my gear

there's a lot more to photography than the gear but the gear's important too. and its cool. so this is what i shoot with. this page is mostly for my own reference

Nikon Z5 Mirrorless Camera

this is the camera i use right now, bought used in the summer of 2025. the z5 is nikon's older entry-level mirrorless camera and, while it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer and more expensive models, i love this camera. it really pushed me to treat photography more seriously and learn about the technical elements of the art. the lens ecosystem has also opened a lot of doors for me creatively, and the lenses really are fantastic. these are the ones i have:

• Nikon 24-70mm f/4: my go-to walk-around lens. great image quality, a good focal range, and decently bright. it's also on the lighter side.
• Nikon 26mm f/2.8: the smallest lens in the Z lineup. it's suuupper thin and light which makes it easy to take with me anywhere. the focal length is a little wider than i'm used to, but the focal length plus the fastish aperture makes it a great and easy to pack indoor lens.
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8: an incredibly high-quality lens. the fast aperture makes it my go-to indoor and low-light lens when the environment allows and it's a great portrait focal length, too.
• Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3: the heaviest, largest, and slowest lens in my kit. it's worth it for that reach, though. 300mm can get you far.
• Nikon MC 105mm f/2.8: technically a 2.8-4.5 because the functional aperture narrows at close focus. it's a macro lens, so i use it for macro things. the most "out there" lens i have right now, in terms of the kinds of photos it opens me up to. it's really stellar seeing things so up close

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Pentax SP1000 35mm film camera

in September of 2025 i picked up a film camera from austin seng, a local photographer/vintage nerd. i've been enjoying the tactile feeling of a manual film camera and—i know this is a trite cliche—how it "makes me slow down." my first three rolls, despite not having a working meter for most of them, turned out pretty good! huge fan of the colours. i have a 35mm f/3.5 and 50mm f/1.8 lens. some film stocks i'm interested in trying:

• Kodak Gold 200: warmer, lower contrast.
• Portra: the go-to film for people who just started film photography and want to waste a bunch of money. warm, vibrant, lots of latitude, and i love the colour reproduction.
• Harman Phoenix II: reminds me of the cheap consumer films you used to see in old point-and-shoots and disposables.
• Cinestill 800T: high speed film balanced for tungsten lights.
• Reflex Lab 800 Tungsten: another high speed film balanced for tungsten lights. bit of a more sci-fi-filmaic look to it.
• Dubblefilm Bubblegum 400: self-explanatory. the photos evoke bubblegum.
• Fujifilm Colour (Superia): classic film stock. sorta nostalgic.
• Kodak Ultramax 400: jack-of-all-films; high saturation, decent speed.
• Street Candy Psychadelic Street 400: underwhelmingly, it's just a muted retro stock. i guess its "psychadelic" because the 70s were psychadelic? anyway i like the retrobait stuff.

the table below shows the prices of the above film stocks at five different retailers. unless otherwise noted, prices are for individual rolls of 36 exposures. last updated November 2025.

Instax Wide 300

an instant camera. the photos look hideous but have a certain charm to them. and its nice to have a physical object right after the shot. doesnt feel good to shoot with.

former gear

i used to own a nikon z 40mm f/2 and 24-200mm f/4-6.3, but traded the 40mm for the 50mm and sold the 24-200mm to fund the former and a tamron lens. briefly, i was in possession of a canon 50d and 18-200mm lens, but they were in bad shape (salt and sand and fungus and such) so i tore them apart to look at their insides like a psychopath dissecting a small mammal. it was interesting.

before i bought the nikon z5, i used a Pentax K-3 my dad gave me because he wasn't using it. i learned photography on that camera and for years took it everywhere with me. while it had a lot of sentimental value, once i stopped using it (it's hard to beat the nikon z5!) it was time to give it a new home. in november 2025, i sold it to somebody who i hope will get as much use out of it as i did. i had the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens and a 50mm f/1.8 prime.

my wishlist

this is stuff id like to buy. for my own reference, unless youre loaded and want to feel like a generous person. costs are in CAD and before tax

standard lenses

• Nikkor Z 40mm f/2 ($420): i owned this before but traded it + cash for the 50mm f/1.8. i didnt realize until after but i quite liked this lens and would like to own it again
• Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 ($1,050): great image quality and focal length for potraits, but close enough in focal length and sharpness to other lenses on this list that its low priority
• Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 EVO ($400): great focal length for potraits. if i get the nikkor 85mm this is no longer desireable and vice-versa
• Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S ($1,500): sharper than my 24-70mm, but only makes sense if i find a good deal
• Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD ($1,600): longest zoom i could ever reasonably afford. fairly heavy
• Laowa 180mm f/4.5 1.5x ($730): longer reach and 50% better magnification than the Nikon macro lens, but fully manual (would need a focus rail) and probably has worse image quality

ultra wide angles

• Viltrox 14mm f/4 Air ($289): relatively low-distortion ultra wide
• Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 ($840): another low-distortion ultra wide with an emphasis on astrophotography: excellently controlled coma, wide aperture, heavy construction
• TTArtisan 10mm f/2.8 Fisheye ($330): not a true fisheye but very high distortion, fully manual
• Laowa 8-15mm f/2.8 Fisheye ($1,400): fully manual, very high distortion, circular image at the wide end
• Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye ($300): fully manual, designed for APS-C sensors, circular image

misc

• second godox flash
• extra tools for light management, like reflectors, LED panels, and softboxes
• remote trigger with support for timed bulb exposures
• a fast 70-135mm lens for the SP1000
• a fast 35mm lens for the SP1000
• some more 128gb+ sd cards
• pocket printer
• spacious camera backpack
• black mist filter, 1/2 or 1/4
• filter thread step-up rings
• a motorized star tracker
• copy stand for film scanning
• desk clamp for mounting my camera

cameras

while i love the z5, i sometimes chafe against the extremely slow burst speed. and it'd be nice to have access to some of the features of the EXPEED 7 nikon cameras, like pixel shift (for digitizing film), improved autofocus and tracking, articulating screens, and better tethering control. the z5ii is my best option right now. the z6iii isn't bad either, but the extra price gets you a bunch of video features i don't care about at all and slightly worse dynamic range because of the partially-stacked sensor. the zf is more-or-less the z5ii but pricier, and i prefer the digital controls and deep grip of the z5ii. the z5ii is cheap enough that if i found a good deal i could cover a lot of the cost by selling my z5. that's a future problem, though.