Below is a list detailing my camera equipment. My kit is constantly changing and forever growing, so I do try to keep this list updated as much as possible. The current list is up to date as of December 2021.
What brand do I mainly shoot with?
I mainly use Nikon DSLR’s. Sometimes I get asked, “Why Nikon and not Canon?” and honestly, it was down to value for money and a limited budget. Back when I was buying my first DSLR, I did own a Canon SLR but Nikon had some good deals on. So, Nikon, it is and they have done me well.
My DSLR Cameras: Nikon D7200 and D7000
I shoot using two Nikon camera’s, a Nikon D7200 for my main body and a Nikon D7000 as a backup. My Nikon D7200 was a nice upgrade over the D7000, offering me a much faster buffer, auto-focus in live view, better low-light capabilities, improved autofocus etc. The D7000, although a few generations older now, is still a great camera and offers some good performance. It has worked well as a backup camera when my D7200 wasn’t playing ball. Both of these cameras are great for travel and landscape photography. But due to their limited FPS (Frames per second), they have limited capabilities for wildlife.
My lenses:
Nikon 300mm f4 + Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II
Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 AT-X116 DX II The DX II version can auto-focus on entry-level cameras such as the Nikon D3000 and D5000 series.
My Accessories
Lighting
Nikon SB-700 Speed Light Flash
Bowens Gemini 500/500 Studio Lights
Tripods
Manfrotto 055CXPRO4 Carbon Fibre Tripod Good reliable tripod that has lasted me a few years. Not too expensive, yet still offers stability.
Sirui T-005K Travel Tripod I use this for travelling when I have limited space/no checked bag. It folds down to 30cm and is super lightweight. Although not as stable as the Manfrotto.
Andoer BK-45 Gimbal Tripod Head My wildlife tripod head, £400 cheaper than the Wimberly one. Not as smooth as Wimberly but a good value alternative.
Manfrotto Compact Ball Head An all round reasonably priced compact ball head.
Filters
LEE Filters 100mm System Foundation Holder + Lee filter ring adapters The best filter adapter kit I’ve used. Expensive, but worth it to ensure you have a reliable sturdy filter holder that doesn’t end up falling off your lens. Using cheap filter holder’s can end up expensive when your filter falls off the lens and gets damaged.
Hoya Circular Polarizer Filters
Haida ND3.0 100x100mm Square Filter (Now sold as CameraPlus brand), a cheap alternative to the Lee Big Stopper while still being a good quality glass filter.
Formatt-Hitech Firecrest filter’s in ND1.2, ND1.5, and ND1.8. These are some really great glass filter’s, offering a reliable alternative to Lee at a cheaper price point. They fit in the Lee foundation holder, so you don’t need a second holder+adapter kit if you already own a Lee Filter.
Formatt-Hitech ND SE Graduated filters in ND 0.3, ND 0.6, ND 0.9. As with firecrest, these are some really nice filters, but these are made from resin so the quality isn’t as good. Although most people won’t notice the quality difference unless you are shooting a lot, or doing professional level work. They’re much cheaper than glass filter’s, so if you’re on a limited budget or do not think you’ll be using your grad filter’s much then I recommend getting these.
Triggers, Chargers, and other stuff
Yongnuo Flash Triggers Cheap, but good reliable flash triggers. Available for Nikon and Canon.
RAVPower USB dual battery charger This charger made my life so much easier when travelling. I can now charge two batteries at once using my portable battery bank, car, on planes, at McDonald’s etc. As long as there is a USB charger available, I can charge away. Great for camping, and travelling.
Smatree GoPro 3 Slot USB Battery Charger Like with the RavPower one above, this USB charger is great as it let’s me charge 3 batteries at once, off any USB port. Perfect for camping and travelling.
Hahnel CAPTUR Triggers with CAPTUR Pro Remote camera/flash trigger Module Using this trigger system I can capture wildlife, lightning, fireworks etc remotely using the built-in light, sound, laser and infra-red sensors to trigger my camera. It also lets me do time-lapse and long exposure’s.
Anker PowerCore 20100 Battery Bank This is my favourite battery bank and I do not go anywhere without it. I can charge my phone 4 times with this battery bank, so it is great for camping and travelling. Not just for phones – this allows me to charge my camera batteries and other USB chargeable devices on the go.
Neewer 1.25x-2.5x Right Angle Viewfinder Thanks to this adapter, there’s no more trying to get into weird positions to view my viewfinder. This might be a bit redundant on camera’s with a tiltable rear screen but if you want to save on battery life or have a screen that doesn’t rotate, then I really recommend getting one of these.
Datacolor Spyder5PRO Used for calibrating my monitors, to ensure that I have high colour accuracy.
Bags
Lowepro Flipside 500 AW This is my most used camera bag. It’s really sturdy and has done me well on my travels. Holds everything I need out in the field. During a month trip around Japan, I managed to fit 3 changes of clothes on top of my camera kit into this bag. The built-in rain cover has withstood snow storms in Iceland, typhoons in Japan, and is constantly put to the test by the lovely British weather.
Billingham Hadley Pro I love this bag, handmade in the UK to a really high-quality finish.I use this on trips to cities near my home-base like Bath. The quality is amazing, and I’d recommend it if you have a small camera kit. Just make sure you get the shoulder-pad with it, as otherwise, it becomes quite uncomfortable to wear.
Crumpler Doozie Photo Sling Nice bag, and while I prefer the look of the Billingham Hadley Pro, this is my most used messenger bag as it holds a bit more. I use this bag when attending events, and doing weekend trips to cities where I don’t want to be walking around with a backpack but need more kit than the Billingham Hadley Pro can hold.
My action camera: GoPro Hero 4 Black
I currently use a GoPro Hero 4 as an action camera. I mainly use this camera in the waterproof casing when I’m going swimming, close to waterfalls or other water-related activities.
Computers, printer, software
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 – My newest laptop, replacing my old ACER Nitro. This laptop double’s up as both a work and personal laptop as it offers me enough power for photo & video editing, and a dedicated graphic’s card for video gaming. I opted for this laptop due to it’s weight, and size as easily fits into a backpack for traveling and weighs under 2kg.
Custom built PC My custom built PC features an Intel i7, 24GB RAM, Nvidia 3060 graphic card, a SAMSUNG 970 EVO 1TB Nvme SSD and 12TB of HDD space. With two monitor’s – a Dell Ultrasharp IPS Monitor that offer’s great colour range for photo editing, and an LG Ultrawide IPS 29″ Monitor that offers both great colour range and a huge workspace for photo+video editing.
WD 4TB Portable Hard Drive I use this HDD to store a copy of all my photographs & take it travelling with me. All my Lightroom catalogues, capture one catalogues & sessions are store on this drive. When travelling, I back up copies of this drive to the cloud. When home, I sync the contents of it to other HDD’s for backup, as well as the cloud.
Canon Pixma Pro-100 Printer This printer produces amazing quality images up to A3+. I love this printer.
Software
Adobe Photoshop Great piece of software, that I use for further editing than Lightroom/Capture One allows.
Capture One Pro My favourite photo editing + library software. Allows me to organise and edit photographs. Capture One offer’s more features and better RAW colours & tones than Lightroom. Especially for portrait work, Capture One is amazing at ensuring you get the best colours for skin tones.
Adobe Lightroom Great software for organising and editing photographs, cheaper and much easier to use than that of Capture One. Less power hungry than that of Capture One so better on older or lower end systems, and cheaper upgrade costs.
Adobe Premiere Pro For Video editing.
More Travel Tips & Resources
- Get Travel Insurance – Don’t leave home without travel insurance. Travel insurance can cover you in case you have an accident, get sick, lose your passport or other belongings, miss your flight, andis canceled/delayed. If you’re in the UK, I recommend using Allclear, for the USA you should consider AXA and for the USA, UK & Rest of the World check out SafetyWing.
- Hiring a car – I recommend booking your car hire through Discover Cars. They offer 24/7 support, and free cancellation. They help by finding the cheapest car hire available, by searching hundreds so companies so you don’t have to.
- Booking budget-friendly accommodation – I normally book hotels and hostels through Booking.com, as they allow me to filter for properties based on my needs. They also have a great free cancelation policy. For my UK holidays, I normally use Park Holidays to book lodges/caravans and pet-friendly accommodation. For long-term stays and holiday rentals, I use VRBO.
- Booking Tours – When I am booking tours, I like to use GetYourGuide or Tiqets. They both have great selections of guided tours, skip-the-line tickets and city passes.
- Booking Flights – I always find my cheapest flights using Kiwi or Skyscanner. Both search for the cheapest flights, and let you filter by stops, times, etc so you can find the cheapest options. You can also sign up for Jack’s Flight Club to be alerted to cheap deals if you’re happy to travel anywhere.
- Travel eSims – If your phone supports an eSim, I recommend using Airalo. They sell eSims based on country, region, and even global ones! There’s one for almost every country and they can work out cheaper than sim cards.
- Travel Sim cards – If you don’t want an eSim, then this Orange travel sim card will have you covered for Europe or this Global Sim Card that works in over 200 countries. Make sure to check out my sim card guides for information on buying local sim cards.
- Face masks – Not just for covid! I’ve worn an n99 face mask on planes since 2017, as they’ve helped me avoid getting sick from other passengers’ germs and avoid bad smells. I always wear a Cambridge Mask when visiting countries with high pollution such as Taiwan, as they help against air pollution, bacteria, and more.
- VPN – Whilst traveling you’ll normally end up using WiFi in public places or at your accommodation, which may not be fully secure. I recommend using Proton VPN, as they don’t track your browsing history and are reasonably priced.
