I was a Nikon user for many years. When digital hit, some of us pros felt abandoned. Our visual memory was programmed to see full frame 35mm proportions. We knew what lens would give us what angle of view. I tried the Fuji but could not get used to the lens multiplier. The 6 mg camera meant you had to res the file up. Canon came out with a full frame camera. At 16.7 mg, it meant double page spread at 300 ppi. It looked like Nikon had no intentions of following suit, and when they did finally come out with a full-frame camera it took them years to catch up. I switched to Canon and have not looked back.

I currently use a pair of Canon 1DS Mark II camera bodies. Having two means you have a back up and you don’t change lenses as often to avoid the dust problem as much as possible.  I have had to have one of the firewire connections fixed.  Other then that, nothing.  It’s been great.  Canon has just announced the new 5D Mark II.  It’s full frame, 21 mg, and at less then half the price I can’t hardly wait to upgrade.

I also have a Canon G9 point and shoot. It’s small and a little retro looking.  I have been a little disappointed in image quality.  I guess I am spoiled by the 1DS. The small chip is very noisy. Not what I expected. Lately we’ve been using it mostly for video clips. Don’t buy one to shoot above ISO 100.  They now have the Power Shot G10 coming out. It’s 14.7 mg and should have better noise.  Unlike the 5D I’ll wait and see on this one.

As far as lenses go here is what I use:  Canon TS-E 24mm f3.5L Tilt Shift,  Canon 17-40 f4L,  Canon 24-70 f2.8L, and a Canon 70-200 f2.8L.  Yes, all L lenses and all fixed aperture.  Why you would want a variable aperture I do not know.  One note here, make sure you only buy lenses with an imaging circle made for full frame sensors, with the exception of wide angles because of the lens multiple factor.  You will probably own a full frame sooner or later as costs have already come down considerably.

For on camera lighting I use a couple of Canon 580 EX II flashes. They take some getting used to but do work. Yes, Nikon does seem to have a better flash system. So if on camera flash is a main part of your work, I would suggest looking into a Nikon system. Since it’s not for me, I’m a Canon guy.

I was all excited when Vivitar brought back their manual 285 flash. This used to be a workhorse. At less then $100 what a deal. It’s only a good deal if it works. I bought two. One quit about the third time I used it.

My studio mate bought one and it quite working the first time he used it. The dealers should be ashamed they even sell such a piece of junk.

My main system of lighting gear is all Speedotron Black line. I have used them for all of my professional career. I have two of the 805 packs, one 1205 pack, one 2400 pack and six 102 heads. What can I say, they work, they’re reliable. We use them in our studio lighting classes at school and they stand up to the student’s abuse. Yes, heavier then some of the other brands but the reliability is worth it.

I use a MicroSync wireless slave unit to trigger the packs and sometimes the 580s. It works but only syncs up to 1/180th shutter speed. You have to learn to work around that but it’s great not to have a big antenna pointing at your face on top of your hotshoe like some of the other brands.