My Gear #6 - Rick Moncello

Let’s start of by introducing myself. . .   My name is Rick and I’m in a suburb north of Dallas TX.  I first got interested in photography in my 5th grade photography class.  There I used my Dad’s Kodak Retina Reflex IV (I think it was the IV, not certain now) and shot/developed/printed B&W film.  I still have one of the pictures I printed sitting on my desk.  It does show it’s age. 

Once digital starting going mainstream, I mothballed my F3HP in favor of the much cheaper to operate Sony Mavica FD7.  That got me hooked on Sony, where I progress to FD81 ->  F717 -> F828.  I stayed with the F828 up through June of this year.  The attached photo was taken with the F828, which brings us up to my current kit. . .

What’s in my LowePro Slingshot AW 200?

- Nikon D7000 – Full compatibility with almost all Nikkor lenses, so works with my lenses from the F3HP.  Great value for an amateur photographer.

- Neewer D7000 – Cheap knock-off battery grip.  Absolutely no complaints about it.  My dials aren’t even reversed like so many reviews, and my brother has one with the reversed dials.

- Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 – This thing’s great!  It’s on my camera most of the time.

- Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 – Another fabulous lens.  Takes over where the 24-70 leaves off!  Only had it about 2 weeks, so not much experience and haven’t used it “on the job” yet.

- Nikkor 10-24 f/3.5-5.6 DX – Yeah, I know you were expecting the 14-24.  I chose this one for it’s angle of coverage.  On the D7000, I can get an entire room in one shot while standing in a corner.  The 14mm doesn’t quite make it out there.

- Nikon SB-700 – It’s all the flash I need.  I use it off-camera most of the time.

- Eneloop Batteries – AAA for the remote trigger and AA for the flash and camera.

- Sandisk UHS-1 64GB SDXC – slot 1 for raw images

- Kingston Class-10 32GB SDHC – slot 2 for jpg images – Total of 1.7K image capacity.

- Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB-100 – brand new, just days old.  All I can say is so far it can hold the camera, with 70-200, at any angle I’ve tried.

Now, what do I do with all this?  I’m a volunteer photographer for my local Fire Department.  I photograph major scenes for them.  My photos are used mainly to review, and critique their response.  They’re also used for training, PR, and station art.  The fast lenses are for night shots of major vehicle accidents.  The wide angle I use for shooting full coverage inside a building after a fire.  The flash is used off camera to get night shots well exposed.  The benefit of off camera flash is to get some angle between the flash and the lens so that the reflective stripes on the Bunker Gear don’t get blown out.

Of course, I also use it for vacations, shooting flowers/bugs/whatnot in the yard, and just general stuff.

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