It occurred to me somewhat belatedly that one of my first articles should probably have been about my kit. As a non-professional (but not unprofessional!) photographer, I don’t have too much, but the equipment is only half of the story behind a good photo, or less: the more important factors are the timing, the place, and the skillset and knowledge of the photographer. That said, you can’t take photos without a camera, so let me tell you what I’m working with at the moment.
Body
My setup is based around the Fujifilm’s X-T30 body, part of their mirrorless X-mount series which has interchangeable lenses. It is surprisingly small, and feels incredibly light to work with- I think that my lenses are heavier! I chose the all-black colourway rather than the silver top option as I have always associated the latter look with film cameras, and it doesn’t fit with digital photography in my mind.
Speaking as someone who hasn’t had any other cameras, but who has used the same X-T30 for three years for now, I find that the camera meets all of my needs very well, and I don’t have many complaints. The tilting LCD display is frequently useful for shooting with the camera at odd angles, such as above my head or low to the ground, but has directional limitations which mean shooting in portrait form ground level can involve a brief lie down. Multiple built-in ‘scene’ automatic setting modes, such as Sports (high shutter speed), Flower (extra vibrant colours), and Sunset (higher contrast), are useful as presets for shooting quickly. Another feature I particularly like is the built-in exposure compensation wheel, which can quickly reduce glare or lighten shadows without editing.
My time using the camera hasn’t been without faults, but they have been few and small. The scroll wheel diagonally to the top right of the LCD screen has given me a little bit of trouble with skipping as time has gone by, but this can be avoided by using it gently- and it appears to be limited to the back, not the identical wheel to the front. In recent months, the screen itself has had a handful of issues with thinking it should be displaying in the viewfinder instead, but this can be fixed by the trusty ‘wiggle it a bit’ technique.
Lenses
My ‘small’ lens (above left) is an 18-55 mm manual zoom, with f-stop ring and detachable hood. I originally had a very similar kit lens which had the unfortunate quality of being powerzoom rather than manual, and I hated it- they are more suited to filming than still photography. Therefore, I very quickly sold it and used the money to buy the lens I have today. It isn’t my go-to lens, but definitely useful for taking portraits and wide scenes, and I have also, one one occasion, used it for some macro photography. With the zoom range just overlapping with that of my big lens, it is a good piece of kit to have on hand, combining small size and ample field of visibility into an efficient package.
My ‘big’ lens (above right) is a 50-230 mm manual zoom, also with a detachable hood. This is the lens usually stored on my camera, for two very good reasons: I usually shoot aircraft, which are naturally far away, and also it’s the only kit configuration that fits in my camera bag (more on that later). As a lens, I’ve found it very utilitarian, good for both ranged subjects such as aeroplanes and cars, and also portraits if used judiciously.
A brief point on hoods; whilst both physically fit onto both lenses, and the small one is, if not useful, then a neutral presence on the larger lens, the large hood on the small lens produces a somewhat comical overlay reminiscent of looking through binoculars. Acceptable if you plan to crop, I suppose, but not for much else. Another thing to note is that the lens caps only fit on the fronts of the lenses when the Fujifilm logo is the right way up, not when it’s inverted or at an angle. It keeps the camera looking smart, I’ll admit, but was annoying to learn and can slow down my operation somewhat.
The next piece of kit in my sights- other than another body, which would make life a lot easier- is a prime lens, likely a 50 mm. I don’t know what I’d use it for, which is why I’m not rushing out for it now, but I’ve heard a lot of recommendations that a mid-zoom prime is good to have in a photographic arsenal, so I’ll try it out when I have the funds. To begin with, zoom lenses give more range and options for the money being spent, which is what I wanted, so I’m happy for further additions to wait.
Accessories
The first main annoyance that I encountered with my camera, when I first started using it straight out the box, was the neck strap. With my main lens being the weighty 50-230, hanging that and the expensive body off of a flimsy-looking neck strap was as undesirable as it was uncomfortable, not to mention the lack of freedom and flexibility. My first solution was to wrap the long strap around my hand and wrist several times, to give myself more room for separation from the camera, but my final fix was to purchase a ‘Cuff’ wrist strap from Peak Design.
I’m not a brand ambassador, but I will gladly recommend this wrist strap to anyone who gives me half a chance. It is exactly what I had in mind to replace the ill-employed neck strap: light, easy to use, and as a bonus, in a colour scheme which fits the rest of my gear! The anchor system offers flexibility to have one strap between multiple camera bodies, though I only use one of them at the moment, and the drop protection is brilliant (though so far unused…!). My only complaint is that the anchor cable is too thick to attach directly to my camera body, but that’s hardly their fault. The product itself is perfect.
I realised quickly when I got into the finer points of photography that a tripod is a very useful thing to have for yourself, rather than relying on either borrowing one from a friend or finding a convenient surface to rest a camera on. As the former is unpredictable and the latter both dangerous to the camera and a considerably less common occurrence than you might expect, I now have two tripods in my personal arsenal, and both are very useful in their own ways.
The first I got was a large blue and black Benro GoPlus Travel tripod, which is designed for travel and definitely packs a lot of functionality into a relatively small package, though isn’t as light as I always expect. Each leg is able to extend to four times its length; a central bar can add another foot and a half of height if needed (making it taller than I am!) or, by a somewhat complicated operation, allow for a camera to be a ‘slung load’ underneath the tripod frame; the feet are interchangeable between flat rubber cones or pointier metal spikes, depending on terrain; there is a built-in circular spirit level; the leg angle can be adjusted at the very top to go up to 90° sideways; and, possibly the most unexpected feature, the leg with the rubber grip at the top detaches to become a monopod.
My one disappointment, particularly when I was first getting used to it, is that a camera can’t be directly attached to the tripod. For that, a separate ball head attachment is required, which is bulky, heavy, and doesn’t sit nicely within the padded tripod bag. However, this redeems itself with, apart from the insane amount of flexibility it offers, a ‘hot shoe’ system, allowing the camera to be quickly removed and replaced without completely rearranging the tripod.
I also have a smaller Joby HandyPod tripod, though, is the one that sees the most use. Designed to be stored on the outside of a camera bag or rucksack, it is perfect for slipping into a pocket or bag and offers instant stability wherever it’s needed. I got the idea for buying this from two sources: one, my Manfrotto camera bag is designed to be able to hold one on the outside (more on that later), and two, I’ve had my share of annoyance at my lack of a tripod in a few key moments. However, I didn’t opt for the Manfrotto-brand tripod in the end because of both the price and the lack of a key functionality which the Joby has: a ninety-degree tilt option. Granted, it’s not too stable in that configuration, but it does hold if you’re careful.
My only real issue with this tripod, apart from the occasional instability as mentioned above, is that I have noticed it shifting during time lapses, meaning that I couldn’t trust it for taking a long exposure of star trails, for instance. I can’t say for certain if this is a fault within the tripod or caused by of external vibration, and in any event it’s not too noticeable, but it can still be quite annoying. Despite this, it’s still very useful to me, and I have friends who’ve bought it with similar endorsement.
I frequently find the mini tripod paired with my phone grip accessory, a cheap acquisition from eBay. As the video files from my camera are absolutely massive, and I simply don’t have enough storage on my laptop for a decent length of time, I take most of my videos on my phone. When these need to be stabilised, such as for time lapses or video self-portraits, the phone grip on the Joby tripod is an easy way to quickly achieve stability. With a mounting point on both the long side and the short side, there is lots of flexibility, and has served me well for a low-budget item.
Filters are a recent revelation to me, but something that I have known I should have for a while. As I have little experience with them and a very low budget, I opted for the more inexpensive type available on eBay to start out with, and will upgrade to better quality ones later on if I feel the need. So far, to be frank, I haven’t used them all that much, but hopefully their time will come.
My Variable Neutral Density (VND) filter is the one I was most excited about getting, but I’m not convinced that the one I bought is the best example. It really is true that sometimes, you get what you pay for, and photography gear is a particularly good example. I went for a variable ND filter rather than fixed ones as I didn’t really know what they did, and buying five things is always more expensive than one, but I can see that if it were high quality it would be invaluable for lighter-ambience long exposures. However, the one that I have is only marginally effective, and has side effects such as a slight colour change to the images and, as mentioned in Catching Up: June 2023, a strange red-tint effect at the balance point.
I also have a circular polariser, which has been notably helpful on a handful of occasions when shooting with large amounts of water in my composition. It brings out the colours below the water rather than the colour of the reflected sky and surroundings, or can be rotated to produce the opposite effect if required. I previously had one which served almost immediately as a protective filter: when my bag took a kick at an event, the filter was cracked but my lens, thankfully, intact. For the price, I could afford to cast off the filter after only a few days of having it, but it’s always a nightmare to think about replacing a broken lens!
There are also a number of sundry items which have worked their way into my kit out of frequent use. Cleaning cloths are an obvious need, for removing water or light dust from lenses, and a cleaning kit was also acquired for a small fee from a charity shop. Due to its age and unknown origin I am holding off on using the tissues and cleaning fluid on any of my lenses or filters, but the air puffer, soft brush, and microfiber cloth are very useful. I have made sure that a double-ended USB-C cable is dedicated to my camera gear, as I have no SD card reader on my laptop. A pair of foam earplugs also live in my camera bag, useful for prolonged engine noise exposure and impromptu jet appearances.
Bags
Of course, the gear is all well and good, but without careful storage it can be easily damaged. My every day bag is from Manfrotto, their Advanced design in size small, and snugly fits my camera body with the 50-230 lens attached, and the 18-55 lens with both hoods around it. I don’t leave the hood on the long lens but backwards, as I used to, as it restricts my ability to get to the zoom ring when you need it quickly. The bag has a detachable shoulder strap, which has proven itself useful for carrying other small bags if necessary, flat webbing loops on the back, and the previously mentioned elastic on the front for carrying a small tripod. I can also fit a lens cleaning cloth in the thin inside pocket, and, of course, the ear buds.
A small blue cross-body bag is used for carrying my accessories: filters, cleaning kit, phone grip, USB-C cable, and mini tripod. It’s a random bag that I found I already had when I suddenly acquired filters and needed to keep them together when travelling, and it works well despite not being designed specifically for photography. Though it mainly gets used out of my bag, I do infrequently use the cross-body strap, and overall find it useful when I need to have all of my things on hand.
Those two bags are all I really need, but I have a further two bags to give myself options. The first is another product from Peak Design, named a ‘cube’ but not because of its shape. Though it is the ‘small’ size, I find it to be simultaneously too large and not big enough; too large for my camera and two lenses alone, particularly as the Fujifilm body is so small, but not big enough for the whole contents of my accessories bag as well as the camera and spare lens. It also doesn’t come with a shoulder strap, though works well enough with the one from my Manfrotto bag. Other than a brief outing after I got it to test the usefulness, it remains in reserve for if I need it when going travelling, or happen to get the Peak Design rucksack that it integrates with.
A final mention goes to my largest bag, which I haven’t so far found a reason to use even as a test. A padded satchel big enough for all my gear (in its current bags!), plus my laptop in its own slot, chargers and other bits and bobs in integrated pockets, it will certainly be the perfect solution at some point, but that day has not yet come. I prefer to have my kit in lots of smaller packages, to make it easier to arrange to suit the needs of the shoot within my bag.
My daily carry in my current situation amounts to most of my gear, as the previously listed contents of the Manfrotto and small blue bags. They don’t tend to take up unjustifiable amounts of space in my bags, and leave all my options open- the kit is of no use at all if it’s left at home. For the size and weight, I only take the Benro tripod about with me if I know I’m going to need it.
Whilst this article covers all of my camera gear, my editing setup (or lack thereof…!) will be covered by an article later in the year. There will also be some exposition on my process behind the pictures used for illustration in this article, as some of them were taken on my phone, and it required some trial and error with the setup to get smooth backgrounds and softened lighting.