Whats in the bag

I have always used Nikon gear, right back to the early 1980's when I started taking pictures with an FM and FE. In the 80's and 90's I worked with the F3, F4, F5 in the film era. Into the digital age I started with the D1x in 2001 (just six megapixel). Over the years I have used the D200, D500, D700, D800 etc.

Currently I use the Nikon D810 & D850, for yachting and wildlife you usually need long lens's, I like the Nikon 200-500 f5.6 zoom lens as it gives me a range to compose a picture and I like the foreshortening effect of the longer lens's that make the boats look big and powerful.

Also in the bag is the full range of len's, so my standard kit includes:

2 x Nikon bodies (D810 / D850)

16mm fisheye

17-35 f2.8mm wide angle zoom

24-70 f2.8 mid range zoom

70-200 f2.8 telephoto zoom

200-500 f5.6 long telephoto zoom

SB800 Flash Gun

I usually carry two bodies to have different lens options on each and also for redundancy when out shooting. My compact camera of choice is the Sony RX100m3, this is a great compact camera that I would thoroughly reccomend. The later model the RX100m7 even has a 24-200 equivalent lens.

The bag I normally use is the Think Tank Airport Essentials, this is about the smallest bag that I can fit the above in plus the 15 inch MacBook Pro laptop.

Perhaps the Nikon D810 is getting a bit old now, launched in 2014, but to me a 36mb sensor gives more than enough pixels. If you are looking for a really good camera I would recommend a secondhand D810, you can get an 810 with very low shutter count for less than a £1000.

Last updated 17:09 on 6 March 2025