A little info about the gear I use.

Camera’s

I have 2 Sony A200 Digital SLR’s which I use on a daily basis. The A200 is by no means the best or most modern digital SLR on the market, however it delivers some super results and when launched it was reviewed to be one of the best in its class.

I also have a Minolta 9000AF, this is a 35mm film camera and was first launched in 1985 when it was one of the best 35mm SLR’s you could by. It was one of the first SLR’s to incorporate autofocus and one of Minolta’s first cameras to use its A mount lens system which to this day is still in use on all Sony digital SLR’s.

Film / Memory Cards

I use Lexar Premium Series 80 and Professional 233 cards along side SanDisks Extreme III CF cards. They give superb performance and come with recovery software that can be used in any event of data corruption.

Film wise I use Ilford Delta 400 black and white film, it delivers great depth and contrast and regarded as one of the best 35mm black and white films available.

Lenses

• SAL 18-70 What was Sony’s main kit lens came with my first A200 body. The lens is not the best in the world but does deliver some good results.
• SAL 75-300 Sony’s base telephoto. This lens offers a good telephoto range, is light and fairly fast focusing. Its very easy to use when in manual focus due to its large focusing ring found at the front of the lens.
• Minolta 50mm f1.7 This lens used to be one of Minolta’s kit lenses when the 5000,7000 and 9000AF’s were on sale. It is now a very sought after little lens. Its fast aperture makes it perfect for low light conditions when shooting portraits but also great for action shots.

• Minolta 70-210 f4 I have two of these iconic lenses. They are nicknames the ‘beercan’, this is due to the similar size and metal construction. Although they are a heavy lens, the results they produce rival that of some newer lenses. The ‘beercan’ produced very nice bokeh or depth of field which makes your subject spear to jump out of the picture.

• Minolta 35-70 f4 Another well known Minolta lens, great for portraits, landscapes and a great walk around lens.

• Minolta 24-105 3.5-4.5 A great all round lens, fairly limited focal use on a non full frame digital SLR but works exceptionally well when used on my 35mm 9000AF.

• Sigma 55-200 The sigma lens is a great compact lens that offers a decent focal length and produces very little barrel distortion at either end.

Flash’s and Studio Kit

I have a number of flash’s which include Sony’s HVLF-36AM, Minolta 5400, 5200 and 2800, a couple of Vivitar’s 285HV’s and some Jessops and Canon flash guns.

I recently purchased a set of CTR301P wireless triggers which I have found to be brilliant. In order to use them with Sony and Minolta flash guns though a small modification is required due to the sync voltages used by Sony/Minolta.

I also have an Interfit EX150 setup comprising of two EX150 heads, a 24x24inch softbox and shoot through umbrella.

In addition to this I have a series of reflectors, umbrellas and lighting stands.