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Home → Cameras and Lenses

What’s In My Camera Bag? – Alex Coleman

By Alex Coleman 7 Comments
Published On October 8, 2022

While I don’t have a definitive camera bag setup, I’ve got a number of must-haves, as well as a few typical setups, depending on what I’m shooting that day. Want to see some of my favorite gear for landscape and commercial photography? Here it is!

Landscape Photography Kit

My landscape gear is definitely the most variable set of kit. What I bring for a short walk through the woods is going to be very different from an astrophotography shoot in the backcountry. Unifying all of the gear, however, is my Nikon Z7. While I previously shot with the Nikon D800 and D810 – which I loved for the significant resolution they offered – it got to the point where mirrorless just offered too many benefits.

Sedona
NIKON D810 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm, ISO 640, 30/1, f/2.8

All of my setups are based around the Nikon Z7, which has a Smallrig L-Bracket almost permanently attached. I like the extra bit of grip the L-Bracket adds, along with the fact that it’s compatible with all my tripods and other mounting solutions.

For memory cards, I’ve gotten to the point where I just leave a single large card in the camera, like Delkin’s CFExpress 256GB card. While I’ll bring some spare cards on longer trips, I find that I don’t fill a single card unless I’m on an especially long trip – and even then, transferring the card back at the hotel is perfectly fine to me. This approach, while slightly more vulnerable to card failure compared to multi-card setups, reduces the risk of losing a card, as well as simplifying file management.

One of the other benefits of mirrorless comes into play here: Nikon’s Z lenses. While many of Nikon’s F mount lenses were very capable, almost all of the Z-mount lenses are clear improvements over their F mount counterparts.

Particularly for landscape and travel photography, my most commonly used lens is the Z 24-70mm f/4. Sharp enough for a 45MP body, yet incredibly compact, this lens is almost always in my bag. I only swap it for the f/2.8 version for events and weddings.

Hawaii Sunset
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 24mm, ISO 64, 1/160, f/6.3

Alongside the 24-70 f/4, I’ll add the 14-30m f/4 much of the time. It shares the 24-70mm f/4’s lightweight design, good sharpness, and low levels of optical aberrations. This makes it an easy choice for most wide angle scenarios. While I’d like to upgrade to the 14-24 f/2.8, the price is a steep jump for benefits that don’t matter to me outside of astrophotography.

Aside from using f/4 for astrophotography, my biggest quibble with the 14-30mm is the drastic change in the center of gravity when zooming the lens, as this makes balancing the setup on a video gimbal a bit annoying. Because of those two factors, I’m looking at adding a fast prime, like Venus Optic’s 15mm f/2, to my kit.

Oculus
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S @ 14mm, ISO 64, 1/80, f/4.5

Those two lenses constitute my most basic landscape kit. Anything else, I add as needed. For telephoto situations, I would have loved a lightweight Z telephoto, like a Z 70-200mm f/4 or 70-300mm f/5.6. But instead of releasing one, Nikon prioritized five primes in the 40-60mm range. So, I’ve stuck with my 70-300 AF-P, which requires adding the FTZ adapter too. Maybe I’ll get the new Tamron 70-300mm at some point as a replacement.

For macro situations, I’ve added the Z MC 105mm f/2.8, which can also serve as a short tele in situations where I didn’t bring my 70-300mm AF-P. Because I typically shoot macro as a side goal to my main shoot, I don’t bring much macro supporting equipment.

Lastly, for dedicated astrophotography shoots, I like to bring the Nikon F-Mount 24mm f/1.8. This lens represents another area where I’d love to switch to the Z 20mm f/1.8 or 24mm f/1.8, but the cost of a new lens just isn’t worth it for a small jump in performance on a subject I shoot less frequently.

To pack everything up, I like to use the Backlight 18L, which offers a good balance of size and storage, particularly for mirrorless options. Interestingly, despite the listed specs, it can accommodate a 14″ MacBook Pro, although it’s a tight squeeze. This setup can look a bit conspicuous in urban environments, however, so I also make use of a now-discontinued ThinkTank backpack. The closest relative to that bag looks to be the Airport Essentials bag, which offers a very quiet, all-black design.

Zion Sunset
NIKON D810 + 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 38mm, ISO 160, 25/1, f/5.6

Commercial Gear

On my commercial shoots, the subject dictates the setup. A lot of the gear is the same as the landscape kit, but I’ll often bring more lighting, video, and drone gear.

For lighting, I’ve got a portable setup built around Godox’s lights and wireless triggers. I’m a big fan of the inter-compatibility of the system, as well as the really strong price-to-performance ratio. My typical lights are the AD200 strobes, which can light a room for “flambient” (flash/ambient) real estate shots, but also be used up close through a modifier for product photos. The small size of the AD200 also means I can get away with compact light stands, keeping the overall kit portable.

When it’s time to shoot video, I’m often still just using my Nikon Z7. For stabilization during walkthrough videos, I’ve previously been using a Ronin SC gimbal, although I recently started using a Zhiyun Weebill 3. For either of these gimbals, I like that they’re able to support my Z7 setup, without being really bulky and cumbersome. For the videos that I produce for clients, audio is often not a priority, so I’ll avoid adding a mic to my gimbal setup. On my videos for YouTube, however, I’ve gotten great results from both the Rode VideoMic Go and the Sennheiser MKE 600, which offers even more quality than the Go, but at a bigger size.

Lastly, my drone kit is a self-contained bag with a Mavic 3, controller, spare batteries, a few filters, and a light for night photography. By keeping everything together, it’s easy to bring my drone on a shoot, or just grab it to go out and fly for personal projects.

Fall Drone
Mavic 3 + 24mm f/2.8 @ 4.5mm, ISO 100, 1/640, f/2.8

Odds and Ends

Over the years, I have picked up a number of things in my bag that aren’t strictly camera gear, but can really come in handy. Among these are some tools, like a Leatherman multi-tool (make sure not to try and fly with this, however) and a dedicated photo multi-tool, which offers a range of dedicated bits for camera gear like tripods and mounting screws. I’ve used my Leatherman for everything from pulling cactus out of my hand to tightening loose screws and cutting errant threads on a camera strap.

Also, I’ve always made sure to carry some business cards for impromptu networking. A microfiber towel for drying off gear after rain can also be used just to wrap around gear that needs some extra cushioning. Lastly, throwing a spare battery and a memory card into the bag, even if these are older or smaller capacity, can save a shoot if you forget to take your good battery or card with you.

Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with my setup. I’ve seen photographers who are more meticulous with packing things away, but prefer to be flexible. What I photograph can change drastically from day to day, and I like my gear setup to reflect that. I really prize being able to slim my kit down when possible, so some of my most basic setups are just a body and a lens or two.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or are looking for any recommendations!

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Filed Under: Cameras and Lenses Tagged With: Camera Accessories, Camera Bag, Choosing a Camera, Choosing a Lens, Mirrorless, Mirrorless Camera, Nikon Mirrorless

About Alex Coleman

I'm Alex Coleman, a commercial and travel photographer in Arizona. As an educator, I enjoy sharing my appreciation for photography with audiences both online and in person. You can see more of my work on my website.

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Ircut
Ircut
January 16, 2023 11:16 am

What do you use for your tripod(s) and head(s)? I’m looking to add something between the extremely light but flimsy Sirui and the built-like-a-damn-tank Gitzo Systematic.

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Alex Coleman
Alex Coleman
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Reply to  Ircut
January 17, 2023 6:43 pm

I’ve been pretty happy with a set of Leofoto legs (LS-324C) that I got. I’ll be putting out a review of them soon. They’re a happy medium between my larger Gitzo legs and a travel tripod.

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David
David
October 11, 2022 3:16 am

I am a huge fan of the SmallRig L-bracket for the Nikon Z5, which is the same as yours. It was the first accessory I bought when I upgraded to a mirrorless last year.

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Richard Paul Handler
Richard Paul Handler
October 10, 2022 6:23 pm

Get the Laowa f2 15mm Zero-D. It’s a fine astro lens, it focuses to 5 ¾ ” producing very dynamic wildflower closeups. It has straight aperture blades which crate precise aperture stars. MF is desirable for both astro and macro, but wish it were weather sealed, which it is not.

Once you have this lens you can easily crop on your 45mp images to fill the gap to your 24-70, omitting the UW zoom. Also it controls flare well shooting into the sun.

I’ve had my Laowa f2 15mm Zero-D (Sony FE) since it was released, often producing my favorite images with it, from wildflower closeups to grand landscapes and winter aurora astros.

Your Nikon Z version will have 5 aperture blades producing 10 point stars. My original Sony version has 7 blades, 14 point stars. Don’t fret bokeh at 15mm.

Somewhere on Fred Miranda’s blog there is a comparison of cropping from the Laowa 15 Zero-D with the perfect image from a Zeiss Loxia 21. Cropping off the corners from the Loawa produces a 21mm FOV image as sharp as from the Zeiss Loxia. That’s really good! I have such an image, shot with the Laowa into the sun along the Snaefellsnes coast and cropped, printed 30″ wide above my desk. Detail is phenomenal.

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George
George
October 9, 2022 9:28 am

“Bag” reveals are always interesting to me. I go by a simple principle, which I call … Simple. I’m an event photographer primarily. A Canon EOS R6 body, 24-105/4, and 135/2, plus iPhone 13 Pro Max for ultrawides. That does it for me. The 135 is preeminently croppable – it is so sharp, with such lovely microcontrast that even deep crops yield beautiful portraits, etc.

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Mark B
Mark B
October 9, 2022 6:13 am

I also use the Z7 with 14-30 f4, 24-70 f4 and the 100-400. When hiking I rarely carry the 14-30 and prefer to carry the 100-400 in case I see wildlife. The 100-400 and the 24-70 make a great lightweight hiking setup. I’ve considered moving to the 24-120 but the added cost and weight are prohibitive. It would be nice to have though for city photography when I carry only the Z7 and a single lens.

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Rich
Rich
October 8, 2022 11:13 pm

Great set! For landscapes I also match the Z7 with the 14-30 f4, 24-70 f4, and I just can’t resist the 100-400S which I get loads of use out of :)

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