What equip do you use for nature/landscape?

[dane_skye]

Curious to see what people are using as equipment for nature

photography these days, especially for landscape. What do you have

where do you want to go?

 

For me it's a Mamiya 645 with a 45mm, 80mm, and 150mm lenses.

 

Manfrotto 3021 tripod, Kirk ballhead. Filters are SinghRay.

 

My back up is an 35mm Olympus OM-4 with a 21mm, 24mm and 50 macro.

mostly used on long hikes.

 

Thinking about a 4x5.

 

How about you?

[jay_.]

Wildlife: Canon D60, 1D and DRebel, 300/2.8L-IS, 70-200/2.8L-IS, 1.4x-I and 2 2x-II teleconverters, Tamron 90/2.8 Macro, plus I usually carry a short lens like the 20-35/3.5-4.5 for occasional non-Tele shots. I also carry a Rebel Ti loaded with slide film in case there's a really spectacular shot I want to capture with film-quality detail. Gitzo 320 with Arca B2 head.

 

Landscape: Hasselblad 503CW, 40CFE-FLE, 50CF-FLE, 80CFE, 150CF, Zeiss Mutar 2x, Vario extension tube. Gitzo 320 with Manfrotto super-pro pan-tilt head.

 

Backpacking: Leica M4, 21mm Voightlander/Cosina, Leica Tri-Elmar, Leica 135mm APO, Komura 2x. Gitzo 026 with Kaiser small ballhead.

[richard_ennis1]

Wildlife: Just switched to Digital: Nikon D2H, Lenses: 80-400VR, 300AFS f/4, 500 f4/P manual focus, 80-200AFD f2.8, Tamron 180mm Macro Di

 

Landscape: Bronica GS-1 with 50, 65, 150mm lenses,

Mamiya 7ii with 65 and 150mm lenses,

4x5 Field Camera with 90, 135, and 210mm lenses,

 

Filters: Polarizers, ND Grads (2 & 3 Stop),

Tripods: Bogen 3036 and 3221, Gitzo 1127 (with Kirk BH3) for hiking,

Arca Swiss B-1 Ball head,

Bogen Micro Geared Tilt/Pan Head (use with GS-1 most of the time),

Rich

[hique]

Wildlife: Nikon F-70, crappy Nikkor 70-300mm, Tamron 90SP, Nikkor 28-80mm

 

Landscape: Nikon F-70, crappy Nikkor 70-300mm, Tamron 90SP, Nikkor...hmmm...something wrong here...

 

Well, I guess I do not own so many lenses.

 

By the way the crappy Nikkor 70-300 is actually Ok in close-up range. Good for dragonflies :)

[gone nomad]

With my camera setup I don't bother with nature (wildlife) as my camera is too slow. However, it's great for landscape photography. Someday I might get around to buying an SLR.

 

Camera: Toho fc45 with a few modifications

 

Tripod: Gitzo 1228 with the center post removed

 

Lenses: Nikkor SW 90mm F8, Schneider Angulon 90mm f6.8, Nikkor W 150mm f5.6, Fujinon A 240mm, Nikkor M 300mm F9, Fujinon 400mm T

 

Film is usually Kodak TMax Readyloads unless I'm close to the car.

[mark_chappell]

wildlife: Canon 1D Mk II or 10D, 500 mm IS lens (usually), with 1.4X or 2X converters,

occasionally 100-400 zoom or (for insects) 100 f2.8 macro. Sometimes I use a Canon 1V

body with Velvia 100. For birds I frequently use fill-in flash (Canon 550 with Better

Beamer).

 

landscapes: Same bodies but more often use the film body (1V). Lenses: Canon 17-40,

Sigma 28-70, Canon 70-200 f4, 100-400. Often I use polarizing and graduated ND

filters. I realize this setup isn't going to give me the quality possible with MF or LF, but it

suits my needs well and doesn't require an extra system to deal with.

 

Tripods: Gitzo 1325 or explorer; Kirk or Arca-Swiss ball head; Wimberley sidekick with

the 500 mm lens.

[les_barstow]

I'm stuck on 35mm:

 

Nikon F-100, 28-105mm, 80-400mm-VR and a Canon 500D closeup filter. I also am looking to pick up the 17-35mm, which I've rented in the past.

 

I wouldn't mind picking up a 645 or a panoramic, but it's not in the cards right now.

[bruce_kapla]

I have been an OM user for years, but just acquired the d300 a few months ago a couldn't be happier. One of the criterion was the availability of an adapter to mount my beloved Zuiko lenses onto the drebel, which works flawlessly.

 

My current set-up for wildlife(mostly avian)is the d300 with a Zuiko 350 f2.8 with 1.4 and 2x TC. All on a manfrotto 3021 with Arca Swiss B1 head. The lens is very sharp even with the TC's. I still love and use the OM bodies(1n and 4ti)and use them when I shoot with E-6.

[danny burk www.dannyburk.]

Landscape (by far my major interest):

 

Ebony 4x5, lenses from 47mm to 720mm (I do more long lens work than anything)

 

Linhof 617 with 90/180 lenses

 

Fuji 617 with 300 lens

 

Fuji GX680III, lenses from 50-500mm (don't use it much these days other than for closeup work)

 

By all means, pursue your interest in 4x5. There's no turning back!

[joseph_smith3]

I use 35mm equipment:

Nikon n90s cameras

 

For landscape work, Nikon lenses: 20mm, 24mm and 35-70mm f2.8 zoom, all AF, but used mf most of the time.

 

For macro work, Nikon 200mm f 4.0 mf lens, 105mm AF macro lens and 55mm mf macro lens, plus Nikon extension tubes and tcs--14B and TC-301. I wish I still had my mf 105mm macro lens.

 

For nature needing long lenses, a Nikon mf 500mm f 4.0 P lens, and for flight shots , a Nikon 300mm f 4.0 AF lens. Sometimes I use a Nikon AF 70-210 zoom.

 

Tripod, a Bogen/Manfrotto 3221 and a Gitzo 1325 with a Gitzo 1321 level base. Kirk BH1 ball head, Kirk King Cobra. Kirk or Wimberly quick release plates. Wimberly flash brackets for tele work. Kirk flash bracket for macro work.

 

Flashes--Nikon SB-25 and 26 flashes with better beamer. For macro work, A nikon SB-27 or SB-25 or 26 flash.

 

Double Bubble for all shots.

 

Joe Smith

[rosswordhouse.com]

Landscape - fuji G617 with 105mm

 

It's all I shoot. I know it inside and out, backwards and forwards,

it's plus's and minus's, it's DOF and limited close-up focusing

problems. It's become second nature to use, now I just focus on

seeing with a 105mm eye.

 

Keep it simple, keep it light, keep it shooting.

 

www.rosswordhouse.com

[Mary Doo]

I use 35mm and mostly Nikon F100s these days.

 

For landscape I am using the Nikon 17-35mm a lot, followed by Nikon 24-120VR and 70-200VR. I love to use the Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizers.

 

For macro, mostly the Nikon 200mm micro these days, sometimes coupled with the Kenko extension rings, the "Plamp" and reflectors, of course.

[edwardchen]

Nikon F80, D100.

 

Nikkor 17-35/2.8, 28-105/3.5~4.5

 

Sigma 50-500/4.6~6.3

 

Bogen 3251 with 3047 head.

 

Filter: Cokin

[roy1]

I have a whole nikon setup. but for landscapes I mostly use the Fuji GSW690 III (6x9) And a gitzo 1127. <p> <i>where do you want to go? </i><br>

I would love to try shooting 4x5 also (hopefully I will try it over the next year)... but jumping to MF has been pretty awesome already.<p>

leaving for Alaska in 2 weeks :)

[david_haynes]

Wildlife/Macro - Canon DSLRs and Canon optics - 15mm -400mm - Gitzo 2220 w/B1

 

Landscape - Canon stuff and Deardorff 8x10 w/10", 12", 14" & 19" lenses, Ries

tripod.

[steve_simons]

Canon D30

EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 II USM

Canon EOS Rebel Ti (selling soon)

Optex 58mm Circular Polarizer

(hoping to buy later on) Canon EOS Elan 7

(hoping to buy later on) Telephoto Lens or Ultra Wide lens

 

I'd have more equipment but my priority for my money is buying a car. Man, it's tough being 16 :P

[todd_schoenbaum]

Thinking about a 4x5 as well, but for now...Mamiya RB pro-s, 50mm, 90mm, 180mm lenses, 45mm extension tube, pentax digital spot meter, Gitzo 1410, Bogen 3047, lowepro photo trekker AW, polaroid back, loads of film, some heilopan filters, and lets see what else... OH Yeah, a few sherpas to carry all the gear for me. <p> Todd Schoenbaum <br> <a href = "http://www.celluloidandsilver.com"> Celluloid and Silver</a>

[rquiroga]

I use an F100 with the following lenses:

18-36 f/3.5-5.6 Nikkor

50mm f/1.8 Nikkor

70-210 f.4-5.6 Nikkor

300 f/4.5 Nikkor

Nikon 6T closeup lens

Nikon SB28 flash

Manfratto 3221 Tripod with ballhead

[lex_jenkins]

I'm not an experienced wildlife photographer. But since getting a D2H a few months ago I've gotten a taste for it. Mostly I use a 24-120/3.5-5.6 VR AF-S Nikkor for handheld shots and a 300/4.5 ED AI Nikkor from a tripod. It's fun, challenging and a lot harder than I'd anticipated. Fortunately the dSLR helps make it cost effective to practice (i.e., make lots of crappy shots to get a few good ones).

 

I'd like to add either a longer, fast telephoto or another VR telephoto or telezoom, but they're pretty pricey. It'd be cheaper to buy a blind, pop it up near the critters and have patience.

 

For landscapes I've typically preferred normal lenses or moderate wide angles (nothing wider than 28mm for 35mm film format) for whichever film format I'm using. Often I'll use a moderate telephoto for a different perspective, tho' this can present problems with DOF.

 

I don't use many filters. But I do like a deep orange with my Rollei TLR for b&w films. The usual polarizers for b&w or color. Occasionally I like Cokin's crazy two-color polarizers, but this is more often for graphic photography of architecture rather than nature and landscapes.

 

I'm also fond of the OM-system for its compact size and light weight. I use mostly Nikon gear for my "serious" photography but I can't seem to part with the OM gear. The last time I took my OM gear on a trip I toted an OM-1, 28/2.8, 50/3.5 macro and 75-150/4 Zuikos all in Lowepro's smallest waist bag, and still had a little room for film, lens wipes, etc. I can't squeeze my Nikon FM2N or Nikkors into that bag.

[bill_stice1]

For wildlife I am still using 35mm film cameras and have lenses from 18mm to 600mm. For macro I use a 200 macro or 85 tilt/shift macro and occasionally I use a Pentax 645 with a 120 macro lens. For landscapes I most often use a Sinar 4 X 5 and lenses of 90mm, 135mm and 180mm. I also have Pentax 645 lenses from 45mm to 200mm and occasionally use it for landscapes.

[dan_fromm2]

Macro?

 

On 35 mm: Out-and-about: Nikon FM2n, 105/2.8 MicroNikkor AIS, Spiratone MacroDapter, 2 Minolta Electroflash 20s, KM. Sometimes 55/2.8 MicroNikkor AIS, Jones of Hollywood macro flash bracket, 2 Minolta Auto 14s running on manual, KM. I still have KM in the deep freeze. When I run out of KM, will switch to EPP, EPN, E100G. Much above 1:1, studio only, TMX or TPP. Yes, I still have some TPP in the deep freeze.

 

On 2x3: 2x3 Pacemaker Speed Graphic, 100/6.3 Reichert Neupolar, a flash bracket I made, 2 Vivitar 283s with VP1s, EPP or EPN.

 

Wildlife?

 

Some birds on 35 mm. Nikon FG or Nikkormat ELW, 200/4 MicroNikkor AI when it can be used, 400/6.3 Tele-Astranar, 700/8 Questar. EPP, EPN. Not very practical with my 2x3 gear, it is too slow-working, but I'll try anyway when I can use longer lenses on 2x3.

 

Landscapes? Mainly on 2x3, 2x3 Pacemaker Speed Graphic or Century graphic; a variety of lenses, ranging from 38/4.5 Biogon to 12"/4 Taylor Hobson 12"/4 Telephoto. Am waiting for SKGrimes to deliver bracketry that will let me use longer lenses still, up to a 480/9 Apo Nikkor. EPP or EPN, sometimes TMX.

 

Any 35 mm SLR that will allow full manual control would do about as well as my Nikons given equivalent lenses. My 2x3 gear gives better results than my Nikons when I can get the same magnification with it.

 

Any 2x3 press or view camera would do as well as, perhaps better than, my little Graphics, given equivalent lenses.

 

I use the gear I have and the emulsions I can easily get at a good price ...