Canon 1D Mark II
This is my main camera body. It is a remarkable piece of equipment, and has been
a real pleasure to own. It is capable of shooting up to 8 fps for up to 20
frames in RAW mode (40 in JPEG). This makes it a great capture tool for sports
and wildlife. In addition, the 45 point AF is extremely accurate (and fast).
This is by far the best camera I have ever owned. For complete specs on the 1D
Mark II, click here.
Canon IR-10D
(IR Modified)
I have had this body for a while, and until I purchased the Mark II, it was my
main camera. This camera has been modified for IR use only by LifePixel. For complete specs on the
Canon 10D, click here.
If you would like more information on converting your Canon 10D to infrared,
click here.
Canon Lenses
I have a few different lenses that I shoot with on a regular basis. My new favorite lens
is the 17-40 f/4L Canon. This lens has proven to be a beautifully sharp lens
across the spectrum, and it performs equally well when shooting infrared on my
10D. My current lens inventory includes:
ð
Canon 17-40 f/4L USM
info
ð
Canon 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
info
ð
Canon 50 f/1.8 II
info
ð
Canon 100 f/2.8 macro USM
info
ð
Canon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
info
Singh-Ray Graduated ND Filters
These filters are great for balancing difficult lighting situations such as
sunsets, and beach scenes as well as a multitude of other difficult lighting
situations. Although they can be a bit pricey, they are worth the investment in
terms of optical quality and clarity. Don't be tempted by cheap knock-offs...
you'll be sadly disappointed by the results. If you would like more information
on these filters, click here.
My current set includes a 2-Stop Soft, a 3 Stop Soft, and a 2-Stop Hard filter.
I may be adding a 3-Stop Hard to the set in the future.
Misc. Stuff
I have lots of other stuff, such as a big heavy
Manfrotto Tracker tripod,
a Davis & Sanford CarbonLite X10 Carbon Fiber Tripod, 2 monopods, a
Canon 550EX,
(3) Vivitar 283 Flash units. All the basic stuff you need for day to day
shooting.
SpyderPro
This is the piece of equipment I use for screen calibration. Although I do like
the product, the company SUCKS big time. I paid just under $500 for the
SpyderPro, and PrintFix in November of 2003. Shortly after my purchase, the
company changed their line, and stopped supporting this product. Now that I use
Vista, the old software doesn't work anymore, and the company refuses any
support other than to tell me to spend another $500 to buy a new one. NOT
LIKELY. Luckily I know how to use Bit Torrent. It does seem that the SpyderPro2
s/w works fine with my device, and works with Vista. As far as I'm concerned
this kind of customer support is what is wrong these days. So - take my word for
it... look elsewhere for a screen calibration tool.
Photoshop CS2
This is my modern day darkroom. I am so blown away with just how much you can do
with this program (and I am sure I have only scratched the surface). When I
think back to the hours I used to spend laboring in the dark to attempt
to achieve some of the things that Photoshop does so easily... I can't help but
smile. Isn't technology a wonderful thing???
Click here for a complete review.
Epson
Stylus Photo 1270
My current output device. I am a big fan of Epson printers. I have used HP
inkjets in the past, and although I love their laser printers, I feel they are
lagging behind in their inkjet technology. My next serious upgrade will be to an
Epson Stylus Pro 4800 - this flagship printer uses 8 color UltraChrome ink technology with
archival characteristics. In addition, it is capable of printing up to 17" wide
by 132' on roll paper. This printer surpasses anything I could have ever
achieved in my darkroom with any of my enlargers - even projecting them onto a
wall. To see this monster,
click here.
Breeze Browser Pro
I have used this program for as long as I have had a Canon digital camera. I
love the ease with which it allows me to handle the RAW files from my CF card. I
usually pop the CF card into the adapter (PCMCIA) and then dump the images onto
the backup drive. I then use Breeze Browser to open the directory with the
images in them. Breeze Browser also interfaces directly with Photoshop so
opening the files is a "breeze" as well. In addition, the galleries you see on
this website are also generated using this program. For more information,
click here.
Neat Image Pro
This is the program I use for noise reduction on high ISO images. I think it
works really well without disturbing the other aspects of the image. One of the
things I like about this program is that it uses individual profiles for each
ISO/Camera configuration. This makes it extremely versatile.
This image is a shot of
downtown Tampa taken at night at ISO 800. The 100% crops can be seen by clicking
bere:
Without Noise Reduction
/
With Noise Reduction. I
think the difference is clear. If you would like more information on Neat Image,
click here.
Genuine Fractals
If you need to enlarge an image beyond the size that comes out of your camera,
there is simply no better tool on the market than this one. The image becomes
mathematically encoded as an algorithm and the pixels of the original raster
image are replaced with a new file structure that stores the entire image and
none of the pixels. When you open the image again, you can re-scale it to the
desired size and the algorithm will generate new pixels while maintaining
sharpness regardless of image size. The results are simply amazing! I have a 13"
x 40" enlargement hanging on my wall that came out of a 6MP camera that is
simply stunning because of this program. If you would like more information
click here.
Nik! Sharpener Pro
In my opinion, the best sharpening program out there. I have been using it for
years, and I simply love it. Many have come along since... but I am still loyal
to Nik!. Click here for
more information.
FM Software Velvia Vision
If you love Velvia film, you will love this plug-in. It makes your digital shots
look like they were shot on Velvia. I like the warmth, and enhanced saturation.
Complete control over the process, and the ability to lay the entire result in
as a new layer makes it even more powerful. This plug-in is also very reasonable
in cost. You owe it to yourself to check this one out! If you need more
convincing... check out these two shots. The
first is un-retouched. The
second has the Velvia Vision
filter applied. The results are pretty amazing! For more information, or to
purchase the plug-in,
click here.
FM Software BW Workflow Pro
If you like B&W, you owe it to yourself to check out this plug-in. The control
added to Photoshop with this plug-in makes B&W a real pleasure. Before I got
this plug-in I struggled with getting my B&W to look the way I wanted. Now that
I have this, I love the way my B&W work looks. Once again, Fred comes to the
rescue with an affordable plug-in that really performs! For more information,
click here.
Canon D30
This was my first DSLR. I paid more for it than I did for my Mark II, and it
was only a 3.3 megapixel camera! That's what you get for buying the newest
equipment when it first comes out. By comparison, the D30 was very slow to
focus, and had a lot more noise than the DSLR's of today. However, for it's time
it was a very nice camera. It went to a good home in the UK when I was done with
it. Complete specs on the D30 can be seen by
clicking
here.
Canon EOS 3
The last film based 35mm camera that I owned was also the sweetest. This
camera was as close to a professional SLR as you could get and still be in the
"pro-sumer" line. This camera had 45 point AF similar to that found in the 1D
Mark II with the addition of eye controlled auto focus. I never found eye
controlled AF to be that accurate, and left it turned off most of the time. This
camera was most responsible for my desire to own a 1 Series digital body. After
using the 45 point AF system in this camera, other AF systems just don't cut the
mustard. The EOS 3 is still available as a current film body, complete specs can
be seen by
clicking here.
Mamiya 645 Pro TL
For a short period of time I had the extreme pleasure to own a Mamiya medium
format setup including the
645 Pro TL body, a couple of backs, a prism finder, and about 3 lenses.
Although I didn't keep this equipment for that long (I went digital within
months of acquiring it), the shots that were taken with this setup were
absolutely stunning. I can certainly see why medium format (and larger) was so
popular for so long. Unfortunately in today's digital world this equipment is
extremely niche, and the last time I checked e-Bay you can get this stuff for
pretty cheap (sans the glass). The awesome thing is that Mamiya is getting ready
to release their own medium format digital setup, which looks awesome! If you
are interested, you can click
here for more information.
Canon EOS620
This film based camera was my first camera in the EOS line, and I never
looked back. It was also my first chance to own an autofocus camera. At that
time USM lenses were all but unheard of. This made auto focusing noisy, and
quite a bit slower than the lenses of today. Funny though, every time I use my
50mm 1.8 II I still chuckle when the thing focuses... it sounds like a busted
chainsaw :o) I sold this camear on e-Bay, and I am quite sure it's still
clicking off frames today... it was built like a tank.
Click here for a complete review.
Minolta X700
I dabbled in Minotla equipment for a while in the late 80's. The X700 was
capable of shooting in Av, Tv, or Auto mode. It was a manual focus film camera,
and overall was a pretty well built piece of equipment. I actually owned 2 of
these, I usually kept B&W loaded in one of them, and color in the other. Back
then I didn't really have the appreciation for OEM glass like I do today, so my
lens collection consisted of a lot of knock-offs like Toyo's & the likes. If I
would have spent the extra cash back then and picked up some Minolta lenses,
there's a good chance some of my old stuff would look a little better than it
does :o)
Click here for a complete review.
Pentax ME Super
This was my first SLR. I bought this camera in 1981 in Denver, CO. I am not
sure what attracted me to the ME Super over any other brand of camera at that
time. Maybe a salesman had some bearing on my decision. I know that to this day
I am more comfortable shooting in Av mode than anywhere else because of this
thing (the ME Super was an Av only camera). I have tons of slides (Ektachrome)
that were shot with this camera over the 4 or so years that I owned it. I had
one problem with the metering when it was less than a year old, but there was a Pentax service center right there in Denver so it was fixed promptly. I lost
track of this camera over the years. It's a shame, because I had a big
sentimental attachment to it. I guess it's like your first love, you always
remember your first camera.
Click here for a complete review.
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