Any good photographer will tell you it's the photographer who makes the picture – and many will tell you that equipment doesn't matter. If equipment doesn't matter, why do most photographers obsess over their equipment?
I define good photographic "technique" as "Getting the most out of the equipment you have". All photographic equipment has limitations. One of the objectives of a photographer is to make the best photograph with the equipment on hand. Give a cheap camera to a good photographer, and they will still come up with good photographs. That said, it's a whole lot easier to make great photos when using great equipment. Here's what I use:
Canon SLR Digital Bodies
I first started shooting with a Kodak DC-210 digital camera in 1998, and while I loved the convenience, the quality simply didn't meet my standards. In 2002, I bought a 3 mega-pixel Canon D30 SLR digital body, and immediately began to sell my film cameras. Even though my EOS-3 film camera was a much better camera than my D30, and I had over 20 rolls of film sitting in my refrigerator, I never shot a frame of film after buying the D30. After one year with the D30, I sold my remaining EOS-3 film camera and can't imagine shooting with film again. I love digital!
With digital images, I get higher quality images, have complete control of the image from click of the shutter to printing the final print, and save a huge amount of money in film and developing costs.
With the continuing rapid development and improvement with digital cameras, the gap between digital and film continues to widen — with digital clearly in the lead. I've upgraded my digital bodies every couple of years since first going digital, and as of early 2007, I am shooting with a Canon 5D (12.6 mega-pixel full frame sensor) and a couple of Canon Rebel XTi (10 mega-pixel 1.6 crop sensor) bodies. Even Canon's least expensive digital SLR camera is more than adequate for making professional quality photographs.
One thing that must be considered when "going digital" is the cost of computer hardware and software. If you already have and know how to use a decent computer and a good image processing program like PhotoShop, this won't be a problem. If you need to buy and learn how to use the required computer hardware and software, this can be a significant cost in both time and money.
Lens
Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS telephoto
If a Canon lens has the "L" designation, you know it's expensive. The 300mm f/2.8 is a big expensive lens, but it is incredible. I bought this when I was shooting wildlife in Denali, and ended up getting many of my best images with this lens. The image stabilization in conjunction with the fast f2.8 maximum aperture allowed me to get hand held shots in low light that I wouldn't have got with a slower lens. If you can afford it, this is one of the sharpest lens ever produced and is capable of extraordinary images.
Canon 70-210mm IS (Image Stabilized) f/2.8L zoom
This is an awesome lens for wildlife if you can get reasonably close, say 50-100 feet. I used the non-imaged stabilized lens more than any other in Denali with excellent results. When animals are getting close, this is the perfect lens for quickly composing and getting the shot. The image stabilized version makes the 70-210 just that much more versatile.
Canon 1.4x and 2x converters
My results using the 1.4x converter with the 300mm f2.8 IS telephoto is excellent and with the 70-210mm f2.8 zoom is very good (especially stopped down a couple of stops), but you lose one stop of light with the 1.4.
Use the 2x with care. I use it when I really need the extra reach. It is noticeably soft when used wide open, but still can be quite useful. I've made successful images stacking the 1.4x and 2x with the 300mm f2.8 on the Rebel XTi (1.6 crop sensor) effectively creating a 1344mm f/8 mega-telephoto!
Canon 24-105mm IS f/4L zoom
This is a great "walk around" lens and I especially like it mounted on the Rebel XTi body which effectively converts it to a 38mm to 168mm zoom. This gives reasonable wide angle coverage all the way to a nice telephoto. With image stabilization and the ability to shoot noise free images at ISO 400, it is extremely useful under a wide range of conditions.
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Here's a tip for photographers on a budget – fixed focal length lens are much cheaper and faster than comparable zooms and will give you much sharper images. Cheap zooms are almost guaranteed to be soft. the 50mm f/1.4 is very sharp when stopped down to about f/2.8, and acceptable wide open.
Canon 24mm f/1.4L
This is another fantastic fixed focal length "L" lens. I've never had much luck with wide angle zooms, so I absolutely love the image quality of this lens, especially mounted on the EOS-5D with its full frame sensor. I used this lens more than any other lens on the EarthRoamer Central America Expedition.
Canon 15mm f/2.8
With digital photography, this lens has moved beyond being a distortion curiosity to being a productive and very useful wide angle lens. With its 180 degree field of view, and software for correcting barrel distortion, the lens is great for extreme wide angles. Mounted on a Canon Rebel XTi, it works well to set the focus on manual, set the aperture to f/16 and prefocus a range from a couple of feet to infinity. This is perfect for waist level walk-around shooting with no need to focus.
Support Systems: Tripods and Brackets
What's the quickest, cheapest way to improve your photography? Use a quality tripod. In addition to eliminating camera motion blur, it is easier to compose critically. I also find that by taking the time to use a tripod, I put more thought into the picture and get better results.
Gitzo Carbon Fiber Legs
I love the light weight of my carbon fiber tripod, but I hate the leg locks. I'm always fumbling trying to tighten and loosen the legs.
Bogen Aluminum Legs
Bogen/Manfrotto makes relatively inexpensive high quality tripods. I prefer my $100 with the 45 degree leg locks over the Gitzo Carbon that cost nearly 7 times a much! The Bogen is fast to set up and rock solid.
Arca Swiss Monoball
A monoball is the way to go, and Arca makes one of the best. For the most part it works well, but I've had it jam up and in general act weird a couple of times.
Really Right Stuff
I use Really Right Stuff plates on all of my cameras and lenses, and the quality is very high.
