What’s in my Camera Bag: Part 1

I’ve had a lot of questions about what camera and lenses I use, so I decided to dedicate a blog post to it. My wife and I shoot a variety of different shots (portraits, food, hotels, video), so we have a variety of equipment we use for each shot.  I’ll break it down piece by piece below.

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I’ll be following this post with Part 2,
which will talk about all the additional camera equipment we use.

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Cameras:

Canon 80D DSLR

We shoot both photos and video, so we wanted a camera that was able to do both very well.  One of the big reasons we went with the 80D instead of a 5D Mark III or the new 5D Mark IV was largely due to the ability to flip out the viewing screen and price. The flip out screen serves two purposes – video and overhead shots.  For video, it allows you to record the classic video blog where you hold the camera at arms length and talk to it. Without the flip out screen, it’s very hard to get the proper framing right unless you’ve been doing it a LONG time – even then you’re not going to get it right every time. As for overhead shots (where you hold the camera above your head and try to get a shot of something below you), I can’t tell you how many photos it would take to get the right shot. I’d take a few photos, check to see if the framing is right…it wasn’t, take a few more….I could take 50 shots and still not have the perfect frame.  The flip out screen fixes that.

As for price, the 80D is $1,199 new, while the 5D Mark III and Mark IV run $2,499 and $3,499. The 80D is half the price of the old 5D, which allows you more money to get good lenses.  Can the 5D take better photos? Yes, but only marginally so.  It can’t take good enough photos for me to justify carrying one camera for photos and one camera for video.

If you’re buying your first camera, keep in mind that there are usually bundles sold (like this one) that will give you more value for your money, because you’ll get some additional accessories like lenses included at a pretty god discount.

Canon 7D DSLR

Our first DLSR was the 7D. It served us very well as our first camera and my wife grew to over 60,000 followers while using it.  It’s a great budget camera to get started and can be found used for around $500.

 

 

Lenses:

Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 ($299)

This is our most used lens.  It provides the most light, so it’s great in dark areas, and has a nice short focal length when needed.  In most cases, if you’re new to photography, you’re going to want either the 50mm 1.4 or 50mm 1.8 lens.  The 1.4 can provide a shallower depth of field and has slightly better bokeh, but the 1.8 can still work great if you’re on a budget.

This lens works with APS-C or Full Frame cameras

Example Photos from the Canon EF 50mm F/1.4

 

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM ($369)

This is another great versatile lens.  It has a zoom feature, so you’re able take shots of moving objects easier, and the built-in images stabilizer helps you get sharper images.

This lens works with APS-C or Full Frame cameras

Example Photos from the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

 

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L ($749)

This super wide-angle lens is our second most used lens and also our most expensive.  We use this for shots where we want a larger depth of field or want to get more of our surroundings into the photo. It’s great for photos of rooms and outdoor spaces when you want a lot of the background to be in focus.   It has a Super UD glass element in it, which minimizes  chromatic aberration, common in wide angle lenses, and helps produce sharper photos.  It’s also an L series lens, so it has better dust and moisture resistance, but we don’t normally shoot in conditions where that would be necessary.

This lens works with APS-C or Full Frame cameras

Example Photos from the Canon Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L

 

Canon EFS 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM ($279)

This lens is used almost exclusively when we shoot video, because we have a higher quality wide angle lens (Canon EF 17-40mm) we already use for photos. We purchased this because it has a shorter zoom, which allows us to frame more of our body in the video. Plus it’s much lighter than the Canon EF 17-40mm and that makes a difference when you’re holding a camera in your almost completely outstretched arm. When we do use it for photos, it’s because it has an even wider angle than our other lens (Canon EF 17-40mm) for photos like the one below.

This lens only works with APS-C  (crop sensor) cameras

Example Photos from the Canon EFS 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM

I hope this was helpful. I’ll be posting the follow up post with all the other accessories we use soon, so check back and I’ll link it below.

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