Equipment Recommendations

The equipment recommendations given here are for those of you interested in pursuing nature or travel photography as a serious hobby. If this is your interest, start saving your pennies and read on.

For a list of specific equipment that I use, see My Equipment.

These recommendations are for a 35mm SLR photography system. I recommend 35mm for the beginning nature photographer for its wide availability of equipment and features; its ease of use and portability; and for its compactness, lower cost and lower weight in comparison to the medium or large formats systems.

The recommended system below is capable of capturing images of professional quality. Note that there is a difference between "capable of capturing" and "actually capturing". The "actual capturing" of professional quality photographs is also dependent on your selection of subject and light, proper use of appropriate technique and your artistic skill, all of which require hard work and practice to develop. Equipment is only one piece of the puzzle. Remember that!

Remember that these are only MY recommendations for nature and travel photography. Please seek several other sources of advice before investing a large amount of YOUR money.

Also, see my tips for Minimizing Costs at the end of this page.

A Basic System 

I also highly recommend that you supplement the manual that comes with your camera with one of the books by Magic Lantern (newer equipment) or Hove Foto Books (older equipment).  These are available for most cameras at better camera stores and should be read along with the manual that comes with your camera. Refer to my Basic Suggestions page.

If buying two lenses, you might consider buying lenses with the same filter thread size.  This enables one set of filters to be used on either lens saving cost, weight and volume.

I recommend sticking to zoom lenses that generally have a 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 zoom ratio. Many of the higher zoom ratio lenses (i.e. 35-300mm) may yield poor image quality, especially at the extremes of the zoom range.

Tripod
Get a tripod with a quick-release ball head. This should be a sturdy tripod that is tall enough for you to look through your camera while you are standing upright. The tripod should also be capable of getting your camera within several inches of the ground in some way. Legs should be able to adjust in length and be able to swing out independently for use on uneven ground or on awkward terrain. I recommend lever action releases on the leg sections for speed of use. A ball head with a quick release plate is best for quickness, simplicity and flexibility of use.

The next purchases, in recommended order, would be:

Film Recommendations 

Here are my biased opinions on the slide films that I like to use. I have not done as much real experimenting with different films as I should so I suggest you take this with a grain of salt and that you do some of your own experiments. As stated in my Film Speed article, I generally recommend shooting with the slowest film you can get away with for the sharpest images possible.

For landscape work, I pretty much shoot Fuji Velvia exclusively. When it was suggested by a salesman at a photo store, I shot Velvia and Kodachrome 64 on a 1997 trip to the desert southwest. Velvia's colors blew me away in comparison and I haven't stopped using it since. I later came to realize that most pro landscape photographers also use this film for the same reason. This is a very sharp, fine-grained, highly color-saturated film.

My recommendation for photographing people, however, is Kodak E100GX, as Velvia is not very flattering on a persons complexion.

For travel, wildlife, sports, or anywhere that more speed is needed, I've been shooting Kodak E100GX or E100VS. These films have great color and sharpness and E100GX can be pushed to ISO 200 for even more speed. Many sports shot in direct sunlight can still be done with Velvia, however, and this is what I would recommend on bright days.

Since I really don't shoot print films, I have no recommendations to offer.

Minimizing Costs 

Processing film is a source of considerable, recurring costs. A roll of 36 exposure Fuji Velvia can run $9 at a store and cost around $7 to process at the local photo lab. That's nearly $16 for each and every roll you shoot! I have reduced my expenses considerably through mail order. For example, I mail order a roll of Fuji Velvia and processing envelopes from Adorama at around $8.18 a roll. Adding 74 cents for postage to the Fuji lab, that's $8.92 a roll for a 44% savings!  And that's ordering one roll at a time.  I usually order many rolls at a time for an additional quantity discount on top of that. These calculations do not include mail order shipping charges or state sales tax when purchasing and developing your film locally. These oversights tend to vary but also tend to partially cancel each other out if you live in a state that charges sales tax.

I also mail order nearly all of my equipment purchases. Mail order tends to save you about 25% to 30% compared to purchasing at camera shops. There are tradeoffs here, however, in service. If you purchase equipment from an experienced local photo dealer, you can gain valuable advice and will get the opportunity to try the equipment out first hand before purchasing.  But if you know what you want, I recommend mail order.

But be careful accepting the advice of salespeople as they may try to steer you towards only the stuff that they have available in stock and, if they work on a commission, may steer you to equipment that makes them the most money. When purchasing from a local dealer, I highly recommend you first educate yourself by thinking out your needs and by seeking advice and opinions from several sources. Gather a lot of data, decide what you need, save your money, and then walk into the store as an educated buyer ready to make your purchase.

The biggest difference between purchasing from a local dealer as opposed to mail order is the service you'll get when an item fails. Most quality local dealers will take care of having repairs made for you and may absorb the shipping costs (if the item is still under warranty). If you mail order, you likely will have to deal with the mess personally and will have to pay the shipping costs yourself. However, I have never had anything that I have mail ordered fail on me prematurely.

One final word on mail order:  mail order companies vary substantially in quality of service. I have used and been very satisfied with Adorama and B&H.

Buying used equipment is another option for saving money. Be very careful, however, and try to buy from a dealer who will warrant the equipment for 30 or more days (during which time you will test the item to its limits). Buying quality used lenses over new lenses can save you around 10 to 30%. I've never had the guts to buy a used autofocus lens and don't know that I ever will for only a 10 to 30% savings. However, I have bought used manual focus lenses and been happy with them. My opinion is that used autofocus lenses are too much of a risk, if without a warranty, due to the much more complicated electro-mechanical mechanisms inside versus manual focus lenses.

Don't hesitate to sell or trade-in a lens or piece of photography equipment you use very little. You should be able to find camera shops in most major cities that deal in used equipment. Call around, check the yellow pages, and surf the web for possibilities. There are many outlets for this money recovering opportunity if you look a little.

Learn to shoot locally. Yes, you can spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to shoot polar bears from a tundra buggy in the Arctic, penguins in the Antarctic, and many other exotic locations in between. But you should be able to find fantastic subjects locally as well. As a matter of fact, fantastic local subjects are limitless. Frosty fall colored leaf patterns, windmills silhouetted against a sunrise, pebbles on a beach, the reflection of colorful neon lights on a wet manhole cover at night (try it), close-ups of flower arrangements that you can buy at the local grocery store. Get creative with your subjects, composition, and with the light on them. For example, look at some of the close-up or intimate landscape images in books by masters such as Pat O'Hara, Freeman Patterson or Bryan Peterson. Look for interesting lines, patterns, forms, colors or shapes to exploit. This is where photography gets creative.

When you do travel for those grand scenic, try to do so as locally and cheaply as possible. Go off season. Camp instead of using hotels, or at least mix in some camping with the hotels. Buy groceries instead of eating at restaurants. Use your time wisely to be as productive as possible. These tips might trade some comfort for reduced expense but many of these suggestions also will open up photographic opportunities as well. There are fewer people and less traffic off season when airline tickets are cheaper. You can eat breakfast from groceries while at a photo location waiting for the sun to rise. You often can be closer to your location by camping than you can from lodging at a hotel. These tips allow you to be more flexible while helping you to be at the right place at the right time.