equipment

In my camera bag, 2025

Writing a blog for over a quarter of a century means occasionally repeating yourself and/or celebrating anniversaries of things. Back in 2011 a regular follower of my posts used my “Ask Me a Question” link to enquire about what was in my day-to-day camera bag. I duly wrote a post called “In My Camera Bag” in which I listed everything that was in my go-to bag of choice at the time. A couple of Canon EOS5D MkII bodies, two 580ex II flash units and 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 f2.8 L lenses lived in a LowePro Stealth Reporter 650AW bag along with a Mac laptop and quite a few accessories. That was a heavy bag.

Fast forward seven years to 2018 and my much loved and rather ancient Domke J3 camera bag (pictured above) was filled with two EOS5D MkIV bodies, 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 f4L lenses with two 600EX RT II flashes. By this time my laptops were carried in a tiny little rucksack because I’d been through some bad experiences with a spinal issue and didn’t necessarily need to carry it all of the time. I’m not sure when I bought the bag but it was well over twenty years ago and when I wrote the 2018 remix version of what I carried in my camera bag of it was already my well-worn favourite.

So, a further seven years on, here are some short updates on a few bits of kit that still spend a considerable amount of time in the same old bag.

  • Canon EOS R6 MkII camera bodies
  • Canon EOS R5 MkII camera bodies
  • Canon RF 14-35 f4L lens
  • Canon RF 24-105 f4L lens
  • Canon RF 70-200 f4L lens
  • Canon RF 100-500 f4.5 – 7.1 L lens
  • Canon EL5 Speedlites
  • Canon ST-E10 Speedlite transmitters

Out of the two R6 MkII and two R5 MkII bodies there will be a total of two in the bag at any given time. I leave it packed with one of each just in case I get a short notice job and need to run out of the door but I rarely work that way and so I will pack the right bodies for the job before I leave and keep the others in the rolling bag with the rest of the spare kit because not all of it can be accommodated at the same time, and even if it could that would be a seriously heavy bag. Laptops live in small rucksacks or a Think Tank rolling bag depending on what I’m doing. I’m not going to mention the other gear sitting in a cupboard in my office but there are a few camera bodies, a dozen or so lenses and more flash units than any sane person should own. So, if you like the shortened version of the kit review – it goes like this:

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I’m sorry Elinchrom, I hate to do this, BUT…

I’ve lost count of the number of times I have raved about the various incarnations of the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra and Quadra ELB 400 flash units that I have owned and used for fifteen or more years. At the end of 2023 I named it as “my favourite piece of old equipment” and in 2013 I wrote that the development of the lithium ion battery for the Ranger Quadra was one of the best things that had ever happened to my kit.

Those things are still true. I still use the gear on an almost daily basis and even a quick outing with some very nice Profoto kit didn’t make me want to switch. I used capital letters for the word BUT in the title of this post because I am really disappointed with Elinchrom.

I have used their gear since I left college 1986 and I have always appreciated their service and the way that they supported old equipment. It hurts to have to call them out on this point but less than seven years after buying my last Quadra ELB 400 pack and battery they no longer sell, service or even support the Lithium Ion batteries that the whole system depends on.

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RAMS for Photographers: Health and Safety Essentials
What would the risk assessment look like for this legal agricultural stubble burn? ©Neil Turner. August 1992

I doubt that I am being remotely controversial when I say that no photographer wants to do more paperwork than is absolutely necessary. Time spent filling out forms, dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s feels wrong – especially when your work and your passion is all about the creative process.

The regularity with which I have to complete RAMS (Risk Assessment and Method Statement) forms and declarations has grown. Conversations with colleagues appear to confirm that this is happening right across the photography industry.

During my first spell as freelance photographer (1986-1994) most of my work was editorial and when I did one of the few advertising and corporate jobs that I was offered, the subject of RAMS was never mentioned. Back then nobody asked about public liabilities insurance either.

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iOS editing update
Screenshot of Lightroom on an iPad Mini.

A couple of months ago I posted the latest update about my long-term quest to be able to do quick edits and add full captions to my Canon images using Apple iOS devices. At the time I was using my iPhone because the apps that I wanted to use weren’t compatible with my old 2017 iPad Mini. Then Apple released a significantly updated version of the smaller iPad and I dived in and bought one (256 Gb wifi + Cellular model).

Bingo.

I am delighted to announce that not only do I have a shiny new iPad but that I have pretty much nailed down my iOS workflow whilst using it. I went for the Mini simply because I like the size. It is easily hand-holdable, is significantly bigger than the largest iPhone and it fits in my Think Tank Press Pass 10 bag which has become a very regular part of my day-to-day shooting kit. It’s clearly not as powerful as the larger and more expensive iPad Pro models but it fulfils my requirements rather well – even when working with the larger files from the EOS R5 MkII.

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On holiday with my compact camera
Venice, Italy, during the Biennale. 09 November 2024. ©Neil Turner

Every time I get a new compact camera (and there have been quite a few) I come onto my blog and talk about it. Just under a year ago I got the Canon Powershot G5X MkII to replace my G7X MkII and took it on a family holiday to Venice. Earlier this month we were back in the same city with the same camera but this time the vacation was all about art. The Venice Biennale and all of the fringe shows that happen across the city are great places to see a lot of good, bad and occasionally indifferent art and, for a photographer, it’s a great place to see people interacting with it.

To save you going back and reading last year’s post I swapped from the G7X MkII for three basic reasons:

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Canon EOS R5 MkII – one month in


A couple of months ago I mentioned that I was due to take delivery of my first Canon EOS R5 MkII camera body. They are in great demand and the waiting lists at just about every retailer are pretty long and so I was delighted when mine turned up a little over a month ago. When work permitted I got down to the nerdy business of getting to know everything about it. Of course the menus were very familiar to my other Canons but different enough that they needed a few hours of study. The layout is also similar enough to my much-loved EOS R6 MKII bodies that the camera worked ergonomically from day one, hour one and pretty much minute two.

Having two different formats of memory card in the same camera has never been ideal and once again we have SD plus CF Express B and so it took a few minutes to decide how I was going to shoot making the best use of the two cards. In the end I opted for JPGs to the SD card and RAW files to the more robust (and larger capacity) CF Express card. Pretty much every other function is set up to match my existing cameras but it was the way that you set up and use FTP direct from the camera that took the longest to get my head around and become happy with.

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Thirteen quick portraits using unfamiliar gear
Husnah Kukundakwe – Ugandan Para Swimming athlete, photographed at the Athletes Village ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Monday 26 August 2024. Photo: OIS/Neil Turner

I hope that most people reading this are aware that my photography career has lots of elements to it. I have shot pictures for some 38 years now but for the last ten years I have also worked as an editor on large sports projects with Bob Martin and his team. One of the best parts of that work is going to Olympic and Paralympic events with the Olympic Information Service and this year we went to Paris to provide some coverage of the Paralympics and to work as mentors for eight young photographers. Bob Martin, Joel Marklund and Adrian Dennis did a great job as their photographic mentors and Sammie Thompson, Joe Toth and I guided them through our live workflow giving them a chance to get to grips with working as live editors for a couple of days each as well as sorting out their images. You can see what the team produced here.

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The ultimate compromise lens?


That’s a dramatic headline but, never before having had a lens like this, it’s the most accurate way that I could think of to sum it up. Canon’s RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1 L IS USM is something of a conundrum. It covers a range of focal lengths that I find extremely useful in a lot of the work that I currently do and, paired with the RF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM, it is a valuable item in my travelling kit bag. I have shot pictures with it that I would simply not have been able to without hauling some incredibly heavy (and expensive) lenses around the world.

Do I love this lens? No. Do I appreciate it? Yes… with bells on.

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