The inevitable question – what camera do you use? Since I get asked this a lot, I thought I’d put together a quick blog as an answer. The real answer is that it actually varies a lot! The camera I use nearly every day is actually a Fuji x100 that lives in my bag – whether I’m at University, in the field, or on holiday with the family. This blog is an outline of the gear I use most often on expeditions – so this is the kit I had on the Antarctic and Subantarctic trips. My requirements for these trips are that my gear is light, robust, and interchangeable. With that in mind, here’s what I use:

My long-suffering DSLR bodies are the brilliant Nikon D700 and D300. These guys are amazing. They’re so compatible as a full-frame/crop-sensor pair because the controls on each are nearly identical. They take the same batteries, same memory cards, and I don’t have to think when swapping between them because everything is set up identically. They’re getting on a bit – they hit the market in 2008 and 2007 respectively, and have both been discontinued. Apart from needing a bit of glue to keep the rubber grips on, and a few lost eyepieces for the D300, they’ve stood up to every adventure I’ve yet had. They’re fitted with battery grips which let me shoot all day without having to worry about swapping out batteries in difficult weather, and I usually use 16GB or 32GB CF cards, which gets me around 2000 photos out of each.

All my gear is second-hand. Since I started out I’ve been using Dad’s cameras, and taking them over when he upgrades. It’s simply a matter of compatibility – we use the same gear so that we can share (read: I can ‘borrow’) lenses. That aside, I love these cameras. They’re comfortable and intuitive to use. Even if I had the money to set up my own system, I’d go for Nikon gear, because after ten or so years, it’s what I can use without having to think (and the D750 and D500 look pretty neat!). But I’ve got no intention of upgrading my kit any time soon. There’s no combination out there that would replace this one (even if there was, I couldn’t afford it!). I would only upgrade if I felt my photographic capabilities were being held back by the gear I have – and while they’re not so hot on the megapixel front compared to newer cameras, these guys are like extensions of my body (and if I can still get competition worthy images out of  cameras that are nearly 10 years old, I’m probably doing alright!). We work together so well that I will be genuinely sad when it eventually comes time to change.

The 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 is a recent addition – I used it first on our Antarctica trip. It’s Dad’s go-to travel lens for casual wildlife photography, and I tend to borrow it for expeditions instead of using the 70-300mm. Now I wouldn’t be without it. It’s such a versatile lens, light, and tack sharp. I usually pair it with the D700, but if I need extra reach it goes on the D300 for an effective focal length of 120-600mm – what more do you need for wildlife photography?

The 12-24mm f/4 and 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 stick to the D300 like glue. The 18-200mm has been my travel workhorse for years, and the 12-24mm is a lovely light lens that just gets that extra width for landscape shots. Being DX lenses, they can only go on the D300, but their lightweight versatility outweighs the lack of interchangeability.

Where would I be without my 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6? It’s not the most reliable lens in terms of sharpness, but when it works, it works well. On the D300 it gives an effective focal length of 105-450mm, which is pretty fantastic for wildlife. This is what I use when I can’t use the 80-400mm, and it’s the combination that both my NZ Geographic awarded photos were taken with. Proving a solid point that you don’t need the best/latest/most expensive gear to get great photos. 

Is that it? That’s it. Apart from the Fuji X100, which lives around my neck, and the occasional addition of a GoPro Hero4 for exploring beneath the waves, that’s what I use. When I’m closer to home, I occasionally borrow the big gun – a 200-400mm f/4, for bird photography. Before the 80-400mm, it came on journeys to South Africa with me while Dad used the 500mm f/4. While they’re amazing lenses that give unmatched sharpness and gorgeous soft backgrounds, we’re both in favour of travelling as light as possible whenever we can. Having less gear and having light gear gives me more freedom to explore and experience the world around me. I think that’s the most important thing when photographing – the freedom to explore.