As I was recruited to take some of the pictures for Jalopnik at this year's Detroit Auto Show, I figured I should take some time out and show you what I brought to the nation's largest automotive event.
Photo Cameras and Lenses
Any crafstman worth his salt is only as good as the tools he uses. Or something like that. To take halfway decent pictures, I use a Canon 6D full frame DSLR with extended battery grip. It has 20.2 megapixels, and can upload pictures via Wi-Fi - important when you need content up as quickly as possible.
As a backup, I also have a Canon EOS Rebel XT DSLR with extended battery grip. It's a crop frame camera, which means that it's sensor is smaller than the 6D's full frame sensor, but that also means that it can basically double the lens options that I have, since the focal length on any lens is now effectively magnified. It has an eight megapixel sensor and it has particularly good picture quality for such a small camera. I use a bottom mounted heavy duty strap, as it doesn't get into shots and it can wrap around my body, rather than simply resting on my neck.
For lenses, I'm using a Canon 24-105 f/4 L lens, Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 manual aperture and focus wide angle, and 50mm f/1.8. They're not the sharpest things in the world, but they're absolutely spectacular in usability, affordability, and durability. With the lenses, I have a set of interchangeable filters and shades in various sizes.
The flash I use is a Canon Speedlite 540EZ, with a Gary Fong Lightsphere diffuser. I use rechargeable NiMH batteries, as they tend to recharge the flash faster.
I'm using a Davis & Sanford BHQ8 tripod with metal ball head. It's incredibly stable and resilient.
Video Cameras and Audio Equipment
When shooting video that can't be recorded with the Canon 6D, I use my GoPro Hero 3 Black edition, and Sony HDR-AS100V. They both record in 1080P, and I have multiple batteries for extended use. They also both have articulating suction cup mounts and waterproof cases for heavy duty use. I also have two retractable arms, or as normal people refer to them, "selfie sticks".
For audio, I use a Zoom H4N audio recorder, with an HTDZ HT-81 active shotgun microphone, along with two lavalier microphones. It's one of the best on-the-fly audio setups you can use, on a budget.
Editing and Processing
The laptop I use is an ASUS G75. It has a 2.3 Ghz Pentium Core i7 PROCESSOR AND GeForce GTX 670M video card. It has a terabyte of on board storage over two hard drives, one being solid state. It's built for gaming, but it's a spectacular video editing rig when on the go. It is a heavy addition to my gear, but a necessary one.
Backpack
I'm using a Caselogic Kilowatt KSB-102 backpack. Things may get a bit cramped, but it holds all my stuff with no real issue, and comes with a waterproof cover. It also fits in most overhead bins
Storage
I have three 95MB/second 64GB SD cards, one 45MB/sec 128GB SD card a 16GB SD card for audio, two 64GB Class 10 microSD cards, a 2GB microSD card for emergencies, a 4GB CF card, and a 2GB CF card.
Add to that all of the chargers, usb cables and adapters I use, that's the extent of my travel carry. Let me know what you think!