I loosely separate my kit into event and personal work, with some gear only making it out for one or the other, with some seeing time for both. I only use my S5II for events (typically for video, and occasionally as a backup stills). It’s a great camera, but I get no joy out of using it. But its grand for video and a solid stills camera. On the other end is my SL2, which I tend to use for landscape work and also for travel because of the ability to crop and take less lenses. I do sometimes use it on events as a second camera (esp if I’m shooting with two or three primes instad of zooms) but the file sizes get a bit mental. In the middle is my SL2s, which I enjoy using even more than my SL2. So it often is used as my main camera on gigs with either a zoom or primes (depending on the space) as well as my choice for ambling about, often with one or two m lenses. Thankfully I have two nice sized dry cabinets that help my keep everything organized between film and digital, af and maunal, zooms and primes. This makes it far easier for me to get things ready for gigs the night before, as well as take a quick moment to grab a small kit for a jaunt.
For personal stuff, I frequently revisit places, so I often use my prior knowledge of the area to pick one or two primes that work well with the area. This weekend I went out with just my SL2s and a 28mm. If I’ve never been to a place before I may take my 24-105 and a 50mm Voigtlander. A few weeks ago I was up in Vermont for a few days ambling about so I took my SL2, my 28-70 and my 40mm Nokton.
I have a mix of l mount primes and zooms, along with a collection of modern m mount primes (Voigtlander, Light Lens Lab and Thypoch at present) and Minolta and contax/yashica mount lenses. I definitely enjoy lenses that have multiple rendering styles across the aperture range, especially for my personal photography. The lenses I tend to use for event work are typically autofocus, with neutral rendering.
Considerations for personal adventures are weight/bulk, need for weather resistance, location, subject(s), and duration.
Aug 03, 2026 at 07:28 PM
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