I am often asked about what gear I use so I put this page together to share information about the cameras, lenses and other equipment I use. Some of the links will take you to Amazon; These Amazon links are “affiliate links” which means if you click on it and buy it, I make a small commission.

Cameras and Lenses

Below is a summary of the cameras and lenses I currently have at present. I have experimented over the years with many different body and lens configurations but I think I’ve finally found a range I’m happy and will settle on. The only thing I’m really missing from this list is a 600mm F4 for my wildlife work however that’s a wish list for another day.!

Nikon D850 - This is my main Full Frame SLR body that I use for all my Landscape work and when I can I will also use this for Wildlife images as well. The image quality from this camera is incredible and it has some great features like the touch screen, focus peaking and the ability to connect the camera to your mobile phone to sync location data

Nikon D500 - This is a nice little crop sensor body and the majority of my wildlife images are taken with it. It gives some extra range over the D850 and is also smaller and lighter to carry if I’m out scouting.

Nikon AF-S 20mm F/1.8 G ED - This is the widest lens I have and is a wonderfully sharp lens throughout the image. This has to be my favourite lens to shoot with if the composition allows. I have also used it for Northern Lights photography and I find it has minimal ghosting even wide open which is a must for any astro-photography

AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR - This is my standard carry around lens on my D850 and the majority of my more recent landscapes have been taken with it. It’s a wonderfully sharp lens throughout the frame and has a lovely ‘pop’ to the images.

AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR - When I am shooting a landscape and want to isolate something in the distance or need a bit more range than the 24-70 can give this is a stunning bit of glass. It’s also ideal for portrait and wildlife images that fit within its range.

AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR - This is the newest lens in my collection and I’ve not had it for long; it was a replacement for my trusty 200-500. A relatively new lens and difficult to get hold of still and that’s before you look at the price tag but has been a real game changer for me in terms of weight, portability and quality compared to what I was previously shooting with.

AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR - This is a really great lens and at a great price point. Paired with the D500 many of my wildlife images were taken with this combination. A wonderfully sharp lens and a good zoom range as well.

Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO Macro - I don’t shoot very much Macro these days however having previously owned the Nikon 105mm Macro lens (which is a great bit of glass) I find the extra range of the Sigma more useful and it has produced some amazingly detailed and sharp images when I have used it.


Camera bags

With all this camera gear it’s really important to have a good quality bag to protect and carry it all in; especially if you plan on doing any hiking or long journeys. I have an assortment of different bags depending on what I’m doing; it seems there is no such thing as the perfect bag.!

F-Stop Tilopa - This is as close as you can get to the perfect bag IMO. I’ve had this bag for years and its done a wonderful job of protecting my equipment and in some pretty challenging weather conditions too. It’s my main bag and with the interchangeable ICU’s I can just about get all my gear in for a long trip.

Think Tank Glass Taxi - This is my other main go-to bag. I use it for my wildlife work as it nicely fits either of the bodies with my 500mm PF attached or alternatively either body and the 200-500. It’s not the most comfortable of bags to walk long distances with even with the wait belt but offers a good level of protection and it’s a good small and compact size

Think Tank Glass Limo - This is the big brother to the Taxi. I purchased this when I had a 500mm F4 as its one of the few bags that would allow you to carry a large Prime whilst attached to the body. I still have the bag as one day I will purchase a 600mm prime so intend to use it for that. Unlike the taxi this has a built-in waist band which makes it far more comfortable to walk with.


Straps, filters, memory cards and other bits

Peak Design Slide Camera Strap - These are by far the best camera strap design I have come across. The concept is great; you have small ‘Anchor Links’ which you attached to your equipment which allow you to quickly attach the strap in multiple different combinations. This quick release design is ideal and I have put mounts in various places on my camera bodies and lenses to allow me to comfortably carry my gear in any combination. There is also a simple click and slide you can use one handed to adjust the length of the strap whilst in use. I can highly recommend this range of products.

Sandisk Extreme Pro 128gb SDXC Memory Card - I have always used SanDisk Extreme memory cards. I have never once had one fail on me and having watched some of the YouTube videos of people dropping them in the sea and continuing to work, I am confident that I am unlikely to ever have an issue. Both of my cameras have 2 memory car slots so I have them configured to mirror each other in the unlikely event of one card failing I know I’ve still got a backup.

Sony 128GB XQD Memory Card - The other memory card slot in the new Nikon cameras is XQD. These sadly are still on the pricey side however they are considerably faster than the SDXC cards and so I have these set as the primary. I’ve never once managed to fill the buffer on these.

NiSi 100mm V6 Filter Holder Kit with Landscape CPL - For many years I always shot with the Lee Foundation filter system until I managed to scratch 2 Lee Polarisers as a result of the poor design to attach them to the holder. I know this has been addressed somewhat by the refreshed design but I had already discovered the NiSi system and much preferred the build quality and usability of it. I also find the NiSi filters themselves are of a higher quality and have less issues with colour cast compared with the Lee ones.

Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan - Finding the location, getting the weather conditions and taking the image are just the first part of the process. You need a good application to catalogue and process your images. This is where the Creative Cloud Photographers pack comes in. This gives you Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as well as some cloud storage so you can sync these apps to a mobile or tablet. An invaluable resource for getting the best out of your photography.