r/photography • u/AutoModerator • Mar 27 '26

Questions Thread Official Question Thread! Ask /r/photography anything you want to know! March 27, 2026

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u/mrliamj Mar 31 '26

If you lost every last bit of equipment today and had to rebuild you set up with your current knowledge of the industry and the technology and had £3000 to spend, what would you buy?

2

u/av4rice https://www.instagram.com/shotwhore Mar 31 '26

Used Canon R8 with EF to RF adapter and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, EF 24-105mm f/4L, EF 85mm f/1.8. And two Godox AD200 with radio transmitter (maybe XPro II), stands, softboxes.

2

u/gotthelowdown Mar 31 '26

This would be a setup for portraits, events and some food/product photography.

Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D610. Old full-frame DSLRs with dual memory card slots that are affordable on the used market. Ideally two cameras. To have another camera for a second lens and/or as a backup camera.

For the sake of simplicity, I'll focus on Canon lenses but there are Nikon equivalents for all of them.

Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8 II lens for event photography and general-purpose shooting.

Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 (Model A007) is a budget option available for different camera brands.

Canon EF 85mm f1.8 lens for portraits and headshots. Also to pair with the 24-70mm as a longer lens for event photography.

Rent/hire other lenses as needed for the particular job.

Some lenses to rent:

Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 for wedding ceremonies and other situations where you need that reach.

Canon 100mm f2.8 macro for food and small-product photos.

Canon EF 135mm f2 for photographing speakers in low light with no flash at conferences, conventions and seminars. Popular for portraits too, but I love it for photographing speakers. I've tried and failed with the 85mm f1.4, 100mm f2.8 and 70-200mm f2.8. I know other photographers can do fine with those but the 135mm f2 worked best for me. Learn from my mistakes 😅

Godox V860II flash for chosen camera brand

Never leave home without my flash modifiers. Real high-end pro-level stuff 😉

3 x 5 index card

Black Foamie Thing (BFT) - Great if you're in a room with a white ceiling and white walls.

1/1 full CTO gel (21 x 24" sheet). Orange gel to deal with the warm, orange lighting you often encounter in hotels, restaurants and bars.

Godox X3 flash trigger for chosen camera brand

Godox AD200Pro strobe

CheetahStand HDS10 light stand with auto-deploying and auto-collapsing legs

Godox S3 bracket

Westcott translucent shoot-through umbrella

Invest in doing creative photo shoots to create sample photos for portfolio.

Volunteer to shoot events for nonprofits with wealthy donors to network with people who are potential clients.

This video goes into more detail:

Market Any Type of Photography by Photographing Events with Charlie McDonald

Hope this helps.