Robert Canis
Photography

Equipment

My carry-around outfit when looking for close-ups and general scenes comprises of a D2x, 12-24mm, 28-105mm, 105mm micro and 200mm. Extension tubes, filters, flash,  and 'butterfly-bracket' along with a diffuser and reflectors are packed into a LowePro Trekker Classic. Although quite heavy and bulky, I consider the Benbo Mk1 to be the best tripod for this kind of work since it can get into any position.

Nikon D2x
Nikon F5
12-24mm F4 Nikkor
28-105mm f3.5-4.5 AFD Nikkor
70-300mm f4.5-5.6 AFD Nikkor
105mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor
70-200mm f2.8 Sigma Apo HSM
300mm F2.8 AFS-11 VR
TC17E 11
TC20E 11
Nikon SB25 & SB800 flash
plus lead
2 x Metz 45 CL4 flash units

ML1 Infra-red remote release

Smartdisk Flashtrax 80gb portable downloader 

Polarising filters
80A & 80B
HITECH hard and soft ND grads in 0.3, 0.6 & 0.9
Nikon 5T & 6T close-up filter
PK11, PK12 & PN11 Extension tubes

Benbo Mk1 tripod
Manfrotto 075B
Manfrotto 055 CLB
Manfrotto 190 CLB (backpacking)
Gitzo Rationnelle G1570M head
Manfrotto B&S head
Manfrotto 681B monopod

LowePro Trekker Classic
LowePro Trekker AW
LowePro Orion AW
Billinham 335
Billingham 445

WWS Dome hide
2 x Fensman hides
2 x WWS double bean-bags

Whether I visit a camera club or an RSPB group, by far the two most commonly asked questions are - "What camera gear do you use," and "Nice pictures, you must have some really good lenses?"

A wry smile invariably appears before I reply in a well rehearsed fashion - "Yes, as a professional I do own some quality optics but not one of them has ever jumped out of its camera bag at 3am to sit in a tiny wooden hide on a North Kent marsh!"

In other words, regardless of equipment you own, you will still need to put in the cecessary 'leg-work' to get the shot.

However, in order to satisfy your curiosity here is a run down of my current gear.