Work has a habit of sorting things out.

Before I used my gear for actual work, I spent far too much time thinking about the what’s and wherefore’s of everything, analysing, theorising, but when you just do something day in and day out, things just tend to settle themselves down.

I have a large kit. Far too large for a hobbyist, possibly not refined enough overall for a pro, but I get by.

Bags;

My main bag is now the Dome F2 Ballistic. This bag is the everyday work bag. Basically if it does not fit into this bag, it is not part of my daily kit. Quite a bit fits.

For Sports, I use the Lowe Pro Pro Tactic 350 (old model). I do not love this bag, but it has possibly found a use that suits it and me.

The big Neewer backpack and Domke Roller 217 are used for video and commercial jobs.

Filson Field Camera bag is the place holder for a variety of cameras bags, so we will call it this for now.

Cameras;

• 2x EM1x. Reserved for sport, event and long lens work. Sports.

• 2x EM1 mk2. Every day editorial cameras are the two well used EM1’s. F2.

• 2x G9. The colours and operational sweet spot for these cameras seems to be commercial, landscape, studio, or as video backups. Video or Filson.

• S5. Video, studio and commercial backup. Video.

• 2x EM10 mk2. These are my lucky event cameras especially when “little” is preferred. Various.

• Pen F. Just for me, street, travel, landscape and a little studio. Various.

• Pen Mini. Street and travel “distraction” camera. Various.

• 2-4x EM5 Mk1. These tend to just be around for personal stuff.

Lenses;

8-18 Leica. Sports, event, commercial, video, this lens gets far too little use, but delivers when needed. I rarely need the 8mm over my 9mm for work, so it does basically everything else like video, landscape, sport, commercial. Sport bag or with a G9.

9mm Leica. Editorial wide. This adds speed with very wide and it also reduces weight. F2.

12-40 Oly. Editorial standard. I do not use this often preferring primes, but is I just need one lens for a fluid situation, this is it. F2.

12-60 Leica. Video, commercial. The replacement for the lens above, it is filling in, waiting for its time being used as my main video/commercial standard lens. With a G9.

12-60 Kit. Travel. A great bit of glass, its main advantage is super range, while being super light. Intended for use with the 17, 45 and 40-150 kit, it makes a super light travel and street kit. Various.

14-42 EZ Kit. Handy grab lens. If I carry a camera with me “just in case”, this is the lens. On an EM5 Mk1 or Pen Mini.

15mm Leica. Editorial standard wide. This is the core lens of my work kit. It’s annoyingly light aperture ring is disabled on my Olympus cameras, so it does not….annoy, and the delicate sharpness and colours suit the Oly cameras. Usually on EM1.2 in the F2.

17mm Oly. Travel, street. This is my favourite street lens, especially with the manual focus markings, so it has been saved from work. On EM10, Pen mini or Pen F.

25mm Oly. Sport, commercial. I must admit, this one is a bit at a loose end at the moment. It is a brilliant lens and the focal length, (actually closer to 45mm full frame), is a favourite, but it just sits in a useless space for me. Every time I use it, it is in place of a wider lens and it is too tight. If I take just one lens, it is perfect, but if I take more than one, it is never one of the few. Various.

30mm Sigma. Video, commercial, studio. Like the 25, this is also a neglected lens (not a standard lens guy it seems?), but I do like it for super shallow depth video interviews, an area the S5 and 50mm cover now. On G9.

45mm Oly. Editorial or personal, travel, street. Spoilt by having two, there is always one around, but a bit like the 25 and 30, I do not use it enough. One in F2, the other in various.

75mm Oly. Sports, low light editorial, super Bokeh stuff. This is my main poor light sports, powerful portrait and possibly my sharpest lens overall so it tends to be shared between my day bag instead of the zoom (below) or my sports kit. In F2 instead of 40-150 f4, or sports bag.

40-150 kit Oly. Travel and street. Part of the super little giant killer kit. Part of me wants to use it for work one day, just for kicks. Various.

40-150 f4 Oly. Editorial and sport. This one is the main tele for my work kit unless I know I am going into a poor light situation, then I swap it out for the 75 and sometimes I switch it out for the sports f2.8 if the light is good, in tandem with the 300. F2.

40-150 f2.8 Oly. Sport indoors, or small area sport and event. My premium mid range tele, sometimes the extra speed helps and it goes well with the tele converter. Sport Bag.

300mm Oly. Sport, event. Nothing to say here. This is a cracker, an enabler and a powerhouse. Sport Bag.

20-60mm S. This one came with the S5 and is much the same as the 12-60 kit, but possibly even more useful (20mm over 24mm equiv). Technically a kit lens, it is sharp, nicely made and has good close focus. This goes with the S5.

50mm f1.8 S. Same as above, but my shallow depth, super low light lens. Clean ISO 8000 and f1.8 are pretty powerful, but rarely used for stills. This goes with the S5.

Also in the Domke F2 bag;

Godox 860 flash and remote trigger, small LED, 60cm 5-in-1 reflector, note pad, phone, pens, face mask, spare bits, flagging foams.

Optional extras; Godox 685 flash and foot, 26” double baffle modifier with handle.

Also in the Pro Tactic 350;

Knee pad, reflector vest, note pad and pen.

Domke Roller or Neewer backpack;

Matt boxes, screens, Mics, filters (lots).