Michel’s Essential Photo Equipment

Michel has been a professional photographer for 45 years. During his career as a commercial photographer he used at least one model of almost every serious camera ever made. As we travelled in South East Asia we met many young amateur photographers who were fascinated by the simplicity of Michel’s photo equipment list. We share it with you here.

Panasonic DMC FZ200 Lumix
He sold all of his SLR professional equipment and lenses and purchased this single lens camera that weighs 500grams before we left Florida in 2013. This camera has a zoom lens with 25 to 600 mm range with the aperture of F:2.8 all the way. He uses manual focusing when the lens is extended over 300mm. He has taken all photographs on our trip in RAW format which gives him a file size average of 3.5 MB. The “Leitz” lens brings a sharpness that is wonderful. It took him some time to get use to this light camera but after making the adjustment believes this was the best choice for both for quality and travel. Negatives: would love to ask Panasonic to improve strength of background blur. Took some time to get used to the many functions this Lumix offers.

Manfrotto 209 Tapletop Tripod Legs w/ 492 Micro Ball Head
This lightweight folding tripod fit easily in Michel’s backpack. It is very versatile and will provide stabilization on almost any surface, even vertical (eg: walls, trees, polls).

Storm Jacket Camera Cover
This cover has protected Michel’s camera in the rain and through the river rapids many times.

Bellingham Camera Bag
This professional style bag is waterproof and includes photo inserts. He carries his camera, Apple Air and all accessories in the bag with room to spare.