Journey & Play

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Nikon D750

Every photographer has their favorite. I have good friends that swear by their Fujifilm mirrorless setups (of which I now own this little beauty) and some that are loyal only to a single brand, which usually makes buying lenses a lot easier. For me, as soon as I picked up the Nikon D750, I was at home. The body fit perfectly into my hand and even though I was just delving into hardcore photography, I felt like I knew how to work most everything on it. I already owned some Nikon lenses so it was natural that I didn't have to start from scratch, although some serious upgrading was necessary.  

Nikon D750

Landing right in the middle of Nikon's full-frame format cameras, the D750 was the perfect mixture of style and substance for me. I shoot a lot of video at work and the ability of the D750 to handle aperture changes in live-view mode made it an easy choice over the D610 but at a lower price point than the D810. Coupled with an aftermarket battery grip, I can shoot photo and video for hours. The tilting view screen makes it easy to shoot via a tripod at higher or lower angles while still being able to see what is on screen.

Nikkor 24-120mm VR Lens

With the step up to the full-frame sensor, a new lens was necessary to get the full range of the D750. In stepped the Nikkor 24-120mm VR lens. It's not the fastest of lenses and is quite heavy, but when shooting at an event, the extra zoom is really helpful and it's crystal clear images never disappoint. When shooting video during the day (once again, not the fastest) the 24-120mm has pulled down some seriously crisp footage that rivals anything I've seen from a prime lens. A little heavy for a travel setup, the 24-120mm is ideally situated for short photo outings when you know you won't be able to get super close to your subject. At f/4 you can still get some nice bokeh, which is helpful.

Nikkor 50mm 1.8g Lens

The Nikkor 50mm 1.8g lens is the workhorse of my photo and video setup. Still not the fastest 50mm in the Nikon lineup, the 50mm 1.8g is consistently my go to lens for pretty much everything; video, photo, portrait, travel, you name it. On my recent trip to Paris and Amsterdam it was the only lens that I packed due to its versatility and small footprint. You can check out some of the images I shot on that trip here. The cheapest lens in my setup and yet the one that I use the most. If you have a Nikon camera and don't have one of these, go get one right now.

Peak Design Strap Pack

I have an unhealthy fear of dropping my camera in a large crowd while everyone laughs, so my first purchase after buying a new camera was to invest in a low profile strap that was suited to quick changes. Peak Design's strap pack that includes their leash and cuff was exactly what i needed. Featuring theirAnchor Link Quick-Connection System, the leash and cuff are perfect for any working photographer that has to change to tripod or monopod mounted video quickly without having a strap hanging down and making noise. I've even got an anchor attached to the bottom of my battery grip so that the D750 can hang sideways on my waist without the screen scratching up against my belt.

There's plenty of other gear that I'd love, like my newly acquired Nikkor 85mm 1.8D (or a 1.4g if anyone wants to gift it) and an Atomos Ninja-2 video recorder, but for now the smaller the setup the better. After all, my Tenba DNA 15 can only hold so much at one time.