My Gear (September 2025)
Gear does not make a photographer, but it is a huge part of photography. The gear I use is a compromise between what I need and what I can afford. There’s always that lens or piece of software that would be ‘nice to have’, but it’s also true that limitations breed creativity. As such, please don’t see this list as the only possible combination to achieve what I do – I could swap everything tomorrow and still be creative.
The Equipment I’m Currently Using
A quick look at the equipment that powers my photography.
The Nikon Z8
This year I swapped out the D850 I’d been using for high resolution work for the Z8. In truth, I’m not sure if I’ll even keep it – not because it’s not amazing, it is. More because I am genuinely concerned it’s more camera than I need. Incredible burst speeds; professional-grade video capture; an amazing sensor – I don’t need these things, but boy is it nice to have them…
The Nikon Z5II
I’m also using a Nikon Z5II alongside the Z8. It’s a smaller, lighter body with a lower resolution sensor; but, it’s still one hell of a camera. It has the same Expeed 7 processor as the Z8, (and Z9 and Z6III), which means that the autofocus is amazing and the subject recognition is spot on. What I like about it though is the form factor. I used to own the Z8, but found the ergonomics too hard to work with – the Z5II solved that. It’s light, easy to use and very powerful.
Fujifilm X100VI
Moving away from Nikon now, I also own the Fujifilm X100VI. This fills a niche that the Z5II very nearly manages to; it’s an EDC camera that comes with me on days out with the family and trips where taking an ILC would be a burden. The X100VI is probably good enough to do all of my work on, but the fact it’s got a fixed 35mm equivalent lens means I’ll always need something else too. The colours that come out of this camera are amazing though…
Glass
- Nikon Nikkor 24-70 f/4 S
- Nikon Nikkor 85 f/1.8 S
- Nikon Nikkor 50 f/1.8 S
- Nikon Nikkor 40 f/2
- Sigma 35 f/1.4 Art
These lenses give me the scope to complete my wedding photography work, as well as my landscape and travel work. My most-used lens is probably the 50mm f/1.8 S – it’s sharp, bright and versatile.
Adobe Lightroom
Urgh. Lightroom. I have a love-hate relationship with it; my biggest bugbear is the cost and subscription model. It also bugs me that LrC and LR don’t work better together – I love editing on my iPad, but dislike that I’m tied into their cloud storage. Having said all that, I find it is still the best software for editing photos- especially with its new and improved AI Denoise tool and its AI content-aware remove tools. These make editing wedding galleries so much more straightforward. It also has to be said, the competition isn’t much cheaper – I looked at Capture One and it’s not at all competitive in terms of the cost.
Apple iPad 13” M3
This year I began doing a lot more work when out and about; it’s actually a lot more relaxing editing your photos when sitting in a coffee shop than you’d realise. To that end, I invested in the iPad M3. It’s super speedy and the interface is actually very intuitive. I ended up getting the 13 inch version, as I no longer own a laptop – this seemed like the perfect compromise. Lightroom on the iPad is also a pleasant experience – using the stylus that came with the iPad has made editing photos a lot more tactile.
Other Equipment
- Wotancraft Pilot 18l
- Peak Design slide strap
- Peak Design Everyday Sling 3l