I chose Canon as a brand in the early ’80s as their auto system was based on shutter priority rather than Nikon's aperture priority. Yes, those were the early years when you had to choose as cameras could only do one and not the other! At that time I felt ensuring a stable sharp shot by controlling the shutter speed was critically important, and the subtlety of depth of focus was a technique I didn’t appreciate and still to learn.

 

I have stayed loyal to Canon, buying a second AE1 body to enable shooting with both slide and print film. A major upgrade to a Canon 30V Date in 2004 provided autofocussing capability with eye control (come on Canon, an amazing feature that you should have kept).

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It was years before I transitioned to digital with a 40D in 2008 as I felt until then the image quality just couldn’t compare to slow film and especially transparency. It could still be argued that slide film quality is only now being matched. However, the revolution of digital allowed amateur photographers like myself to shoot far more shots to capture the perfect moment that was until then only available to professionals, where someone else was met the cost of developing!

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I was happy with my 40D for a long time until a work colleague introduced me to the full frame sensor on the 5Dii. The quality and essence of the picture blew me away and by buying better lenses with a longer reach to counter the inherent advantages of a crop sensor, I moved to the 5diii in 2012.

 

Wow, what a camera!

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I have now progressed to the 5div in 2017 to take advantage of the enhanced focusing system and low light capability but keep the 5diii handy. I

 

have an excellent range of equipment, not all of it is new as it is possible to obtain some excellent pieces second hand.

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Equipment

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Bodies:                                          

Canon 5diii/5div

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Lenses:                                         

Canon 11-16mm F4 – amazing for wide angle landscape and street  photography                                 

Canon 17-40mm IS F4 - landscape

Canon 24mm F 1.4 – wide-field astrophotography

Canon 28-105mm IS F4 – a great walkabout lens

Canon 50mm F1.4 – for discretion and natural perspective

Canon 70-200mm IS F2.8 – possibly Canons sharpest lens

Canon 100mm IS F2.8 macro – butterflies

Canon 200-400mm IS F4 with 1.4x – heavy but amazing for wildlife and butterflies                             

Tamron 500mm F8 mirror with 2x adapter – astrophotography

Canon extenders 1.4x iii/2x iii

Kenko extension tubes 12mm/20mm/36mm

 

Filters:                                         

Lee 150mm system with a circular polarizer and various ND’s and graduated filters

FotoDiox circular polarizer, ND 0.6 Grad & ND32 for the Canon 11-16mm

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Flash Speedlite:                         

Canon 430 EXiii RT

 Canon 600 EXii RT

 Canon MR-14 EXii Macro Ring Lite

 Canon ST-E3-RT

                                                      

Tripods / Heads: 

Gitzo GT2530EX with Manfrotto 410/Benro GH2            

Gitzo GT0531 Traveller with Gitzo GH1780QR 

Gitzo GM2562T Monopod with Benro G2 ball head                   

                                                                                                         

Miscellaneous:                         

Pluto Trigger

Sea Frogs 5Diii/iv underwater housing

Explore Scientific ES 165mm F7 APO Refractor/Skywatcher AZ EQZ6 GT  Pro mount                   

Berlebach Planet Tripod

Skywatcher Star Adventure mount