Welcome to Michael’s Blog!

Michael’s Gear Page

07.30.2009 | Michael's Bag

Its been a while since I’ve updated this, and should help with all the questions Ive been getting about underwater gear and why I like certain lenses. We will revamp the gear page in the next 3-4 months to be more visual and category based.

Michael’s Gear Page – Updated

Hi there! And thank you for checking out my gear page. Ill be updating it every few months and I hope it answers your gear questions. If you have a question about photography or if your question about gear isn’t answered here, please check out and join: Michael’s Photography Forum

One of the most common questions I get, is what point and shoot do I carry? To be honest with you, it is currently an iPhone 4s. I’ve just found that it is the only camera I literally always have with me. Camera phones will give point and shoots a serious run for their money in upcoming years.

As far as DSLRs go, I am a Canon user for the following reason: Lens Selection and special video needs that wont apply to most normal photographers. Having a few XL1s’s with adapters allowed me to use my Canon Photography Lenses on my video cameras, and this was 8 years ago, for the most part, I have stuck with them since and am very happy with Canon.

I am not against Nikon. Cameras are TOOLS, so this should not be an emotional issue. It would be like saying, a Phillips head screwdriver is better than a Standard Head Screw Driver. Different tools do different things, pick the one that helps you get the job done, in the end all that matters is the result, how you got there is less important.

Currently, my main camera for portraits and landscapes is the Canon 5Diii . I also use a very well worn, Canon 5DII for my underwater images and a Canon 7D for Sports and High Speed action type shots. My camera bodies constantly change, and I almost always have a full frame body (which I use mainly for portraits, landscapes & macros) and also at least one 1.6x body (which I use with my zoom lenses for longer reach, mainly for sports and shots taken from afar because you get more out of your lens (200mm x 1.6 = 320mm).

If you are just getting started, price is probably your biggest concern. There are 2 Cameras I will recommend, and both are EXCELLENT cameras:

– Canon Rebel T3i With Kit Lens ~$900
– Canon EOS 60D ~$1000

Either of these cameras will give you an outstanding start into DSLR photography and training videos are available for both on my store (see tile links on the very bottom of this page). Sometimes you can find them as ‘body only’ meaning without a lens, and sometimes they will come with something called a ‘kit lens’ such as the Canon 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS If this is your first camera and you have no lenses, I recommend you buy your camera with this kit lens, its a great starter lens, and it will save you about $200 than buying it separately.

If you can only afford a DSLR body and are very strapped for cash, this is THE lens to get:Canon 50mm 1.8 It costs about $100, and is made of plastic, but wow…great lens.

My next more expensive recommendation would probably be the Canon 50mm 1.4 – AWESOME – Portrait Lens for Intermediate to Advanced Users I still have and use mine frequently despite having many more expensive lenses.

These are my go to lenses. It really depends on what is going on, but I use each of them extensively. If I do not use a lens, I will typically sell it.

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye – Great for Extreme Wide Angle Shots, Water & Abstract Photography
Canon 14mm 2.8 L II – Specialty Lens for Architecture and Underwater Photography
Canon 16-35mm 2.8 L A MUST have general purpose wide angle lens.
Canon 24mm 1.4 L Widest Low Light Lens Canon Makes, Great for Wedding Ceremonies and Receptions
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 II Tilt-Shift Manual Focus – Tilt Shift Lens for Bending DOF, has many interesting uses for portraiture, video, architecture
Canon 35mm 1.4 L Great Portrait Lens
Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L – This is what I believe is the perfect general use lens for shooting weddings, portraits & Video with dSLR Cameras. I believe you can cover an entire wedding with the 24-70 2.8.
Canon 50mm 1.4 Great for candid portraits, or when needing a lighter lens for travel. I tend to use my 1.4 more than my 1.2 these days.
Canon 50mm 1.2 L My Best Portrait Lens
Sigma 50mm 2.8 Macro A Very Good Compact Macro, Decent Price Point
Canon 100 mm Macro L – My Best Macro Lens. Expensive and bigger, but excellent shots. I use this for my underwater macros.
Canon 70-200 2.8 IS L Great portrait and event lens
Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS – Great Outdoor Nature and Sports Lens

If I am taking a long trip, and I could only bring one lens with me, this is it: Tamron 18-270. In my book it is probably the best all round, general purpose lens. It won’t give you the same quality as Canon L lenses, but wow…its versatility is hard to beat! (Pretty light too!). There are many arguments that can be made that this should be your first lens as well.

As a side note : I don’t carry an Canon 85mm 1.2 L . The 85 1.2 is SO HUGE and heavy, that it really takes the place of 2-3 other lenses.

I’ve been getting into a LOT of underwater photography recently. This is really expensive and requires a tremendous amount of patience. If you are serious about getting into this, my recommendation would be to try to find someone who will rent you the gear so you can try it and see if you get hooked. It is very addicting if you like it. Even spending $200-300 a day to test this gear is a good deal, as the cheapest rigs, with strobes will set you back $5,000-6,000 (thats not including the camera or lens itself).

As a note, a ‘port’ is a removable part of the housing that allows it to accommodate different lenses. You typically need a different port for different lenses, and ports run between $500-1000 each.

For Surface Water Photography, from 0-15 feet, I use SPL Surface Water Splash Housing, with Ports For 8-15 & 24-70 2.8 . This type of housing is best for shooting surfers, kayakers, or any other activity on the very surface of the water. These housings are made to take a beating.

For Scuba Photography, I am currently using:

Ikelite Water Housing for 5Dii
2 x Ikelite 161 Underwater Strobe / Movie Light

This rig is NOT meant to take a beating, in fact, you have to be very careful with it. because the port locks are made out of plastic and its possible you can damage it. The Ikelite is made to go down to 200′ feet though and for that price, it is hard to beat. I must be honest with you…I have had a lot of problems with the Ikelite set up and have had to return different parts on multiple occasions to get it working again. The jury is still out here, but it ‘appears’ to be working now. If things do not work out with the Ikelite, I will probably go with a company called Subal, whose housings are machined out of solid blocks of Aluminum.

Other gear I absolutely have with me on a serious shoot:

Lighting

2 Canon 580 EXII Speedlites Classic Workhorses
Canon 320 Speedlite / Video Hybrid Light Not a bad little flash for light strobe and video light work.
Canon ST E2 Transmitter You will need this little guy to trigger off camera flash with the 5Dx series.

I am also in the process of upgrading and am currently testing:
Canon 600 Ex
ST-E3 Transmitter

I will have some tutorial videos coming on the 600 and ST-E3 shortly.

For Studio Lighting I use:
– 3 Alien Bee 1600W
– 4 Pocket Wizard Plus II Transmitter Receivers

Audio Devices:
– Zoom H4n Audio Recorder
– Sennheister G3 Wireless Microphone

Various Gear:

Lowepro Computrekker Backpack (BTW- all of my main gear, including laptop will fit into this bag)
Bogen 055CX3 Tripod with Bogen 496RC2 Ball Head
Canon RC 1 Wireless Remote (works with Rebels and 5DII)
Kenko Macro Extension Tubes
Canon 2x iii Extender
Merkury 2700 MaH Batteries
Extreme 64GB Pro 90MB/s Card
Gepe Card Safe

My computer is a 15′ Mac Book Pro , with 8 GB of RAM, and I LOVE the Lexar Firewire 800 Card Readers . I have also developed a healthy obsession with Western Digital 500GB Passport HD – Portable FIrewire 800 Hard Drives . I cant tell you how many of these guys I have. No additional power cable needed.

Ive been a PC user my whole life and cannot recommend the Mac Book Pro higher, even though Ive had a few hiccups with it. Apple has been amazing.

I use the entire Adobe Production Bundle in my work, Photoshop, Premeire Pro, Sound Booth, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and After Effects get the most love.

Thank you for coming and checking out my gear!Its been a while since I’ve updated this, and should help with all the questions Ive been getting about underwater gear and why I like certain lenses. We will revamp the gear page in the next 3-4 months to be more visual and category based.

Michael’s Gear Page – Updated

Hi there! And thank you for checking out my gear page. Ill be updating it every few months and I hope it answers your gear questions. If you have a question about photography or if your question about gear isn’t answered here, please check out and join: Michael’s Photography Forum

One of the most common questions I get, is what point and shoot do I carry? To be honest with you, it is currently an iPhone 4s. I’ve just found that it is the only camera I literally always have with me. Camera phones will give point and shoots a serious run for their money in upcoming years.

As far as DSLRs go, I am a Canon user for the following reason: Lens Selection and special video needs that wont apply to most normal photographers. Having a few XL1s’s with adapters allowed me to use my Canon Photography Lenses on my video cameras, and this was 8 years ago, for the most part, I have stuck with them since and am very happy with Canon.

I am not against Nikon. Cameras are TOOLS, so this should not be an emotional issue. It would be like saying, a Phillips head screwdriver is better than a Standard Head Screw Driver. Different tools do different things, pick the one that helps you get the job done, in the end all that matters is the result, how you got there is less important.

Currently, my main camera for portraits and landscapes is the Canon 5Diii . I also use a very well worn, Canon 5DII for my underwater images and a Canon 7D for Sports and High Speed action type shots. My camera bodies constantly change, and I almost always have a full frame body (which I use mainly for portraits, landscapes & macros) and also at least one 1.6x body (which I use with my zoom lenses for longer reach, mainly for sports and shots taken from afar because you get more out of your lens (200mm x 1.6 = 320mm).

If you are just getting started, price is probably your biggest concern. There are 2 Cameras I will recommend, and both are EXCELLENT cameras:

– Canon Rebel T3i With Kit Lens ~$900
– Canon EOS 60D ~$1000

Either of these cameras will give you an outstanding start into DSLR photography and training videos are available for both on my store (see tile links on the very bottom of this page). Sometimes you can find them as ‘body only’ meaning without a lens, and sometimes they will come with something called a ‘kit lens’ such as the Canon 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS If this is your first camera and you have no lenses, I recommend you buy your camera with this kit lens, its a great starter lens, and it will save you about $200 than buying it separately.

If you can only afford a DSLR body and are very strapped for cash, this is THE lens to get:Canon 50mm 1.8 It costs about $100, and is made of plastic, but wow…great lens.

My next more expensive recommendation would probably be the Canon 50mm 1.4 – AWESOME – Portrait Lens for Intermediate to Advanced Users I still have and use mine frequently despite having many more expensive lenses.

These are my go to lenses. It really depends on what is going on, but I use each of them extensively. If I do not use a lens, I will typically sell it.

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye – Great for Extreme Wide Angle Shots, Water & Abstract Photography
Canon 14mm 2.8 L II – Specialty Lens for Architecture and Underwater Photography
Canon 16-35mm 2.8 L A MUST have general purpose wide angle lens.
Canon 24mm 1.4 L Widest Low Light Lens Canon Makes, Great for Wedding Ceremonies and Receptions
Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 II Tilt-Shift Manual Focus – Tilt Shift Lens for Bending DOF, has many interesting uses for portraiture, video, architecture
Canon 35mm 1.4 L Great Portrait Lens
Canon 24-70mm 2.8 L – This is what I believe is the perfect general use lens for shooting weddings, portraits & Video with dSLR Cameras. I believe you can cover an entire wedding with the 24-70 2.8.
Canon 50mm 1.4 Great for candid portraits, or when needing a lighter lens for travel. I tend to use my 1.4 more than my 1.2 these days.
Canon 50mm 1.2 L My Best Portrait Lens
Sigma 50mm 2.8 Macro A Very Good Compact Macro, Decent Price Point
Canon 100 mm Macro L – My Best Macro Lens. Expensive and bigger, but excellent shots. I use this for my underwater macros.
Canon 70-200 2.8 IS L Great portrait and event lens
Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS – Great Outdoor Nature and Sports Lens

If I am taking a long trip, and I could only bring one lens with me, this is it: Tamron 18-270. In my book it is probably the best all round, general purpose lens. It won’t give you the same quality as Canon L lenses, but wow…its versatility is hard to beat! (Pretty light too!). There are many arguments that can be made that this should be your first lens as well.

As a side note : I don’t carry an Canon 85mm 1.2 L . The 85 1.2 is SO HUGE and heavy, that it really takes the place of 2-3 other lenses.

I’ve been getting into a LOT of underwater photography recently. This is really expensive and requires a tremendous amount of patience. If you are serious about getting into this, my recommendation would be to try to find someone who will rent you the gear so you can try it and see if you get hooked. It is very addicting if you like it. Even spending $200-300 a day to test this gear is a good deal, as the cheapest rigs, with strobes will set you back $5,000-6,000 (thats not including the camera or lens itself).

As a note, a ‘port’ is a removable part of the housing that allows it to accommodate different lenses. You typically need a different port for different lenses, and ports run between $500-1000 each.

For Surface Water Photography, from 0-15 feet, I use SPL Surface Water Splash Housing, with Ports For 8-15 & 24-70 2.8 . This type of housing is best for shooting surfers, kayakers, or any other activity on the very surface of the water. These housings are made to take a beating.

For Scuba Photography, I am currently using:

Ikelite Water Housing for 5Dii
2 x Ikelite 161 Underwater Strobe / Movie Light

This rig is NOT meant to take a beating, in fact, you have to be very careful with it. because the port locks are made out of plastic and its possible you can damage it. The Ikelite is made to go down to 200′ feet though and for that price, it is hard to beat. I must be honest with you…I have had a lot of problems with the Ikelite set up and have had to return different parts on multiple occasions to get it working again. The jury is still out here, but it ‘appears’ to be working now. If things do not work out with the Ikelite, I will probably go with a company called Subal, whose housings are machined out of solid blocks of Aluminum.

Other gear I absolutely have with me on a serious shoot:

Lighting

2 Canon 580 EXII Speedlites Classic Workhorses
Canon 320 Speedlite / Video Hybrid Light Not a bad little flash for light strobe and video light work.
Canon ST E2 Transmitter You will need this little guy to trigger off camera flash with the 5Dx series.

I am also in the process of upgrading and am currently testing:
Canon 600 Ex
ST-E3 Transmitter

I will have some tutorial videos coming on the 600 and ST-E3 shortly.

For Studio Lighting I use:
– 3 Alien Bee 1600W
– 4 Pocket Wizard Plus II Transmitter Receivers

Audio Devices:
– Zoom H4n Audio Recorder
– Sennheister G3 Wireless Microphone

Various Gear:

Lowepro Computrekker Backpack (BTW- all of my main gear, including laptop will fit into this bag)
Bogen 055CX3 Tripod with Bogen 496RC2 Ball Head
Canon RC 1 Wireless Remote (works with Rebels and 5DII)
Kenko Macro Extension Tubes
Canon 2x iii Extender
Merkury 2700 MaH Batteries
Extreme 64GB Pro 90MB/s Card
Gepe Card Safe

My computer is a 15′ Mac Book Pro , with 8 GB of RAM, and I LOVE the Lexar Firewire 800 Card Readers . I have also developed a healthy obsession with Western Digital 500GB Passport HD – Portable FIrewire 800 Hard Drives . I cant tell you how many of these guys I have. No additional power cable needed.

Ive been a PC user my whole life and cannot recommend the Mac Book Pro higher, even though Ive had a few hiccups with it. Apple has been amazing.

I use the entire Adobe Production Bundle in my work, Photoshop, Premeire Pro, Sound Booth, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and After Effects get the most love.

Thank you for coming and checking out my gear!