My gear

I'm often asked about what photo equipment I use.  Here's my list of gear I use that might be valuable for the photo-enthusiast.

CAMERAS

Canon 5D MkII.  Beautiful files for still and video.

Canon 7D.  I bought this as a backup body for stills, and for its video capability. A great camera in its own right.

Graflex.  I still love film, and I have three of these.

Linhof Technikardan. Precision engineering for those of us who love to shoot 4x5 film.

LENSES

Canon EF 17-40 f4L USM.  A fine lenses for the short range.

Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L USM. A workhorse of a lens. For my way of seeing, it's the go-to choice.

Canon EF 70-200L f4 IS.  I traded an f2.8 version of this lens in and love the lighter weight and size.

Canon EF 300mm f4L IS USM. Beautiful, crisp images for those long shots.

Canon EF 1.4x Extender.  For extra reach with a long lens, this is great bang for the buck and takes little room.

Schneider lenses.  For the 4x5, Schneider make exceptional lenses.  I have the 58, 75, 135, 210, and 300.

LIGHTING

Canon 580 EXII.  Great portable flash because of the ETTL capability in conjunction with the Canon cameras

Pocket Wizard TT5. Extremely reliable wireless flash remotes.

Pocket Wizard AC3. Zone controller.

Foursquare softbox. Clever system to allow usage of up to 8 580EX units inside one softbox.

Chimera softboxes.  I have these in lots of sizes up to 54 x 72.

Lastolite Reflectors.  I'm a fan of the Tri-Grip 8-in-one for its flexibility with color control and diffusion.

Scrim Jim.  If I need a larger portable panel to diffuse, block or bounce light, this does the trick.

TRIPODS

Manfrotto 055CXPRO3.  A nice mid weight tripod for 35 digital, with a nice outrigger solution for low angles.

Manfrotto 503HDV. A great video tripod.

BAGS

Lightware. I've got tons of these, from camera sized, to cargo bags for stands, to large cases for studio strobe.

Lowepro Orion AW. Because it has two components, you never have to put anything on the ground.

COMPUTER

MacPro Intel Dual Quad Core Desktop computer. 8GB Ram, 4-2TB internal hard drives.  

MacBook Pro 13". I love the size of this, considering all the other gear I need to take on the road.

SOFTWARE

Adobe Lightroom 3. For cataloging and quick adjustments, this software is amazing.

Adobe Photoshop CS5.  For editing the complex adjustments.

NIK Filter Collection, Silver Efex, Color Efex, Define 2, Sharpener Pro 3, and HDR Efex Pro.  

I've been a big fan of Nik Software for years.  Their plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and Apple Aperture are intuitive, well designed, and produce great results.  Color Efex Pro 4, Viveza 2, HDR Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro 2, Define 2.0, Sharpener Pro 3.0 and Snapseed are all impressive tools.

And now, I have negotiated a 15% discount for those who are interested in purchasing any of their products.  Simply go to the NIK Software website, choose the product you want, and in the Shopping Cart, type "abirnbach" in the coupon code box.

Yes, I am making a small commission on any sales, but I do not recommend products I do not personally like and use myself.  And since you can demo the software first, you can be sure you are happy before purchasing.