A gear heads gear list
Inside the bag(s) of a self confessed gear head
It’s not all about what you use but it is a lot of fun to talk about.
I’ve always been a gear head, I love knowing what people are using, why they choose it and how it fits into their workflow. I also love looking at gear that might not be relational to what I am doing to make my setup better. The perfect example, examining streamers setups to set up my office for working remotely.
The gear I have has evolved a lot over the years and is quite expansive. I like to have a setup that even though not everything gets used often, I have the ability to be adaptable.
The M kit
I am very lucky to have been able to add a digital Leica M to my bag when I bought a M246 Monochrom in December of 2022. And even luckier still to swap that in 2024 for my current kit.
Leica M10 - This has become my everyday carry and I can't get enough of it. Having had the M246 Monochrom and wanting to shoot more colour, the M10 was the only choice. I wanted something that would give me the low light performance and image quality I was after. It was not disappointing in any sense.
Voigtlander 35mm f2 Ultron II - 35mm has always been a focal length I have not reached for. I have used 50mm so much but wanted something that gave me a bit more flexibility and this lens is incredible. It has become my go to lens with the close focus and live view giving me some extra versatility when getting close.
Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO-Lanthar - The 50mm focal length has been what I rely on and come back to all the time. This is one of the best 50mm lenses I have ever used. Every time I throw it on the front of the camera I know I am in for a good time. I have a more detailed write up about this lens in another blog post.
Canon 135mm f3.5 II LTM - This lens doesn't get used as much as I would like to be honest. I picked it up as a great opportunity and a great price and when I do use it, I love it. I need to force myself into reaching for it more.
The main kit
My 'main kit' is what I use for doing client work across a lot of different genres of work.
Panasonic S1 - This has been my body of choice since October 2021 and has been an absolute workhorse from day one. And since Panasonic added the huge firmware update opening it up further it's a monster. Up to 6k video, 96MP high res mode, great low light performance, the list goes on. The tracking autofocus is a common complaint of the early S1's but to be honest I have used it once since owning it. And yeah it's not great.
Lumix 50mm f1.8 - I have had this lens almost as long as I have had the camera, picking it up about 2 months after the body. It has been the lens I reach the most and is a perfect combo.
Lumix 20-60mm f3.5-5.6 - This was a 'could be handy' lens. I didn't realise how good this lens actually was and I have taken some very nice images with it.
Laowa 58mm f2.8 2x Macro - I have always loved having this focal length for shooting food and products. To me it's the perfect length for versatility. This 2x macro from Laowa also adds some extra by allowing me to get real close at a very high magnification.
DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - I love this camera and it has unlocked so much versatility in me doing more video content. It has been in my go bag since I have had it and I usually leave the house with this and the M10.
Film
I have been shooting film for north of 10 years now and while I don't shoot it as much it is still very much in my kit.
Leica M3 w/Leica 50mm Summicron f2 Dual Range - This camera has been with me for over 10 years now and is my end game for 35mm. I love this camera so much I had my initials engraved on it next to the viewfinder. One of my tattoo's is of the 50mm finder from this model.
Kowa Six MM w/ 85mm f2.8 - I wanted a Hasselblad for about 6 months non stop. Then when wandering a vintage store in Bowral I found this for an incredible price. It is small front to back by having the film be non changeable mid roll which is fine to me. The lens is so sharp and very much scratches my 6x6 itch.
The rest
Editing
Pad Pro 12.9” M1 - I have been editing my stills on the iPad version of Lightroom for about 4 years now. I love the experience of using the pen and it’s a great way to travel as well. The single gripe I have is not having lens profiles selectable in the iPad app, come on Adobe…
Macbook Air 13” M1 - I love this laptop, it was the one I was given from brand new at my last job and I bought it off them when I left. The M chip has been an absolute game changer for performance.
DaVinci Resolve - I use Resolve for all of my video editing and am really enjoying learning more and more about Resolve as I get deeper into it. I want to do more editing as some side work in the future so if you have a project in mind feel free to reach out.
Very Good Presets - Towards the end of owning my M246 Monochrom I had a big urge to get back into doing more colour photography. Problem being I didn't like the way I edited my colour work and started looking for options out there. I found VGP by Dave Herring and fell in love with the results. All my work gets edited with a VGP now. For colour work I have been using the Eastman and Portra presets, and for black and white the Tri-X preset is great.
FilmConvert Nitrate - This small team from New Zealand has built one of my favourite tools for colour grading. I use Nitrate on all of my colour work in Resolve and their new tools called Halation and Hazy are also part of my toolchain. The CineMatch tool is also incredibly handy if you’re filming on multiple cameras and are looking to balance the result to have a consistent colour space to work in. I really like supporting a team that has been very helpful in responding to questions and being really involved in the community. They also gave me an affiliate code so if you use code INSIDEFRAMELINES at checkout you will get 10% off your order!
Audio / Video
Rode VideoMic NTG - A solid shotgun mic that I have used as a USB mic for work as well on top of camera for quality audio.
DJI Mic - These are so handy for doing any talking head stuff paired with the lav mic mentioned below as well.
DJI Mic Mini - This as a single solution I carry with my Osmo Pocket 3 is pretty hard to beat. While the internal recording of the DJI Mic and 32 bit float of the DJI Mic 2 would be nice this thing is TINY.
Shure MVL Lav - When I got the DJI Mic I watched a video about comparing lav mics. This one was far and away the winner which was an instant sell for me.
Lilmon 5" Monitor - An external monitor is such a nice to have over the rear screen of your camera. Lots of features at an appealing price had me sold.
Amaran COB 60X S LED Light - This light had been on my list since it released, small, powerful, useful. It was the full package, then when the S released I bought it as soon as I could.
Amaran Light Dome Mini SE - A big soft box is one of the most versatile modifiers for a light you can have. I have used this on a lot of talking head work and love the results from it.
Neewer Spotlight - This was a bit of a surprise how much I use this modifier and also how simple it is. I used it in every shoot from the Beanvent Calendar in 2023.
Bags
Big bag – Shimoda Explore V2 30L – This is by big carry all. I have the regular camera cube and the small one when I need to pack more 'non-photo' stuff. This bag came with me to NZ on my honeymoon and I am always surprised how comfy it is even when full.
Day bag – Billingham Hadley Pro – This is my favourite bag. I have taken it overseas, packed it to the absolute brim, and even after 10 years of use it still looks incredible. The longest I have had any bag in my collection, and it's not going anywhere. I use it for camera gear. It's a work bag when going into the city. I haven't found one better than this for pure versatility.
Small EDC bag – Clever Supply Co Sidekick pro – I have tried to take a camera with me everywhere since my daughter was born. I wanted to optimise the carry side of that because there are a few more things coming with us each day. Backing this on the kickstarter was a smart move because I like this little bag. It holds everything I need and nothing more I don't. I went into a bit more detail on what I am carrying in over on threads.
Storage - Tactix hard cases – These are from Bunnings which is the main hardware store in Australia. They’re really well priced and have the pluck foam letting you fill things in where you need it. I keep my M10 and lenses in the small one and in a medium sized one I keep all my video accessories (monitor, mics, cables, etc). I do have plans to move everything into a single Pelican 1535 Air at some point.
