I’m a bit of a gear-head. And photography gear is not exempt. One thing though, I don’t have that much discretionary income so my wants far far exceed my means. Which means I have to make do with what I do have, which is what this post is about.
Camera
I use a Canon EOS Rebel XS (also known as the 1000D) . It’s probably the simplest unit in Canon’s DSLR lineup and the cheapest. I got mine about 9 months ago from Adorama Camera based in New York, since they came highly recommended (along with B&H Photo, also based in New York). This camera is not the latest & greatest by any stretch but so far (19232 shots, actually) it has been able to keep up with me. It’s not a bad choice for a beginner like myself on a tight budget.
Lenses
Two. Yeah, two lenses. The kit lens that came with my Rebel XS, the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. It works. Not the kind of lens people have flame wars over but not the kind people write angry blog posts about either. Like I said, it works. Then there’s the lens I usually have on most of the time, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II ($100). Very simple, very sharp and very affordable. Autofocus can be a bit of a pain in low light and it is very susceptible to flaring but it is still a good lens. Every one should have at a 50mm prime. There are more solidly built and slightly less annoying 50mm primes out there but nothing delivers a good mix of price and features for us bargain hunters. I would like a couple more lenses ( 85mm f/1.8 and 24-75mm f/2.8) but for now all I got is the kit lens and the “nifty fifty”.
Lighting gear
I lean heavily towards the “Strobist” style of lighting which favours the use of small lightweight hotshoe flashes (speedlights) triggered off camera. This allows for a portable lighting setup that is also easier on my pocket, 
. For lights, I have a Yong Nuo YN-460II and YN-468. The YN-460II is a manual flash with two optical slave modes and has power settings that go down to 1/64 power.
The YN-468 is TTL compatible with Canon DSLRs and also supports manual mode, two optical slave modes as well as a multiflash(not high speed sync) mode. The YN-460II is my work horse and I estimate that I have done about 5000 shots with it. I’ll do a more detailed review of both units in another post later. A word of caution: Yong Nuo’s quality control is a bit … erratic so you might have a problem with your flash. If that’s the situation, they will allow replacements. However, I’ve not run into any major problems with the units I’ve received but your mileage may vary. For me, the chance of dud gear is worth the savings I make on their gear compared to other brands so I’ll be ordering some more flashes real soon.
If I am going to be doing off-camera flash, I need a way to fire my flashes remotely. I could use optical slave mode, where I use the popup flash on my camera to trigger the other flashes but that won’t work outside during the day or in complicated setups. So that’s where radio triggers come in. You attach a transmitter to your camera’s hotshoe and the receivers to your flashes and viola! You can fire your flashes remotely. So I use RF-602s also by Yong Nuo. These are have been solid in all the time that I’ve used them and I don’t have misfires (unless my batteries are running low).
Lights need power. I used Sanyo Eneloops, which are rechargeable and slow to discharge.
I’ve gone through a wide range of lighting modifiers and still have a bit more to get through. Currently I have:
- Westcott Apollo 28″ softbox: When I want soft beautiful light that I can control, I get this baby. It’s kinda expensive ($110) but the light it produces is worth it and it folds down like an umbrella so transportation is not too big a headache.
- Impact 45″ convertible umbrella
- DIY 10″ beauty dish: Beauty dishes are expensive so I built my own. Was a great learning experience and I had a blast with them.
There are some other stuff as well: tripods, reflectors, gels etc but this constitutes the core of my kit. Not very impressive by most standards, but it’s what I got. And so far, its served very nicely.
