So back on topic then.....
Canon 40D body + grip: nice sturdy body with magnesium alloy/steel frame and rubber coating built to withstand a couple of knocks and has basic dust sealing. The benefit of this body for me is the super fast frame rate of 6.7fps and a massive buffer (explained in earlier post) lets me shoot 12raws or 70jpegs in one go. The only way I'll get a faster frame rate is to spend a few grand more on a Canon 1D (10fps). This high frame rate is great for action shots.
Review
Sigma EX 10-20mm lens: a great extreme wide angle lens for landscapes and abstract photos on a crop body like mine (1.6x crop factor) the actual focal length is 16-32mm. The lens is a corrected lens, which means that there are no significant side effects like barrel or pincushion distortion. However, it's great for landscapes because you're able to fill the frame with more, especially with more foreground interest. With regards to abstracts, if you pull in close to your subject (I mean invasively close) you can get some great shots.
Review
Sigma EX 24-70mm lens: this is a brilliant everyday walkabout lens. It covers a nice medium focal length (38-112mm) for general wide shots as well as portraits and details. There's not much else to say about this focal length apart from that it's quite flexible.
Review - mine doesn't seem to suffer from the CA suggested in the review.
Well folks,Sigma EX 150mm Macro: you'll notice that this isn't a zoom lens, it's a prime (fixed length). This is probably the best value for money macro lens you can get that'll let you take decent photos of insects without scaring them off. Of course there are cheaper macro lens with smaller focal lengths, but you need to get closer to your subject with them (lonfwe min. focussing distance (mfd)). Step upto to the next level and you have 180mm which is a whole new level of money. So this lens equates to 240mm on my 40D, and is great for allsorts of macro work including insects, wildlife, still life etc. It's also makes a great portrait lens, although you need some distance between you and subject if you want anything more than head and shoulders. Prime lenses are special because of the quality of imaging they provide, all the glass elements in the lens are catered specifically for that one focal length and are optimised.
Review
Canon 430 Flashgun: a great mid range flashgun with a tilt and swivel head that allows you to bounce/direct light in a number of angles. This is a great unit and has helped me out quite a bit. The only bad point is that it takes 4 AA batteries and if you're using a lot of flash on a shoot, they won't last long. The main problem is that the as battery power declines it takes longer for your flash to recycle (get ready to fire again). For me personally this can be annoying at times and very inconvenient at others. So I tend to take the batteries out when it takes longer than 10-20 seconds to recycle. The batteries themselves are still seem to have at least half their life left so end up going in the cupboard for an endless supply for remotes and other gadgets around the house. I will mention that it's best to use decent batteries with these such as EveryReady Ultimate or Duracell Ultra, anything else is useless after a few flashes.
Review
Canon ST-E2 wireless flash trigger: this is a great little trigger that sits on the hotshoe to control my flashgun wirelessly. It's really handy for indirect lighting and helps create some good effects and ambient lighting. It can also be useful if you're shooting from a distance and want to have your flash near to your subject for example.
Review
Manfrotto 055 XProB tripod + RC332 head: one thing that is sometimes overlooked by many aspiring photographers is a suitable tripod. If you want to take long exposures, macros and in general crisp and clear photos use a tripod where/whenever possible. I've broken so many cheap tripods that it's been false economy and a hindrance. Get a good solid tripod and you'll be happy. Decent tripods don't come with heads, as there's a number of heads available to suite your needs, pan and tilt and ball and socket. Pan and tilt is probably the most common type and lets you adjust the axis independently for precision. A ball and socket head is quite convenient and lets you adjust in any direction/axis at the same time; you simply unlock it, move and lock. It is a little trickier to use but once you've got the hang of it can be great. My particular tripod is aluminium and weighs a fair bit, but it's sturdy. It also lets you place the centre column horizontally for low angle shots.
Review
Manfrotto 785b tripod: this is a handy little tripod and used to be used on my old small camera. It's got a built in head and is a socket and ball type, thin, light and tall, perfect for my flash gun when used wirelessly.
4 Way macro rail: this is a simple rail that goes between tripod head and camera. When shooting macro you're depth of field (dof) is usually quite shallow and it can be quite difficult to focus. If you want to shoot true 1:1 macro then you'll have to set and leave focus at the MFD (usually) and just move the whole camera back and forth to gain correct focus. Using a camera rail simply lets you adjust the movement of the camera on two axis, back and forth, and side to side on a very small scale. This is done by turning a mechanical screw. It's to so useful when shooting 1:1 insects as they tend to wander off by the time you've set up, so it's best left for still life.
Misc: other bits and bobs I have include wired and wireless camera triggers (great for astrophotography), filters (polarisers, UV, ND, star), CF memory (SanDisk 4GB extreme III and two Kingston Ultra 4GB)
Storage: for storage I use a Lowepro AW100 backpack/rucksack bag which is large enough to fit in all of my kit. It's got plenty of specific pockets for filters etc, and is waterproof by way of sealed/taped zips and a handy storm cover that covers the whole bag and is tucked away discretely in a flap under the bag when not in use. It has space on the outside of the bag for a smallish tripod (my 785b goes here) and a slot for a 15" laptop (I don't use a laptop with the bag). This can all get very, very heavy and I'm glad for the comfortable shoulder straps, it also has a lumbar/waist strap for those long hikes or for extra comfort and a contoured back to aid airflow. This is definitely not an everyday bag (smallest in its range though).
Wish list: an everyday shoulder bag to carry the body and maybe 2 lenses in, something small and light with easy on the go access. Sigma EX 70-200mm lens. This would complete my current requirements, a nice handy mid focal length zoom for action and portraits.
there you have it, my current kit.
And here it all is tidy in my bag.
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