We don't think the equipment you use to craft your images matters much, but we get asked this a lot, so we thought we'd write it out.
Tripods
Digital Cameras & Lenses
1. Phase One XT & IQ4.150 Digital Back. My first Phase was the DLSR XF with a Trichromatic back. I took that back swimming in the Pacific Ocean on Maui's north shore with a Cambo technical body. It did not survive. [Phase had a new one in my hands in 48 hours.]
2. Leica M11. The Leica M11 gets crapped on a lot out in the forums, and I suppose it's earned some of that with its price point. But I love mine. When it took a bath off the Oregon coast in 2023, and gradually failed thereafter, I sent it off for repair, and it came back good as new, free of charge, and in less than 6 weeks. It looked even better than before, and were it not for the serial number, I would have sworn it was a brand new camera. The ergonomics are superb, the menu system reasonably intuitive—better than Sony or Nikon, but not as good as either Phase Or Hasselblad, both of which are in a league of their own—
3. Sony A7CR. For work where I need to carry a zoom, and autofocus is a real asset, especially with IBIS and/or OIS, I've settled on the Sony A7CR. It sports a BSI sensor nearly identical to the one in the Leica M11. It's got plenty of disadvantages if that's what you want to focus on—e.g., single card slot, lower-res EVF—but for a camera almost the same size and weight as a Leica, it's pretty impressive. And the video functions are excellent as well, if you're into moving pictures. Ive been through the full evolution of Nikon digital cameras—the 90, 800, 810, 810A, 850, Z7—and I love Nikon ergonomics; for full-frame, full-size digital cameras, I think they are the best. And I wanted to love their entry into mirrorless, but Sony was just too far ahead, and it wasn't clear Nikon would survive that race, so I made the switch. Since then, Nikon have caught up, and they are doing it superbly. Their latest cameras are excellent; but they've got nothing quite like the A7CR. And even if they did, at this point, I am not sure I'd switch back. At this level of sensor technology, and the ability to make wall-size prints, there isn't much point in switching.
5. Leica CL. Mary has an excellent Leica CL kit that includes two zooms. It makes beautiful images straight out of the camera. Lightweight, and easy to carry around, it is an ideal
6. The Sony DSC-RX10mkIV. Maybe the best digital camera ever made, and it's a crime that Sony discontinued it, so now it's only available in the used market. Consider what that tells you that a discontinued digital camera sells for $1000 more used than it did new. And it was new in 2017. That's a decade of obsolescence right there. And yet . . . if you can get one, you should. I've written about it before here and here. I took this camera to Namibia, when I thought I would be doing mostly landscape work, and ended up with the chance to shoot a lot of wildlife. It was a lifesaver. If you can only have one camera, and you need to travel compactly—it's not super lightweight, because it is so well made—this is the one.
Film Cameras & Lenses
1. Arca-Swiss Field Metric 8x10
2. Arca-Swiss Field Metric 4x5
3. Leica M6 & Bessa R3. In the film rangefinder category, these are what we like.
Accessories
1. Kase Magnetic Filter.
2. Expose 5000 Backpacks. Backpacks we like a lot: f.64, Shimoda, f-stop.