Main Cameras OwnedDetailsLink
Minolta Dynax 7D
6MP Digital SLR, lenses include:
  • Sigma 18-125mm DC f3.5/5.6 D Macro/Zoom, Filter 62mm
  • Sigma 28-70mm DF f2.8 Macro/Zoom, Filter 77mm
  • Minolta 35mm f2, Filter 55mm
  • Minolta 35-105mm f3.5/4.5, Filter 55mm
  • Minolta 70-210mm f4, Filter 55mm (a.k.a. The Beercan)
  • Minolta 75-300mm (D) f4.5/5.6, Filter 55mm
  • Tamron 90mm SP f2.8 Macro, Filter 55mm
  • Loreo Perspective Control (PC Lens in a CAP), 35mm, f11, f22, 3.5mm shift (any direction)
other accessories include:
  • Minolta Dynax Program Flash 3600HS(D)
  • Vivitar 1.4x Teleconverter
  • Seagull Angle Finder
  • Remote Release Control (3rd party)
  • OC-1100, OS-1100 and FS-1100 flash connectors
Minolta X-700
35mm film, lenses include:
  • Tokina 28-85 f3.5/5.6 Macro/Zoom, Filter 62mm
  • Sakar 28-200 f4/5.6 Macro/Zoom, Filter 67mm
  • Minolta 50 f1.7, Filter 50mm
  • Sunagor 80-305 f5.6/8 Telephoto/Macro, Filter 58mm
  • Universon 135 f2.8, Filter 55mm
  • Centon 500 Mirror f8, Filter 72mm (T2) (including 30.5mm filters: skylight, ND-2, ND-4)
other accessories include:
  • Motor Drive 1 - after about 15 years of ownership I finally purchased the 5fps PowerWinder
  • Cobra D400 Dedicated Flash Gun (replaced a broken Hanimex one)
  • Sunagor Auto 2x Teleconverter
Olympus μ[mju]-II35mm film, f2.8 lens
Nikon Coolpix 31003.2 megapixel digital, CompactFlash, 38-115mm/F2.8-4.9 zoom+macro
Canon Ixus 5005.0 megapixel digital ultracompact, CompactFlash, 36-108mm/F2.8-4.9 zoom+macro
Canon PowerShot SX100is8.0 megapixel digital compact, SD(HC), 36-360mm/F2.8-4.3 zoom+macro, lens-based image stabilization

Other Cameras OwnedDetailsLink
Hanimex 35ee Micro35mm film, 33mm lens
RolleiFlex 2.8F TLR120 (6x6 cm) film

Additional AccessoriesDetailsLink
Tripod and Stands
  • Manfrotto 190CL Tripod with 390RC2 head
  • Velbon CX mini Tripod
  • Optex T5 Monopod with Manfrotto 234RC head
  • Proline light stand
  • Yake model L-301 light stand
  • Panosaurus panoramic tripod head
 
Lighting
  • Canon flashgun, Speedlite 420EX (Thank you Mateen)
  • AVI SDW-60MR AC slave flash (variable output)
  • Yake S-45M AC slave flash (fixed output)
  • Various halogen and tungsten light fittings used for continuous light
  • Wireless (RF) trigger for flash (standard shoe)
  • PC/Sync cord with ISO flash shoe, to mount the Canon flash to the Minolta
  • Centon FH85 Power Flash + PG1 Power Grip (+ flash mounting bracket)
 
Fliter
  • Cokin P-series filter system, ND and ND Grads
  • Various Polarisers (circular and linear)
  • Hochglanz Red(R2), Green(G), Orange(O2), Yellow(Y2) 62mm
  • Sunagor Starburst, 6 point, 62mm
  • Close-up focus lens/filters +1,+2,+4 and MACRO+10
  • Hoya Infrared (R72), 55mm
 
Other
  • Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG (MAFXi), 12mm, 20mm, 36mm
  • T2-MD and T2-MAF adapters
  • step up rings 46-52, 49-52-55-58-62-67-72-77
  • blower brush (want Arctic Butterfly type but these are expensive)
  • Reverse adapter ring for Minolta 7000 (MAF)
  • MAF-M42 adapter
  • MD-MAF adapter
 

A Short History

My first camera was a working toy camera the infamous Diana camera (although I seem to remember mine had Windsor on it) my father bought me. It took 120 film had a lens which turned about 40 degrees to focus from near to far, 3 aperture settings and fixed shutter speed. I guess the developing took care of the exposure to some degree.

The first camera I bought was my Minolta X-700 with a 50mm f1.7 lens and a Hanimex flash gun. I also bought the Hanimex 35ee Micro on the same day so I'd have something small to always carry with me. I know exactly when I did this as it was the day I cashed my first grant cheque, it was 1982 and I was just starting my Physics degree at UCL (Universtiy College London). I was lucky that back in those days we still got a (small) grant so I put it to good use. I still own the X-700 which gave me 25 years of great, reliable service. My little Hanimex also gave long and great service but has now retired into a foam padded small aluminium case, where it is very happy.

Many years later I supplemented the X-700 with a tiny Olympus mju-II and eventually got into digital photography with a Nikon Coolpix 3100.

But this wasn't the first time I had used a digital camera. This was a very rare and early Canon digital (still video camera) which EDS had bought for taking product shots way back around 1993. It stored the images on a small 2.5cm still video floppy disk and with a resolution below 1M pixels. It was one of the RC-2xx series, I think it was the RC-250 (Q-PIC) and I really enjoyed using it. See the whole museum here.

I still own all my cameras (I would never sell them) but rarley use film now, my little Canon IXUS-500 and the my wonderful Minolta 7D are used exclusively due to their quality and lets face it, cheapness to run. I have no film to buy and no developing to pay for, film has no chance with the masses.

Being a programmer I of course have written a utility to add IPTC tags to all my images. This works at a command line level which means I can basically do one, tens or hundreds of files in just one command. This was very useful when updating directories which had related content, but it also has add, update and replace modes to add extra information on each specific picture. For more see here.

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