My Everyday Photography Kit

There’s a common saying in the landscape photography community that "camera gear doesn’t matter." For the most part, this is true. Any modern digital camera will give you high-quality images, and if used well, no one would be able to tell the difference between an image shot on a flagship mirrorless medium format camera costing £8,000 or an entry-level cropped sensor camera for a few hundred pounds. This is particularly true when sharing images online at low resolution. What is important and does matter is having the gear that is right for you, your needs, and your budget. It’s very personal and subjective. There’s no hiding from the fact that photography can be expensive, but the great thing is that camera gear can hold its value very well. The majority of my equipment was bought second-hand in 'like-new' condition, saving me lots of money. I have even made money buying and selling lenses. I’ve built up my kit over about seven years and tried lots of different lenses and combinations along the way to find my optimized setup.

I’ve created this blog to show what is in my "everyday" photography kit for those who might be interested to know. This setup is a good balance of quality and versatility while being relatively lightweight, so I can carry it around all day without feeling too weighed down. The last thing I want is for my camera bag to be so heavy that I give up and go home early because I’m too tired from carrying it. I use my gear for landscape photography, so I need it to withstand bad weather and also be easy to use in whatever conditions I find myself in. I also shoot mainly at small apertures for sharpness across the whole frame, so slower f/4 lenses are fine for my needs. I also have a bunch of other accessories that I carry around, which are not shown here, and I have some dedicated astrophotography gear. I will make some other blog posts about these another time.

It’s also really important to note that I have no affiliation with any of the brands shown in this blog, and I’m not trying to sell you anything. I’m also not saying you should spend your hard-earned money on any of this kit to get photos like mine. At the end of the day, these are just tools that I have decided to use for my photography, and I would be able to do the same with gear from any other camera brand.

If you have any questions or thoughts, let me know in the comments section at the end.

Nikon Z6

My main and only camera is a Nikon Z6, which was Nikon’s first mirrorless full-frame model, released six years ago and superseded by the Z6ii, and Z6iii recently. I picked it up second-hand four years ago, and it still works perfectly. The 24.5-megapixel sensor delivers great image quality, and the raw files are clean and easy to edit. The grip is very comfortable, so I can hold it for hours while walking around the woods. The autofocus tracking on the first-gen Nikon mirrorless cameras isn't the best, but I mostly use single-point autofocus, and it always nails focus. The build quality and weather sealing are excellent, handling rain and freezing Arctic temps without any problems. I don’t really need more megapixels or fancy features, but I’ll probably get a newer camera eventually to pair with the Z6.

Nikon 14-30mm f/4 S

The Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S is the widest of my three main lenses and is very rarely left at home. It’s compact, lightweight, and covers a range from the extremely wide 14mm to a more natural-looking 30mm. It is very sharp and better in every way than my old 16-35mm f/4 F-mount DSLR lens that it replaced. The ultra-wide focal lengths allow me to capture a lot of the landscape in the frame, and I can create exaggerated foregrounds by getting the lens really close. Another great feature is that this lens accepts 82mm threaded filters on the front, which eliminates the need for large, specialist filters that were once required for lenses this wide.

Nikon 24-70mm f/4 S

The Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S is currently my most used lens and probably one of the best value full-frame lenses you can buy (second-hand). It’s light, compact, and sharp throughout all focal lengths (just like the 14-30mm). The only downside I can think of is its heavy vignetting from f/4 to f/5.6, although this can be corrected easily in Lightroom. I generally don’t open it up to more than f/8 when using it for landscape photography anyway.

Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD

The Tamron 70-300mm completes my main trio of lenses that I carry on almost every photography outing. Combined with the lenses above, it creates a fairly lightweight setup for landscape photography that covers a broad range of focal lengths. I would describe the image quality of this lens as ‘good-enough.’ It’s plenty sharp enough across the frame from f/8 to f/11, which is what I usually use. I wouldn’t recommend it to people who want to shoot action (eg wildlife) due to it’s slow maximum aperture. The real selling point of this lens for me is its light weight and compact size while being able to zoom into 300mm. This lens replaced my Nikon 70-200mm f/4 F-mount lens, which I found limiting in reach and annoying to use with the adapter I needed to attach it to my Z6.

Kase Wolverine Magnetic Circular Filters 82mm Professional Kit

I don’t use ND filters very much unless I’m doing coastal photography, but I keep this kit in my bag all the time because it’s so small. I do, however, use the circular polarizer quite often in the woods to reduce glare and boost saturation. They are very color-neutral - I haven’t noticed any obvious color cast when using them—and they are all very tough (I’ve dropped them more times than I care to admit). The ability to put them on and take them off quickly is very useful. Screw-on filters I’ve used in the past are fiddly, and it’s easy to shift focus or focal length while trying to attach them.

Benro Mach3 TMA28C Carbon Fibre Tripod

Finding an all-around tripod that has the perfect combination of size, weight, and stability for me was a very difficult task. The Benro TMA28C ticks all the boxes and is still going strong after four years. It stands at a maximum height of 135 cm, which is enough for most situations I find myself in. It can be extended to 155.5 cm with the long centre column, but I usually have the supplied short centre column fitted, which allows me to get it down really low to the ground. At 1.54 kg, it is reasonably light while being stable enough to hold my camera in strong winds. The only issue I’ve had is that the legs can freeze in position in sub-zero temperatures if left for a long time. In fairness, this is probably not unique to this tripod.

Leofoto LH-36LR Ball Head with LR-50 Lever Release Clamp

This is a fairly new addition to my kit over the past year. I’ve had a few different ball heads since starting photography that have caused significant frustration in the field and almost led to a broken camera. The lever-release clamp is brilliant, and I’m not sure why they are so uncommon on tripod heads in general. It makes attaching my camera really easy and gives me more confidence that it is locked in position properly than when using a twisting knob - especially when wearing gloves! The two main knobs to lock the ball in position and fix the panning base are shaped to provide really good grip. The panning base also has laser-engraved graduations at 2.5-degree intervals, which is really useful for shooting panoramas.

Shimoda Explore V2 30

One of the most important bits of kit, in my opinion, is a good bag. I tried a few different cheaper bags before finally biting the bullet and getting a Shimoda. I got the Explore V2 30L and medium mirrorless core unit during their Kickstarter campaign, which saved me about 50%. This bag is very comfortable and built to the highest quality. It’s really easy to access my gear and has loads of practical features. It’s also very water-resistant. I have a rain cover but only use it occasionally to stop my bag from getting covered in dirt. It can fit a few layers of clothing and some food for day trips, while staying fairly compact. For that reason, it’s my most used camera bag. I also have the Shimoda Action X50 (not shown here), which has loads of extra space for clothes, camping equipment, etc. I use that when I’m in the mountains or in the winter when I need lots of different layers.