Equipment & accessories

Equipment - always very interesting, with many options, it's best to stop dreaming and look at needs if you can be specific. Example, for portrait, studio, wedding work etc. the 50.6Mp 5Ds is still very competitive and the optical viewfinder is a major advantage and it's very stable to handle. The 5D series cameras are so tough and bullet-proof, they just don't fail - no point either spending or taking risks. For sport and wildlife, the R7's focus capabilities often win. For lenses, the EF series is still phenomenal, check out below:

Amongst the most frequent questions are, "do you think this lens is right?" / "should I upgrade to this?" For professionals the decision is a clear; for keen amateurs the answer is often not as straightforward. There are many options, often with as many pitfalls as advantages, good straightforward advice will help to avoid unnecessary frustration or regret.

Are you really going to use it? Why else are you wanting it? Buying "better" equipment is subjective, in fact it can be far more of a handful causing disappointment. 50Mp ff bodies place very high demands upon the photographer with intolerant handling, being fussy and unforgiving; top bodies show up every shortcoming in lenses and technique.

For lower resolutions such 20 to 24Mp, mid-line lenses are often equally effective, (yes really). Glass is always an investment but can definitely run away, so thinking ahead and real is important. There are special purpose lenses, "Tilt-Shift", are ideal for architecture, however a 16-35mm can help the Shift effect 80% of the time, (with a little distortion), but cannot manage Tilt at all. For wildlife 600mm f/4 is "amazing" - amazingly heavy and you must practice just to point it in the right direction, even when it is on it's heavy duty tripod! Large filters also drain money from your travel budget.

You need a balance of performance, flexibility, portability & affordability.

To help illustrate this our core equipment is shown here with brief notes, if you have questions just ask, you'll get honest unbiased feedback, Contact Us.

Main Camera Bodies

Canon R7 These have 32.5 Megapixel (APS-C) sensors. High-Speed Shooting to 30fps. Blazing Fast multi-mode Autofocus with eye tracking. 5-axis In-body Image Stabilization with auto-levelling. Very high burst speeds with excellent handling Arguably the best wildlife bodies available. Regularly voted the best aps-c bodies available.	Canon 5Ds These have 50.6 Mp Full-frame sensors. Very precise High Density Autofocus. Best ergonomics for big hands. Bright clear informative optical viewfinder. Medium format to wildlife amazing detail. Canon 5D series professional features. Bulletproof reliability and quality.

Telephoto Lenses

Canon 400mm f/5.6 L Very rugged compact telephoto lens. Very sharp with very high speed, quiet internal focussing. f/5.6 is not so bright but it's relative lightweight can be carried all day. Deep space Astrophotography is also possible with this lens on a tracker.	Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 L "L" series sharpness and very fast, quiet, accurate autofocus. A very versatile zoom range with remarkable performance. Good close focussing adds to complete amazing flexibility.	Tokina 100mm f/2.8 As a Macro lens, the flat field and edge to edge sharpness is with the best in category. Macro & portrait is it's home ground. Image quality means replacement is not justifiable for us even with 50Mp, (yet).

Standard / Mid-range Lenses

Canon 85mm f/1.2 L II Sweet spot focal length for portraits. Exquisitely sharp and contrasty. f/1.2 = best possible perfect bokeh. Slow but very accurate autofocus. Perfect in darker conditions. This lens is specialised and designed for a purpose - but it is the best in it's class at what it does.	Canon 50mm f/1.2 L Stablemate of the 85mm f/1.2L On a Full Frame body the razor thin depth of field gives an extraordinarily smooth background with quality bokeh. On an APS-C body like the R7, this is a top end 80mm portrait lens. High quality and precision, images are amazing.	Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM This is still a good quality budget lens. It's small lightweight makes it easier to handle than the 1.2L. Can go where you may not want to risk taking the f/1.2, still delivers well. Background bokeh is still good. Some say the f/1.8 is better, it's not, this is.	Canon 40mm f/2.8 A very compact "pancake" lens. This is a full frame lens, remarkably sharp and still usefully bright. Unobtrusive and lightweight with f/2.8. With it's size - performance balance just pop this in your pocket, just in case. Often used as a body cap.

Wide Angle Lenses

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L Tilt Shift lenses have unique properties and functions, they are very specialised. For architecture they have their own place & for some focus effects, no options. For this a tripod is always necessary.	Canon 17-40 f/4 L This versatile Ultra-wide zoom is a gem. often better on balance than the 16-35 when f/4 is sufficient, (nearly always is), as it is lighter and more compact (and cheaper). Perfect for landscapes and street scene.	Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L II Another Ultra-wide zoom lens. Perfect for landscapes and street scene, f/2.8 adds to low light performance and the sharpness is suitable for widefield astrophotography. Heavy but quality.

Tripods and Support

Benro C197-n6 (Induro CX213 in USA) A lightweight carbon fibre tripod. Very rigid, very stable, fast operation. With an articulated head column the extra flexibility is there. These are our core use tripods.	Benbo Trekker Benbo tripods are something special, the design is unique. Flexibility and speed of use is second to none, can be positioned nearly anywhere when others cannot be. These are our natural world default.	Hama 117 Traveller Very, light and compact. Only for our smaller equipment - can go where you wouldn't want a big load, (mountains). This is a low-tech name and price with good performance in it's class. Good match for our G5X's.	Sunway T1A12 Tripod Very stable and quickly adjustable, capacity is defined by the ball head as maximum is 40Kg. This model is highly recommended, don't waste money on cheaper sometimes popular options which disappoint.
Koolehaode E3 Ballhead A big Ø45mm ball comes with a very high 20Kg capacity and equal stability. Fast fine friction adjustment. These are very compact at a good price - in use these functionally out-perform many popular expensive alternatives.	Koolehaode E1 These are the smallest of our heads, yet the compact design has a Ø28mm ball with 8Kg capacity. This is coupled to the Sunway tripod for a compact strong unit. Really the best value out there.	Induro A8 Monopod Aluminium very rigid very high 20kg load capacity 62" / 1.6m. Ideal when standing with a long lens this very fast to manoeuvre whilst maintaining stability. Can go anywhere and is compact when collapsed to pack.	Koolehaode E2 Panorama These have a Ø36mm ball and are very compact with 15Kg capacity. The Panoramic addition makes this perfect for macro with fine control in multiple planes. Remarkably flexible and high quality at a must have price.

Bags and Cases

BevisGear Expensive but well made from quality materials. A big bag, folds out like a table in front of you for easy lens changing, cleaning etc. Unique design allows unprecedented easy access to your gear, along with a host of other features. Modes for one or two shoulder straps.	Manfrotto Offroad 30L A real trecking pack, taped seams etc., with adaptions specific to photography needs Suits it's purpose perfectly for climbing fully loaded to wild camping with your equipment easily at hand This is Andy's workhorse We have two of these	Vanguard Alta Rise 45 Exceptionally high build quality, top quality materials The faultless design and comfort of these bags has proven them to be arguably the best. Protection, accessibility, comfort and flexibility makes this the optimum for most applications.	Vanguard Alta Rise 43 A smaller version of the Alta Rise 45, with all the same performance and quality. A single shoulder strap - for quickly rotating while still on - first choice around town, with plenty of space for wallet, lenshoods, mobile phones etc. Note, too small for Pro DSLR's
MAX 520 Tough Cases These are a good size but remarkably light. Mechanically tough and waterproof - theyre the best protection for your equipment. We have four, each a dedicated layout internally for different activities.	Basic Holster This simple holster is cheap and functional. Easily holds the large Canon 5D with Pro-lenses. Extra protection & comfort when more than just a strap is required for around town etc... Fits with 16-35 f/2.8, to diameter 90mm.

Selected Accessories

SanDisk ImageMate usb-c This card reader is solid, made from high quality materials and reassuringly heavy. All the card slots we need are supported and is very fast. Don't go cheap on readers, cheap alternatives are slow, unreliable and can actually damage CF cards.	Bayonet Adaptor EF - RF Allows our EF lenses to be used on R series bodies. Includes the smart control ring. We use the control ring for aperture setting which is logical, but it can have other assignments.	pd Slide Strap The price is a little high but, comfort, practicality, functionality and performance are all equally high - perfect balance. One thing less to worry about, always important but often overlooked. A solid strap is important for security and handling and not another distraction.
pd Wrist Anchor When you're walking around a town and need the camera ready to hand, this keeps everything safe from being dropped. Fully compatible with the anchors on all of our equipment. Highish price but very high value.	Hähnel HC-5D Grip For carrying the 5D all day at events, this is a gem. Housing two batteries - enough to run for many hours flat out, with very little weight penalty. When shooting in portrait, the advantages are huge, the camera controls are duplicated virtually eliminating fatigue with all-day use.	pd Capture Clip V3 Easily the best of its type. For attaching cameras to your bag straps, belt, etc. Exceptionally useful when walking around in comfort - the camera being always to hand. Clearly over-priced but no real alternatives, (forget cheap copies).

Drone and Flight

DJI Mavic 2 Pro A high-end consumer drone known for it's foldable design. Up to 30 minutes flight, and a top speed of 44 mph gives a huge range. It features obstacle sensing, advanced pilot assistance systems, and an HD video transmission range up to 8 kilometres. Ideal for professional photographers and videographers.	DJI Mavic 2 Pro Hasselblad With a Hasselblad 1-inch 20Mp CMOS sensor and 4K 30fps video it's firmly at the quality end of the market. f/2.8-f/11 aperture allows excellent dynamic range and real 10bit colour without excessive false looking HDR processing. Perfect for professional aerial photography and videography.

Selected Studio & Lighting

Softboxes / Reflectors These are a portable and allow Speedlights to be used. We have adapted these a little to meet our needs. Specific for speedlights adds flexibility and stability. We have Bowens mount also.	Background System 4m x 2.5m Background portable frame. 4 primary colours plus several variable cloths. These are invaluable for obvious multiple applications. The portable frame adds to versitility when needed.	Canon 580 EX II Canon's own GN 58 fully integrated speedlight. The GN of 58 is sufficient 99% of the time, with internal zoom. Fast recharge times and compatibility with wireless transmitters & external power packs.
Yongnuo YN586 EX II Two of these allow flexibility in a studio not only portable environment. The GN of 58 is sufficient 99% of the time, the internal zoom included. Fast recharge times and compatibility with wireless transmitters.	Yongnuo YN585 EX II An older model more or less the same as the 586's. The GN of 58 is sufficient 99% of the time, internal zoom. Fast recharge times and compatibility with wireless transmitters & external power packs.	Yongnuo YNC622 Triggers Multi-channel wireless flash control, multiple units commanded from the camera at up to 100m. One transmitter / controller and multiple E-TTL receivers, you can focus on the composition not running between lights.

Some Older cameras - click here

Nature Studio Scapes

Main Camera Bodies

Canon R7

Canon 5Ds

These have 50.6 Mp Full-frame sensors. Very precise High Density Autofocus. Best ergonomics for big hands. Bright clear informative optical viewfinder. Medium format to wildlife amazing detail. Canon 5D series professional features. Bulletproof reliability and quality.

Telephoto Lenses

Canon 400mm f/5.6 L

Very rugged compact telephoto lens. Very sharp with very high speed, quiet internal focussing. f/5.6 is not so bright but it's relative lightweight can be carried all day. Deep space Astrophotography is also possible with this lens on a tracker.

Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 L

"L" series sharpness and very fast, quiet, accurate autofocus. A very versatile zoom range with remarkable performance. Good close focussing adds to complete amazing flexibility.

Tokina 100mm f/2.8

As a Macro lens, the flat field and edge to edge sharpness is with the best in category. Macro & portrait is it's home ground. Image quality means replacement is not justifiable for us even with 50Mp, (yet).

Standard / Mid-range Lenses

Canon 85mm f/1.2 L II

Sweet spot focal length for portraits. Exquisitely sharp and contrasty. f/1.2 = best possible perfect bokeh. Slow but very accurate autofocus. Perfect in darker conditions. This lens is specialised and designed for a purpose - but it is the best in it's class at what it does.

Canon 50mm f/1.2 L

Stablemate of the 85mm f/1.2L On a Full Frame body the razor thin depth of field gives an extraordinarily smooth background with quality bokeh. On an APS-C body like the R7, this is a top end 80mm portrait lens. High quality and precision, images are amazing.

Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM

This is still a good quality budget lens. It's small lightweight makes it easier to handle than the 1.2L. Can go where you may not want to risk taking the f/1.2, still delivers well. Background bokeh is still good. Some say the f/1.8 is better, it's not, this is.

Canon 40mm f/2.8

A very compact "pancake" lens. This is a full frame lens, remarkably sharp and still usefully bright. Unobtrusive and lightweight with f/2.8. With it's size - performance balance just pop this in your pocket, just in case. Often used as a body cap.

Wide Angle Lenses

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L

Tilt Shift lenses have unique properties and functions, they are very specialised. For architecture they have their own place & for some focus effects, no options. For this a tripod is always necessary.

Canon 17-40 f/4 L

This versatile Ultra-wide zoom is a gem. often better on balance than the 16-35 when f/4 is sufficient, (nearly always is), as it is lighter and more compact (and cheaper). Perfect for landscapes and street scene.

Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L II

Another Ultra-wide zoom lens. Perfect for landscapes and street scene, f/2.8 adds to low light performance and the sharpness is suitable for widefield astrophotography. Heavy but quality.

Tripods and Support

Benro C197-n6

(Induro CX213 in USA) A lightweight carbon fibre tripod. Very rigid, very stable, fast operation. With an articulated head column the extra flexibility is there. These are our core use tripods.

Benbo Trekker

Benbo tripods are something special, the design is unique. Flexibility and speed of use is second to none, can be positioned nearly anywhere when others cannot be. These are our natural world default.

Hama 117 Traveller

Very, light and compact. Only for our smaller equipment - can go where you wouldn't want a big load, (mountains). This is a low-tech name and price with good performance in it's class. Good match for our G5X's.

Sunway T1A12 Tripod

Very stable and quickly adjustable, capacity is defined by the ball head as maximum is 40Kg. This model is highly recommended, don't waste money on cheaper sometimes popular options which disappoint.

Koolehaode E3 Ballhead

A big Ø45mm ball comes with a very high 20Kg capacity and equal stability. Fast fine friction adjustment. These are very compact at a good price - in use these functionally out-perform many popular expensive alternatives.

Koolehaode E1

These are the smallest of our heads, yet the compact design has a Ø28mm ball with 8Kg capacity. This is coupled to the Sunway tripod for a compact strong unit. Really the best value out there.

Induro A8 Monopod

Aluminium very rigid very high 20kg load capacity 62" / 1.6m. Ideal when standing with a long lens this very fast to manoeuvre whilst maintaining stability. Can go anywhere and is compact when collapsed to pack.

Koolehaode E2 Panorama

These have a Ø36mm ball and are very compact with 15Kg capacity. The Panoramic addition makes this perfect for macro with fine control in multiple planes. Remarkably flexible and high quality at a must have price.

Bags and Cases

BevisGear

Expensive but well made from quality materials. A big bag, folds out like a table in front of you for easy lens changing, cleaning etc. Unique design allows unprecedented easy access to your gear, along with a host of other features. Modes for one or two shoulder straps.

Manfrotto Offroad 30L

A real trecking pack, taped seams etc., with adaptions specific to photography needs Suits it's purpose perfectly for climbing fully loaded to wild camping with your equipment easily at hand This is Andy's workhorse We have two of these

Vanguard Alta Rise 45

Exceptionally high build quality, top quality materials The faultless design and comfort of these bags has proven them to be arguably the best. Protection, accessibility, comfort and flexibility makes this the optimum for most applications.

Vanguard Alta Rise 43

A smaller version of the Alta Rise 45, with all the same performance and quality. A single shoulder strap - for quickly rotating while still on - first choice around town, with plenty of space for wallet, lenshoods, mobile phones etc. Note, too small for Pro DSLR's

MAX 520 Tough Cases

These are a good size but remarkably light. Mechanically tough and waterproof - theyre the best protection for your equipment. We have four, each a dedicated layout internally for different activities.

Basic Holster

This simple holster is cheap and functional. Easily holds the large Canon 5D with Pro-lenses. Extra protection & comfort when more than just a strap is required for around town etc... Fits with 16-35 f/2.8, to diameter 90mm.

Selected Accessories

SanDisk ImageMate usb-c

This card reader is solid, made from high quality materials and reassuringly heavy. All the card slots we need are supported and is very fast. Don't go cheap on readers, cheap alternatives are slow, unreliable and can actually damage CF cards.

Bayonet Adaptor EF - RF

Allows our EF lenses to be used on R series bodies. Includes the smart control ring. We use the control ring for aperture setting which is logical, but it can have other assignments.

pd Slide Strap

The price is a little high but, comfort, practicality, functionality and performance are all equally high - perfect balance. One thing less to worry about, always important but often overlooked. A solid strap is important for security and handling and not another distraction.

pd Wrist Anchor

When you're walking around a town and need the camera ready to hand, this keeps everything safe from being dropped. Fully compatible with the anchors on all of our equipment. Highish price but very high value.

Hähnel HC-5D Grip

For carrying the 5D all day at events, this is a gem. Housing two batteries - enough to run for many hours flat out, with very little weight penalty. When shooting in portrait, the advantages are huge, the camera controls are duplicated virtually eliminating fatigue with all-day use.

pd Capture Clip V3

Easily the best of its type. For attaching cameras to your bag straps, belt, etc. Exceptionally useful when walking around in comfort - the camera being always to hand. Clearly over-priced but no real alternatives, (forget cheap copies).

Drone and Flight

DJI Mavic 2 Pro

DJI Mavic 2 Pro Hasselblad

With a Hasselblad 1-inch 20Mp CMOS sensor and 4K 30fps video it's firmly at the quality end of the market. f/2.8-f/11 aperture allows excellent dynamic range and real 10bit colour without excessive false looking HDR processing. Perfect for professional aerial photography and videography.

Selected Studio & Lighting

Softboxes / Reflectors

These are a portable and allow Speedlights to be used. We have adapted these a little to meet our needs. Specific for speedlights adds flexibility and stability. We have Bowens mount also.

Background System

4m x 2.5m Background portable frame. 4 primary colours plus several variable cloths. These are invaluable for obvious multiple applications. The portable frame adds to versitility when needed.