I’m often asked what type of equipment I use and what my digital workflow entails. Most of the photographs in this book were shot with a Nikon D2X, a very versatile and workhorse of a camera. At 12.4 mp, the D2X is capable of producing images that I think are far superior to the quality of film. Some will argue this point and state that it’s only different. I used lenses ranging form the extremely wide angle of 10mm to long telephotos of 300mm and every focal length in between.
Recently I purchased a Nikon D300 and my initial reaction has been very positive, in fact I can see the D300 becoming my primary camera in many circumstances. The Nikon D300 is certainly a better camera in low light situations, something that the Nikon D2X was never really known for. It’s amazing what 3 years of technology can do.
What lenses do I own?
For the book I used a small set of largely unimpressive lenses. These included:
- Sigma 10-20mm, a wonderful lens designed specifically for digital cameras,
- Nikon 24-50mm, an old film camera zoom, hopefully to be retired soon,
- Nikon 85mm f1.8, one of Nikon’s classic film lenses,
- Nikon 55-200mm DX, a lousy, slow focusing cheap consumer lens that is surprisingly sharp. This lens also focuses surprisingly slowly and has now been replaced, and
- Nikon 300mm f4, again one of Nikon’s classic lenses for sports and wildlife.
The past year I have been upgrading my lenses routinely as I have been shooting more often as I work on my new book about the Cowichan Valley. My lenses as of today are:
- Sigma 10-20mm, a wonderful lens designed specifically for digital cameras,
- Sigma 30mm f1.4, bought for low light photography,
- Nikon 17-55mm f2.8, just purchased to replace the 24-50mm,
- Nikon 85mm f1.8, one of Nikon’s classic low light film lenses,
- Sigma 50-150mm zoom, a lens that has quickly become a favourite,
- Sigma 150mm f2,8 macro, an amazing macro lens for the little things in life and
- Nikon 300mm f4, again one of Nikon’s classic lenses for sports and wildlife.