What’s in my bag- 2024
Hello all today I’m going to talk about what’s in my camera bag for the year of 2024. This is the first I’ve done here and will also be talking about why I’ve chosen said gear along with the cons.
Protactic BP 450 AW II: Out of all of my camera bags that I have this has been my main workshorse. Originally I bought it because it was one of the few camera bags under $500 that could easily accommodate the Sony 200-600. But it can very easily handle almost all of my other gear as well that will be on this list.
The only con would be that it doesn’t have the necessary laptop space for my current laptop. Everything else has been great and I’m looking forward to seeing what the third incarnation will hold.
Sony A7IV: My first fore into full frame was the A7III which was another amazing camera, but the IV has in my opinion been a whole different beast. By far the best camera I’ve ever used, its jack of all trades that I love.
Cons: the jack of all trades. Even though I just spoke highly of it, it doesn’t have the weight behind its bark like the Sony A1. Can it do everything that I need no problem? Yes. Do I wish that it could be better? Also yes. So heres to hoping that this will get replaced by either the original A1 when the mark 2 drops or potentially the A7V when it gets released next year. I suppose time will tell.
Tamron 70-180 f2.8: The final leg of the holy trinity. Non G2 but the OG. Still an incredible piece of glass, I’ve thought about upgrading it with the new G2. Which seemed to be faster and sharper. So this lens is starting to show its age. The fact is it can also do decent macro, which I find myself using a lot which is why the Sony 90mm Macro isn’t on this list anymore.
Cons: age primarily. The only other con for this lens would be that its not Sony, so I don’t get to use the full speed of my camera because of it, this ISNT really a con and as you’ll see I only own one actual Sony lens so you wont see this crop up in the other cons its just me letting you know this is a con inherent to all of my lenses par the 200-600.
Sigma 14-24 f2.8: This is the first of the holy trinity. I used to have a Laowa 14mm but I realized when I went to the Winchester Mystery House that I really wanted something with AF, as the changing conditions in every room was a hassle to deal with manually. But this strikes almost every checkbox I needed for a wide angle. Its fast, sharp enough, and price point was exactly where I needed it.
Cons: I wish it was a bit sharper. Its not TERRIBLE per say, but it could be better. The other con is that because of the front element, I cant use normal filters, and needed to buy clip in filters, for the rear of the camera. The only other option is to buy a very expensive filter mount solely for this lens, which I’m unwilling to do.
Sigma 24-70- f2.8: The next step for the holy trinity. This is such a nice lens, its fast and sharp. I honestly probably don’t use it as much as I care to admit. As there are other lenses I prefer, but when I don’t have it its loss is definitely felt.
Cons: Actually none really, the only con I have is the front hood is very big, so to reduce space I leave it off and cram it somewhere else in the bag.
Samyang 135 f1.8: This is probably by far my favorite lens that I have. Originally I bought it as a purely Astro lens but man oh man. This thing is an absolute beast. This is actually the lens that made me wish my sensor was a bit bigger for more crisp photos. This thing is so incredibly sharp that I actually also use it for Macro just based on how much I can crop and zoom in.
Cons: The only one I can really think of is that it has an odd filter size at 82mm so it actually makes the filters a bit expensive vs Tamrons 86mm.
Samyang 45mm f1.8: This is another lens I don’t really use too often, I bought this to be a bit more incognito with street photography, Theres nothing inherently wrong with it, but I do like to keep it on me still as its so small that its easy to do. Takes very nice portraits.
Cons: Could be sharper, but honestly I’m not going to complain based on the price point I got it at.
Insta360 X4: Going to be the main workhorse for one of my youtube channels. (Which I haven’t announced yet) all the footage I’ve seen has been great, and it comes with the added bonus on not having a 30min cutoff like the X3. Overall, don’t have as much experience with this as I would like but it does have a major
Cons: Overheats, and I know that this isn’t just a me issue. As long as there is air flow to reduce the heat dissipation I guess the chances become slimmer, but if I am recording somewhere where there is no airflow this becomes a glaring issue that I am still attempting to fix.
DJI Pocket 3: An amazing piece of hardware, takes 4k gimbal shots that also pretty decent in lowlight? Yes please. I’m always constantly impressed by both the new features and just all around upgrades DJI consistently brings to the table. This is basically my new B cam for video behind my actual camera itself.
Cons: The only thing I’ve personally come across is that its not waterproof so I have to keep that in mind when I’m out and about. Especially out here in Colorado when the weather can change very quickly.
Sony 200-600 f5.6-6.3: My super tele. I’m constantly surprised by this lens even still, its gotten me some of my favorite shots I’ve ever taken. Its fast, sharp (we’ll talk about this in a second), and the fact it doesn’t telescope out is great.
Cons: Its very big, in fact its the sole reason I had to go with such an expensive bag to begin with as it still takes up roughly an entire side of my bag and I have had to plan out based around this singular lens. The only other con is with the sharpness and the AF. It like to focus slightly in front of where AF says, which can be a huge pain to deal with if I’m going for something very specific. On that same line of thinking, sometimes for no real reason the images will come out soft, and I’m not sure why this happens, just some weird thing it does like 20% of the time.
Filters: I use a variety of filters, I will say I don’t really use UV filters anymore as I much prefer just keeping my CPL filters on, I have a few NDL filters as well for a few of my lenses that I use more for landscape, and I have a few blackmist filters for all of my holy trinity lenses minus the 14-24
Everything else I keep is pretty self explanatory I believe, extra batteries. Extra cables, cleaning supplies. I’m not what I would call a professional, and while I do pixel peep and watch reviewers far more knowledgeable than myself to make informed decisions. I do have preferences and tolerances to all of the pros and cons for everything I have. So its just a constant internal battle.
Work is still ongoing for the Spring 2025 Japan trip. Currently just need to bite the bullet and get the tickets. And then I can orient myself better on what I want. But I do think I’m still going to do it, look forward to the next post which will probably be about that.
With that thanks for reading and I’ll catch you in the next one.
-RS