Zach Sutton
Lifestyle | Last Updated: March 28, 2024
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a gear hog. Like so many other photographers, I’ve spent hours on various camera store websites thinking “Someday…This [Camera/Lens/Flash/Filter] will be mine.” With the past 7 years working as a full time professional photographer, I’ve more often than not, had the opportunity to own many of the items I’ve spent late nights looking at.
I’m not known as a photographer who travels light. With a commercial photography style, I often have at least a studio strobe or two with me for nearly all of my shoots. This usually involves working with a larger team to help carry and set up. While is it certainly a pain, and I’m hoping for each and every generation of new gear to be lighter and smaller, I can’t possibly imagine working any other way.
I started my photography career with a Canon XTi. I was planning on buying a Nikon D40 at the time, and when Canon released their little XTi, I jumped ship and bought that instead. I used that paired with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 for the first year or two as a photographer and eventually updated it to a 40D.
From there, it was love from one lens to the next, most notable mentions being the Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and the Sigma 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6. I eventually upgraded to the Canon 5d Mark II when it was released, and put my crop body life behind me. That is when my lust for L series lenses began.
Currently, I use a Canon 5d Mark III and my trust old Canon 5d Mark II for backup. I’m most often mounted with a Canon 35mm f/1.4L, Canon 50mm f/1.2L or Canon 85mm f/1.2L II. However, my tastes and love from lens to lens changes often, and I always have another lens on my wish list. I also use a Schneider 77mm True-Match Vari-ND filter is most of my workflow, to help balance my ambient and artificial light at shallow depths of field.
The remaining lenses in my bag are the Canon 135mm f/2L, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, and the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L. This is all stuffed unorganized in a LowePro ProRunner 450AW, but I occasionally moved to different bags.
Check out these 8 essential tools to help you succeed as a professional photographer.
Includes limited-time discounts.
