Kit list and wishlist

Let's face it, most of us want more stuff. Unlike all you who are all mindless consumers I don't want more stuff, I need more stuff. Here is a list of my current photography kit, and below a wishlist for things I need :P Donations welcomed :)

Though there are a few other things I would like to have, I love every part of my kit and as such each section has a rant about what I love and possible don't like about the piece of kit.

Current Kit:

Camera Body:
Pentax K20D

Rant: The most solid camera I have ever held, it is one of the few DSLR's that is weather resistant, though remember that your lens probably isn't weather resistant! The camera is rather weighty at 800g (with battery and card) which, when you add another 465g for the Sigma 10-20mm (which I use most often) you can be forgiven for feeling like you are carry around a very expensive bag of sugar all day. I miss having a dedicated depth of field preview button, though you can change a setting to make another button do this (which I have done, though you then lose the live view function of that button).

There is 14.6 million effective pixels (14.6MP) crowbarred into the sensor!!! Those pixels work hard for you, churning out some beautiful, crisp photos which I am always more than happy with and creates images that I can enlarge far bigger than I have ever needed or wanted to.


Lenses:
Sigma 10-20mm f/4 - 5.6 (EX DC HSM)
Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5 - 5.6 DC
Sigma 70-300mm f/4 - 5.6 DG

Rant: My most frequently used lens is the Sigma 10-20mm Ultra wide-angle. It helps to give pictures a really interesting perspective and depth. Great for landscapes, and in confined spaces it covers most of my photography and suits my style.

I use the Sigma Telephoto Zoom (70-300mm) mainly for portraits as you can get a pretty crisp focus with it (though you have to be back a little).

I hardly use the 18-50mm, i think I have gotten lazy using the 10-20mm wideangle as it almost always gives an interesting perspective. I am going to try and use this basic kit lense (18-55mm) more as it will make me think a little more about my shots and hopefully learn more.

Filters:
77mm Hoya UV Filter
2x 58mm Hoya UV Filters

Rant: They stop me scratching me lenses!! Glad I have them, the 77mm already has a few scratches.

Flash:
I had an external flash for the hot-shoe (some type of old school Pentax I took from my dad's unused Pentax SLR), but it has been lost and/or stolen.

Rant: Can't see myself getting a replacement any time soon, they are expensive, and i don't like to use flash lighting.

Transport:
Crumpler - Customary Barge

Rant: Great as it doesn't look like a camera bag(not advertising that you have expensive kit is often a good move in Africa. It also has room for a laptop and whatever else you wanna take. Warning: It is freaking huge though, and with a camera, three lenses, a laptop and other shit can get heavy. I think Crumpler do a smaller version though.

Tatonka - Backpack (More specifically the zip off daypack section).

Rant: I have a tatonka backpack (huge backpacking thing). Luckily, the lift out camera section from the Crumpler fits right into the bottom of the Tatonka daypack.

Editing/Storage:

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Note: This link is to Photoshop CS4, the latest version.

500g External Hard Drive and DVD's for Backups


Wishlist:

Tripod with 3 way head

Sigma 15mm F/2.8 Diagonal Fish eye

A Couple of prime lenses. I was going to put a couple in here, but couldn't decide!!!

77mm circular polarizing filter

New 77mm UV filter for Sigma 10-20mm (the current one is on it's last legs)

Adobe LightRoom 2 to help manage work flow and sorting of images

Would like a backup system that works easier, hopefully LightRoom will help with this.


Be interested to hear your thoughts on my kit, and about yours.

Cheers
Dan