What gear do I use?

Written By Paul Hopkins

What’s in My Camera Bag?

2026 Edition.

Blog by Paul Hopkins - Photographer - Janaury 01-2025

This is a question I get asked quite often and one that I feel is the least important; that being said, there are things I wish I had known when I was beginning in Photography that would have changed what I bought.

Below is a list of all the equipment that I currently use. Of note my gear is always changing so I will try and keep this up to date as much as I can. So here goes:

Camera Bodies

  • Nikon D600 - This is my main body that I use to get all of my images on. I am quit content with the camera for the moment, it’s a get body that produced great quality images.

  • Nikon D7200 - This is my 2nd body and primarily used for wildlife / sports photography.

  • iPhone 16 Pro Max - I wasn’t sure to put this in here or not. But then, I really do use the phone for photography. I don’t always have my camera with me when something I see I want to take an image of. The quality of the images are really good.

Lenses

  • Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC - I use this lens for all my photography, good quality and light weight.

  • Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX APO DG Macro HSM - New lens for different options when shooting portraits / nature photos.

  • Tamron 10-20mm (Soon to be sold)

Tripods

I am the least happy with my current tripods and need to upgrade asap.

  • K&F Concept K234A0 - I bought this with the intention of getting better when I had more money and soon regretted it. It’s not a bad tripod but with heavy lenses it’s difficult to lock off and always drifts down.

Filters

I’m intending to increase my range of filters throughout 2025.

  • LEE’s 100mm System - Holder and adapter rings

  • LEE’s 105mm Circular Polariser - One of my most used filters

  • LEE’s 100mm Big Stopper - For those long exposure shots

  • LEE’s 100mm 3 Stop Grad Shift Edge - A Filter I don’t really use often as I can achieve the same effect in post these days.

Bags

  • Toribio Backpack - Really good bag; holds all my gear and a laptop and very comfortable to carry.

  • Manfrotto Messenger - My bag I used for walking around in the city. Very comfortable and ease of reach to my camera with enough room for 2 lenses.

Editing

  • MacBook Air M1 2020, 13” 8GB

  • Adobe Lightroom Classic

  • Adobe Photoshop CC

  • 1TB Verbatin External HD

Thats about it; I’ve tried to list everything that use but like mention I do change this on a monthly bases.

Thank you :) Paul!

Paul Hopkins
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