What's in My Camera Bag?
- Sophia Lewis
- Mar 26, 2018
- 4 min read
Hey everyone! I know gear lists are a popular theme right now so I thought I'd do one of my own! I'm going to start with the two camera bodies I have and them work my way through my lenses by focal length. I'm also going to include sample images for the lenses!
.01 Sony NEX-C3.
There's nothing really special about this camera... except what you get for the price. It was only $300 when I bought it, but it really outdoes itself. I tend to use it the most for concert photography because it's a small pink camera I ALWAYS get it through the gates. The NEX is also a great camera to just toss in my purse if I'm going somewhere that I want better Images than my phone camera without the weight of my DSLR. It's hard to believe the quality that comes out of such a dainty camera with the kit lens still attached. It has fantastic low light performance and surprises me every time I use it!
.02 Sony A58.
I have a love-hate relationship with this camera but for the most part it's treated me well. I've had this camera for about 4 years now and it's life is almost over. This is my first semi-professional camera. It's gotten me through a lot and has really helped me through several shoots and really advanced my work from my first camera. This is the body I use for my still shooting, so things like urban and portraits. It's not the best at focusing on moving subjects and maxes out at 4 fps with 12 megapixels. Although it has been plenty sufficient for me for the past 4 years I've reached the point in my photography career where the camera just doesn't keep up with what I need it to. For one the buffer... it fills up so quickly! I was shooting one of my friend's riding lessons and I missed so many opportunities to get some great images. Secondly It misses focus, a lot. This is a recent issue that makes me extremely angry sometimes. I recently had a fantastic workshop and got so many shots that would've been great had they been in focus. When it hits focus it does a spectacular job but lately it misses more often than not. I've definitely gotten my money's worth for a $600 kit with a body and two lenses. When I upgrade I'll still keep it as a backup but it needs to be retired.
.03 Sony apsc 18-35 mm f4

This is the only lens I have for my NEX. Its pretty good for a cheap kit lens! It isn't even black, it's silver! It gets some pretty good shots and I'm happy with it. This lens is compact, lightweight, and rarely misses focus at concerts which is a big deal! I absolutely love love LOVE this combo. Its compact, convenient, and gets the job done for a fraction of the price of a normal DSLR. YES! Perfect! It's hard to say anything bad about this lens, sometimes the images aren't AS crisp as I would like them to be but they really are fantastic for the price. They'r to where near quality enough to be professional images but concert photography for me is more if a hobby that I like to do on the side when I have time. It works for me!
.04 Sony 18-55mm f5

This is a pretty good lens. Again it's a kit lens that came with my A58 but it does it's job. It's good for when I want to do more than just portraits with a background full of bokeh. It lets me get that wide angle of an 18 with the reach of a 55 if I need it. Its awesome for lifestyle shoots and shoots in smaller spaces because I can be closer to my subject than usual. I love shooting with this lens, it has a definite style that I just LOVE! It adds personality and quirkiness to my photos and really lets you feel in the moment. Its a very lightweight lens which saves my shoulders if I'm out shooting for a while! It rarely misses focus and is great for basically any kind of photography you want to do. If I go out and just want to wander and experiment with different techniques and Ideas this is the first lens I'd pick up!
.05 Sony 50mm f1.4

This is the lens I use for the vast majority of my portraits. It's the first lens I've ever bought on it's own, all of the other lenses have been included in kits which is nice but it's a great feeling to finally buy that first lens alone that'll take your work to the next level. When I got this lens I discovered that I love having that smooth, buttery bokeh in the background! it does a great job of separating the subject from the background. You almost can't tell where they are! I do like that it doesn't TOTALLY blur the background , you still get a sense of the environment behind them. This is also the lens I use for my black background equine photography. Its great to work with in Photoshop to get the results I'm looking for and it would be much much harder to edit the background if it wasn't separated from my subject! This lens is a steal too, I bought it for about $150, which is fantastic!
.06 Tamaron 70-300mm f5

I don't use this lens a whole lot but when I do it gets the job done. I've only used it to capture action shots from a distance as well as places like the zoo. It's a very basic lens and is nice to have on hand when you really need it. Where I am in my career right now I don't take very many long range photos. I love having it for that just in case moment. For example if a client wants me to do portraits as well as competition shots I'll use my 70-300 for the competition shots because of the reach.
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