The Gear I Actually Use
People ask me about gear constantly. On tours, in emails, in Instagram DMs. What camera do you use? What drone? What bag?
The honest answer is always the same: the gear matters less than you think, and more than you want to admit. After twenty years of photography and more camera systems than my father would like to know about, I have landed on a kit that I genuinely trust. Here is all of it, and the story of how I got here.
The Journey
It started in 2005 with a Nikon D70 and an 18-70mm kit lens. Then a D200. Then professional Nikon glass and a growing obsession with landscape photography on these islands.
Then I made the jump to Canon. The original 5D was a revelation, my first full-frame camera, and the image quality difference was enormous. The 5D MkII that followed was one of the best cameras of its era, particularly for video. The MkIII came next, mostly for the improved autofocus.
Then came Fujifilm. The XT2, then the XT3. Beautiful cameras with a rendering I genuinely loved. But something always felt missing.
The strangest chapter was my first major tour collaboration. The payment was not what was originally agreed, but a Sony A7R IV and a 24-105mm f/4 was roughly the right value, and I decided to accept it. The A7R IV is genuinely extraordinary in terms of image quality, the resolution, the dynamic range, the detail it pulls from a scene. The ZV-E1 I added for video was equally impressive for its size. Full-frame video in a body that fits in a jacket pocket is remarkable engineering. I bought more lenses. I built out the system. And I never felt at home with any of it. Everything felt clinical. The images were technically perfect and somehow empty.
In 2024, I went back to Nikon. And that was it.
Every time I told my father I was switching systems, I would get the same look. "Again?!" He was not wrong. But looking back, working seriously with Nikon, Canon, Fujifilm, and Sony has given me something genuinely useful: I can pick up almost any camera and help a client use it properly. That kind of cross-platform knowledge is rare, and it makes me a better guide.
Cameras
Nikon Z8. My primary camera for everything. Fast, reliable, exceptional image quality, and video that genuinely surprised me. This is the camera I had been looking for without knowing it.
Nikon ZR. A recent addition, primarily for video. An absolute monster. The RED RAW format it supports produces extraordinary colour, genuinely unlike anything I have worked with before. The file sizes are currently enormous, we are talking about storage demands that make even experienced video editors uncomfortable, and I am waiting on a Nikon firmware update to make the workflow more manageable. But the quality is worth it. One honest note on autofocus: Sony is still a step ahead of Nikon here. I will not pretend otherwise. Everything else about the Z system fits the way I work so well that it is not a daily concern, but it is worth knowing.
Lenses
All Nikon Z mount, except one.
Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S. My most-used lens. Wide, sharp, and built for the volcanic coastlines and open skies of the Azores. Requires a dedicated 112mm front filter element, more on that below.
Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4. The lens that lives on the camera when I am not sure what the day will bring. Versatile enough to cover most situations, light enough to carry all day without thinking about it.
Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S. Not on every trip. I tested the Nikon 100-400mm extensively and genuinely liked it, but I could not justify it for the way I work. I do not shoot wildlife seriously, and the 70-200 with the TC-1.4x gives me enough reach when I need it. The f/2.8 aperture is far more useful in the low light I shoot in most often. The 100-400 is a great lens. It is just not my lens.
Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S. For video and for the moments when I want to shoot simply and intuitively.
Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S. Acquired primarily for video. One of the best 20mm lenses on the market, and the wide aperture handles low light beautifully. Astrophotography is a bonus, not the reason I bought it.
Nikon TC-1.4x. Teleconverter for when 200mm is not enough.
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro. Rarely used, but part of the arsenal for the situations that call for it.
What I Actually Travel With
The full list above rarely leaves Terceira together. The kit adapts to where I am going and what I am doing.
For multi-island photo tours: Z8, 14-24mm, 24-120mm, and one drone. If I am heading to Pico, São Jorge, or Flores, the 70-200mm joins the bag. Everything else stays home. Inter-island flights on small turboprops mean strict baggage limits, and agility matters more than having every option available.
For video work: ZR as the primary body, Z8 as backup and secondary camera. Lenses are the 20mm, 50mm, and always the 24-120mm for its versatility. I shoot handheld whenever possible, the RS 4 Mini comes with me but rarely leaves the bag.
On Terceira, my home island: This is where I have the freedom to experiment with the full kit. No baggage limits, no inter-island logistics, no compromises.
Drones
DJI Mavic 4 Pro Creative Combo. With the large RC Pro controller. My only drone on the road. The image quality and flight stability are exceptional, especially in the Atlantic wind I deal with regularly.
DJI Mavic 3 Pro. Four batteries. Still one of the best drones ever made. Stays as backup at home. Having two available is not a luxury in the Azores wind, it is a contingency plan.
DJI ND Filters. Dedicated to each drone. Essential for smooth video footage in bright Atlantic light.
Filters
NiSi 112mm CPL. Exclusively for the 14-24mm. This lens has a bulbous front element that does not accept standard filters, so the 112mm screws into the lens hood. It is large, it is specific, and there is no substitute.
Maven Magnetic Filters (77mm). Two CPLs, plus ND3, ND6, and ND10. I used to avoid filters as much as possible. Then I tried the Maven magnetic system and immediately understood why people love it. The attachment is fast enough that you will actually use them in the field.
Audio
Sennheiser MKE 600. Main directional microphone for serious video work.
Sennheiser MKE 400. Compact option for lighter shooting days.
DJI Wireless Mic. For interviews or any situation where a cable is not practical.
Stabilisation
DJI RS 4 Mini. My current gimbal. Light enough to actually carry. I prefer handheld, but it comes with me for the situations that need it.
DJI Ronin SC. The original compact Ronin. Still works, rarely leaves the shelf.
Bags & Support
Peak Design Outdoor 45L. My main bag for multi-day shoots and tours. Excellent organisation and build quality. Two honest criticisms: the C-shaped zipper requires two hands to close properly when the bag is fully open, which is frustrating in the field. And the main compartment could be deeper, with a Nikon Z8 and an L-bracket attached, it is tighter than it should be. Great bag. Not quite perfect.
Sirui AM-324. My travel tripod. Carbon fibre, tall, light, and a fraction of the price of the Gitzo it replaced. The Gitzos still work perfectly and stay at home.
Memory Cards
CFexpress Type B, 512GB. Three cards, one SanDisk and two Angelbird. The Z8 also has an SD slot which I use as backup, but day to day, especially when shooting RAW video, CFexpress is the only option that keeps up. If you are coming on one of my tours with a camera that uses CFexpress Type B, bring your own cards and a compatible reader. These are not easy to find on a small island.
At the Desk
At home I work on a custom PC build with an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, 64GB of RAM, and an MSI RTX 5080 GPU on an Asus ROG Strix X870E motherboard. Storage runs across five Samsung 990 Pro M.2 drives at 4TB each for active work, backed up to 24TB in a redundant Windows Storage Spaces pool. Main monitor is an Asus OLED PG27UDCM, which is exceptional for colour grading.
When travelling, I switch to a MacBook Air M4 paired with a Samsung 990 Pro 4TB portable SSD for field backups. A completely different world from the desktop, but it handles everything I need on the road.
Everyday & Social
iPhone 17 Pro. For behind-the-scenes content, social media, and the moments when pulling out a full kit would break the atmosphere. Always with me. Always useful.
Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic for photo editing and cataloguing. Photoshop for more advanced stuff, and Luminar NEO as a plugin for specific edits. DaVinci Resolve Studio for all video work, the colour grading tools are exceptional for the kind of landscape footage I produce.
This article was written with the help of Claude AI, shaped by twenty years of real field experience, a lot of camera systems, and one very patient father.
