My Camera Equipment

I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails in the past few months asking about the camera equipment that I use for the photography here on southernmother.com, on Facebook, and on my photography website, ricordiphotography.com.

Well, here it is!

Any time I think I can possibly get away with it, I’m toting my DSLR – a Canon Rebel XSi.  In terms of league of camera, no, it’s not all that great.

But I still love it.

But I’m still swooning over a super duper wonderful dreamy Canon 5D Mark II.  Anyone care to donate about $2500?

Sigh.

Anyway, I have the XSi body – which is lightyears better than any point & shoot camera (that’s what we “photographers” call any non-DSLR camera) – and my favorite lens is my Canon 50MM 1.8 prime.

The f/1.8 is absolutely wonderful for portraits (great bokeh in the background & prime lenses are known for being sharper), but it’s important to consider that since it is a prime (a prime lens is the opposite of zoom lense), basically you are the zoom.  When you’re shooting, make sure you have enough room to back up & scoot forward to get everything you want in the frame in there.

My XSi came with this kit lens, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6.

I used primarily this lens for the first couple years I had my XSi.  It’s a good lens for everyday shooting, since the zoom range goes from pretty close to pretty far away.  It’s not the sharpest or most well-built lens, and if it hadn’t been the kit lens (that means it’s the lens that came with the camera body) I probably wouldn’t have spent the $140-something bucks to buy it, I would’ve saved my money and gotten a wide-angle lens that’s better built (I’ve had my eye on the Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5).  That being said – since I don’t have the spare $800 to buy the wide-angle lens I just mentioned – it definitely has been nice to have this lens in my bag when I don’t have room to step back to use my 50mm or this lens:

The Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 – a pretty decent zoom lense for the price (about $200)!  They were giving me a deal on it when I bought my camera (Black Friday) so I ended up with this in my bag from the get-go.  I haven’t used it much, but it’s nice to know that if I need a “telephoto” lens, I’ve got this in my bag.

A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and bought this flash, the Canon Speedlite 580EX II.  It’s amazing.  I knew I wanted the head to swivel so I could bounce it off the ceiling or walls, it takes AA batteries (I use rechargeable Energizers) and is super powerful.  I put off buying a good flash for a looong time, but the breaking point was trying to do this photoshoot and this photoshoot indoors with only my Light Scoop.  Speaking of the Light Scoop…

It’s an awesome tool to have in your camera bag.  It works by slipping in the hotshoe on the top of your DSLR, you pop up your built-in flash, and BAM!  The angled mirror bounces the flash off whatever you have the mirror pointed at (a ceiling under 12′ or a white wall works best) and evenly distributes the flash over whatever you’re shooting.  It’s a freakin’ miracle worker.  Seriously.  Take a look:

The reason, though, that the Light Scoop isn’t great for all situations is this: it is only as fast and powerful as your built-in flash is.  When I was taking the pictures of those two adorable little guys I mentioned before, I missed a TON of great shots because my flash was recycling (and the recycling gets slower and slower the longer you use it).  It is very, very frustrating.  But, at $25 apeice (there’s the regular version – shown above – and a warming version with a brown tinted mirror), they’re so affordable that it’s silly not to get one or two.  Mine has saved many, many, many of my indoor photos.

That’s pretty much it for my DSLR stuff.

My point & shoot camera is a Canon Powershot SD960 IS ($179 on Amazon).  It’s totally awesome.  The best point & shoot I’ve ever had (my old Kodak V1253 is a close second), in pretty much every situation.

As you can tell, I’m a Canon girl.  My first camera was actually an HP (thanks Mom!), and I’m not sure when I converted, honestly.  I’ve heard a lot of good things about Nikon (Canon’s primary DSLR competitor), but each brand has it’s strong points & weak points.  The important thing is that you pick a brand & stick with it!  It’d be a shame to invest in a body and a few lenses just to change your mind.

What do you use?  Do you have anything to add?  Feel free to ask any questions you might have!