Photography Gear

Canon 5D Mark III - This has been my work horse camera now for many years. It’s actually my second one after my first went for a swim back in my surf photography days. I definitely in need of and upgrade and hopefully that will be very soon.

Canon 6D - Now as old as this camera model is, it’s actually my newest to my arsenal. This 20MP camera is pretty good in low light and it has WiFi connection which is a luxury to me as it’s the first DSLR I’ve owned to have it.

Canon 5Ds (Modified) - Now I bought this camera brand new back in 2015 when it was first released as a high megapixel beast for doing commercial work. But as the years past and my photography has changed paths, I made the decision to have it modified into a Full Spectrum camera. Whats a Full Spectrum camera I hear you ask? Watch this video - (COMING SOON)

Samyang XP 14mm f2.4 - Mainly use this lens for my startrails & time-lapse work, because when you use it for “one shot” images of the MilkyWay Core it does really look small in the shot.

Sigma Art 24mm f1.4 - This lens is my main lens I use for most of my images. I find the focal length it’s a nice balance to show landscape + the night sky in my images. If I sometime need to go a little wider I also use this lens to do my panoramas/vertaramas.

Sigma Art 35mm f1.4 - This is a New lens to the arsenal, my wife wanted it for her portrait work (Check her work out - here) I can see myself using this lens a fair bit in the future.

Sigma Art 50mm f1.4 - I love this lens, it is a very sharp lens and using it to do nightscapes, as well as to do panoramas is just amazing. One of the best lenses I’ve ever bought.

Canon 24-105mm f4 L - So I’ve only owned this lens since getting the Canon 6D (it came with it). I would mainly use this for doing landscapes during the day, both with my normal cameras and the modified 5Ds to do some Infrared work as well.

Video Gear

Canon M5 - Now this camera wouldn’t be my first choice as a vlogging camera, as there is way better options. Though when I started this channel this is the best option I had because of Canon’s dual pixel autofocus, and it’s small size.

Canon EF-M 22mm f2 - I have this lens for the M5 as it’s a native lens for the body, it’s small pancake style and is a fast aperture lens as well to help with letting in light.

Lume Cube 2.0 - I wanted a small light that I could use for my vlogs that was light weight and would dim to very low levels. This light can dim down to 1% and it comes with a small diffusion panel as well. Oh and it’s waterproof.

Pi Boling LED Panel - Main reason I bought this light was for the fact it would dim to 1% accurately and it was bi-colour, so when and if I wanted to do any sort of light painting I had the flexibility to do so. But also comes in handy a strong video light.

Rode Wireless Go - Not much you can say about these guys. Best wireless microphone kit on the market, great battery life and awesome audio quality.

3LT Corey Tripod - With trying to keep my vlogging kit small I choose this tripod as it works for that, but it can hold up 14kg of weight if needed (It’s never needed) so it makes for a handy travel/3rd tripod.

Rode NT-USB Mini - Needed a voice over mic for my videos, and this just got released at the time. The price is right and it work extremely well at home cancelling out background noise and recording my voice perfectly.

Sony WH-1000X M3 Headphones - Still to tis day they are arguably the best headphones for the money. Amazing sound quality and awesome noise cancelling (I can still hear my kids though). These are really helpful when listening back to my vlog when editing.

Tripods & Trackers

Vanguard Alta 2 Pro+ - I’ve had these tripod legs for a few years now, and they’ve seen better days. I originally bought them because it was a ball head, arca swiss compatible, 1/4 turn twist locks and they were a cool looking green colour. As you read this I am looking at upgrading them, and if you read on you will see what too.

iFootage Gazelle TA7 - I originally bought these legs to hold my Star Tracker because when they’re fully extended they stand tall at 185cm which is AMAZING. The other bonus was that it had a bowl leveling head which is so important when setting up a Star Tracker. Watch that video here - (COMING SOON)

Leofoto VH-30R - After falling in love with using the iFootage TA7 legs I wanted a tripod head for them that I could use for doing my panoramas. So I didn’t want a ball head as moving them quickly and accurately in the dark isn’t easy, so I wanted more of a pan-tilt head. So I discovered the VH-30R and I’m in love with it.

3LT L-Brackets - Once you use one you’ll never look back. Being able to orientate my camera vertically on my tripod to do panoramas is awesome.

Skywatcher Star Adventurer - This is one of the best portable star trackers in the business. I personally have the first model, and as of writing this the new generation 2 model is out which now comes with WiFi connection. I chose to get this tracker as it has a max payload of 5kg, which means I can mount larger lenses on there to try my hand at some deeper space objects for when the night calls for it.

Accessories

Coowoo Lens Warmer - Essential for when the nights get cold. Nothing worse than condensation/mist building up on the front of your lens and wrecking your photos.

ANKER Powerbanks - I have two powerbanks to match with my two lens warmers. One is a 5000mAh, and the other is a massive 26,800mAh. The small is enough for a short night out, where the big one will power for many hours and is great for when I do long time-lapses or star trails. It also has three USB outlets so I can also charge my phone on the go if need be as well.

Hahnel Captur Wireless Remote - This remote comes in handy for when I want to do those Astro selfies, and also set up the intervelometor for using to shoot multiple long exposure when I’m using the tracker.

Promaster Cable Release - Basic and cheap, it plugs in and works + no batteries required.

Techvida LED Headlamp - Nothing to special about this headlamp, it has a bright white LED for when I’m making my way in the dark to a location, it has a red light for helping me keep my night vision + it’s USB rechargeable.

Mindshift firstlight 30L Bag - I originally got this bag as I needed a bigger bag to fit all my gear in, yet that in itself is another issue as weight becomes a problem. But if you’re looking for a bag to fit a heap of gear in this is it.

Mindshift Filter Hive - This is where I keep all my filters safe and protected.

Hoya Starscape Filter - Not one to use a light pollution filters, because it’s best practice to go out and find dark skies. Though so far it seems to work nicely, but I’ll look into this a bit more soon.

Kolari Visible + Ha Filter - Having a Full Spectrum modified camera is awesome with all the extra light it can pick up at night (and day). But it does come with some weird characteristics. So I’ve invested in this filter to not only revert my camera to seeing the visible spectrum of light, but also too help boost the Ha wavelength to really soak in those reds of the nebulas and gases.