NZPhotographer Issue 53, March 2022

WHAT’S IN THE BAG?
My camera body is a Nikon D850. It is robust, beautiful
to work with, and can handle a fair bit of dampness
and light rain. It produces large raw files with excellent
tonal range, providing plenty of latitude to process
details out of the highlights and shadows.
My lens selection includes the Nikkor AF 50mm f1.4
which is a beautiful, light, fixed focal length classic
lens, ideal for portraits and the Nikkor AF-S 105mm
Micro f2.8 which is excellent for close-up work, details,
and a handy standby mid-range telephoto when you
don’t have a longer lens.
For wildlife photography I often use the Nikon 70-
300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR AF-S. Longer than 300mm is
often ideal, but it’s surprising how often you can get
close enough with this lovely, compact telephoto. It
weighs far less than longer telephotos, or those with a
fixed f-stop. Best of all, it’s beautifully sharp in the f5.6-
8 range, which is ideal for wildlife. It’s great to handhold,
and the vibration reduction gives you a bit more
play with slower shutter speeds.
The Nikon 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED AF-S is a relatively
new lens for me, but it has quickly become my go-to
workhorse. It’s light, sharp, and with surprisingly little
distortion at the 18mm end.
Finally, my Nikon 20mm f/1.8 G AF-S is a very sharp,
light, fixed focal length lens, with great light-gathering
capacity.
When it comes to filters, I have the Benro Pro Kit. I
use one of these when I’m tutoring or shooting from
accessible locations. The ability to combine a polarizer
with up to three other filters is masterful, and while it
takes a bit of practise to get used to the system, it’s a
stunningly good filter set-up.
On longer tramping trips, I take a Lee filter system,
which is considerably lighter than Benro, and uses
plastic rather than glass.
My tripod is a Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre 3-S tripod
with the Manfrotto XPRO ball head. It’s very sturdy,
with an excellent working height, and quick-to-use
release clips. I use this when tutoring, or at accessible
locations where I am walking for less than two hours.
Other accessories I carry in my bag are the Nikon MC-
DC2 cable release, spare batteries and memory cards,
and plenty of cotton cloths for wiping lenses. I also take
an Allen key for tightening the tripod attachment.
From a safety point of view, I carry a personal
locator beacon (PLB) for emergency use as well as
a headlamp and spare warm clothes including a
Macpac jacket and cap. And of course a water
bottle and snacks.
NZPhotographer
March 2022
15