my pen, business cards, shot lists and other misc items for which I no longer carry a wallet these days.
Small little travel pouch by, you guessed it, Shimoda Designs. Initially made for the pandemic as a means to easily carry clean masks. Also has an internal divider. I use it to carry a mask or two with me (you never know, in some places it’s still a requirement. And frankly after a few years of wearing them I just feel better when wearing one in a crowd.) as well as some band aids, medicine and personal items such as chapstick.
My main camera body and workhorse. Yes, it’s APS-C and no, I don’t really care. It produces absolutely lovely images and isn’t nearly as heavy as a full frame setup.
My only gripe with this camera is that I personally NEED to use it with an additional grip. Your mileage may vary on that depending on the state of your hands and their size. (I personally have psoriatic arthritis so the more comfortable my hands can be, the better.) That’s literally the only reason I’m considering switching to the X-H line-up by Fujifilm. But for my needs my X-T2 still performs admirably.
My first DSLR camera. I carry it around for backup purposes. Nothing more. Should the worst happen and my main camera break down then I can get by in a pinch. It would not be favorable but it’s better than nothing. It’ll probably get tossed out of my bag sooner than later as it’s basically been dead weight so far and I no longer really feel the need to bring a backup.
I’ll probably keep the X-T2 as a backup to whatever Fujifilm upgrade I get down the line.
The wonder that is mirrorless camera technology brings a few marvels with it. It’s easier than ever to adapt any lenses you already own to your current camera body. For this reason I carry around a cheap “dumb” Nikon to Fuji adapter. (The difference between smart and dumb adapters is the ability to autofocus as well as provide exif data. The biggest difference is the price tag. A “dumb” adapter costs roughly 20-25 USD whereas a good smart adapter will easily cost you ten times that.
The other adapter you see is a Fujifilm MCEX-11 and it basically turns every lens I have into a macro lens. It’s not -quite- as good as a dedicated macro lens but for someone who only takes the occasional macro shot it definitely gets the job done. I personally recommend slapping a 35MM lens on there for best results.
You can never have enough batteries. Always carry more than you think you’ll need. I also highly recommend getting a USB based charger like mine. Can highly recommend the Nitecore brand. Accurately displays battery levels, can charge two batteries at once and works over USB. What more do you need? My only gripe with it is that the cable is attached and gets a bit finicky to plug in at times.
Nitecore, if you come across this, please do something about that.
Little ball head and smartphone mount to mount my phone to my camera for some BTS footage. Also included is a battery bank 20k mAh as well as a DJI osmo mobile 4 gimbal. All for the same purpose, getting behind the scenes footage for social media promotion.
(I should probably start actually doing that.)
The first lens I’ve ever bought. Safe to say I didn’t break the bank with it, but in spite of that I’ve been getting surprising results from it. A good first prime lens. Other brands to start out with are 7 Artisans and TT Artisans. Make sure to read the descriptions very well though as a lot of these are manual focus only. (the yongnuo has autofocus when not adapted).
The so-called “kit lens” from Fujifilm. This lens is your basic 24-70 equivalent (or rather 27-82.5 if you want to get technical). This little lens has gone above and beyond for me, calling it a kit lens just doesn’t do it justice. IT’s tack sharp, has good autofocus as well as image stabilization. Well worth hanging onto even past upgrading. Doesn’t show any signs of focus breathing when filming either, making this an ideal video/vlog lens in my opinion.
This shoot was shot entirely with it: https://gertjanvanderkelen.be/express-yourself/
The latest addition to my kit. I absolutely love this lens and the way it renders images. It’s a 75mm equivalent which admittedly is a weird spot to be. It’s not quite 85mm but sheesh does this lens take beautiful portraits! Can’t say enough good things about it, I will however refrain for now and save it for the long term review.
This shoot was entirely shot with the 50 F/1.0 : https://gertjanvanderkelen.be/graffiti-vicky/
A camera strap. Just that. I went for the slide as I’m already invested in the peak design ecosystem with their clip. I have to admit it’s convenient to be able to take your strap on and off as easily and fast as you can with their system.
Not much to say about these, regular old sandisk extreme pro SD cards in a ThinkTank SD card wallet. Gets the job done. No more, no less.
These are a bit of an oddity. They’re yongnuo wireless flash triggers intended for use with Canon cameras. They are radio controlled and will work to remote trigger pretty much every camera out there so long as you’re using the correct cable. A convenient, cheap and easy solution to remote shutter your camera. Awesome to take self-portraits with.
Idea is courtesy of Ian Millar from Shimoda Designs who has mentioned and showed them in multiple video’s of his. (it’s definitely worth checking out his channel, especially the field trips/what’s in my bag videos!)
OnePlus Buds Z2. They’re not bad, but honestly not all that special either. The noise cancellation could definitely be better. Battery life is pretty good and they work with pretty much everything I have so there’s that.
Wouldn’t recommend these at full price, they’re a good alternative when they’re on sale at around 50 ish USD though.
Random HP Envy X360 laptop. Gotta be able to get work done on the road. This will do it, but I wouldn’t recommend long photo editing sessions on it. I use it mostly for culling, to occasionally tether to on location and do admin work.
Phone gimbal, fun to play around with and plenty to take some behind the scenes footage with. Your mileage may vary depending on your phone. Pro tip, if you’re using an iphone with the silicone case, take off the rubber pads from the mount. It’s a much better fit without them and all it does is add extra bulk if you’re already using a silicon case.
Do this only at your own risk.
That’s what’s generally speaking in my bag when I’m going out on a shoot. Keep in mind that what works for me might not necessarily work for you. Nevertheless I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you got some ideas out of it for your own kit.
This sure was a long one, if you’ve made it to the end of this then congratulations, you’re a champ.