Jens C Krause What's in my bag

I often photograph on extensive hikes, and the gear below is on the edge of what I can carry several miles up the mountains. The Nikon D300s offers outstanding image quality and superb handling. For certain projects, I may modify my setup slightly.

Lenses (all Nikon): With some gaps in between, I cover everything from wide angle to tele-macro to super-tele for wildlife photography with three lenses (not counting the TC-14E II and TC-17E II teleconverters) and without big compromises. I also own an 85mm f1.4D lens that is my go-to lens for events and people, but that does not see much use for nature photography; it seems that I can solve all of my photographic problems with those four lenses.

Accessories: For macro photography, a cable release and a reflector are helpful. I am not using a macro focusing rail due to weight/space constraints. While I own an RRS pano kit, I only carry it with me when I have specific plans for its use and typically not the multi-row outfit---it's heavy! The C-Pol filter is used exclusively with my wide angle zoom; I like my skies blue, my colors saturated, and flowing water blurred without reflections; my B+W KSM filter replaced a Nikon filter due to sealing against humidity.

Support equipment: I have been using the RRS Groundpod for four years now. It does not weigh a lot (1.2 kg to be exact), yet easily supports a 500mm lens. The compromise here is height, not stability. This is not so much of a compromise for me as I like to approach my subjects on eye level. While I have RRS plates on all of my cameras and teles, I was disappointed with the BH-55 ballhead based on three years of experience. The Arca Swiss Z1 is smaller, lighter, smoother, cheaper, does not creep when tightened, and still carries huge loads with ease. That being said, I cannot recommend original Arca Swiss clamps at all: My Arca single pan with FlipLock clamp had a nasty (mostly) plastic lever the metal parts of which were corroded after less than nine months of use! My dream combination is an Arca ballhead with an Arca-style clamp from RRS:

Packs: For frontcountry camping, I use a dedicated photo backpack. I can squeeze the 500mm lens and a lot of other gear into a Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW, though I have not found much use for the laptop compartment. For backcountry camping, I find that a dedicated hiking backpack (I use a Lowe Alpine Cerro Torre 65+15) works best. I might place the 17-35mm without hood into a Lowepro Lens Case 1 and the D300s into a SlipLock Pouch 60 AW and shield the 17-35mm against stray light with my hands if necessary.

© J.C.Krause, 2002-2011, last changed: 06/10/11 – FAQ – Visitors since 11/22/05:
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