Having worked a lot with the Hasselblad medium format system, I just couldn't cope with the light-weight all-plastic feeling of most 35 mm camera brands. The only brand that felt really good and trustworthy was Nikon. I was also very impressed by the metering system of the, then new, Nikon F5. I must admit, though, that I get impressed by Canon optics once in a while. They are certainly very innovative, but I sometimes get the feeling that gadgetry gets higher priority than usefulness at Canon. The bottom-line, however, is that all the excellent pictures taken with the aid of Pentaxes, Minoltas, Canons and what-not, prove that the camera is just a tool. I chose Nikon and I am tremendously satisfied.

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Here used to be a list of the specific gear I use. Well, as if that matters... Suffice to say that I have just about everything I need and that, with a few carefully selected lenses, I cover a focal length range of 10.5 to 500 mm.

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I invariably (well, almost) photograph from a tripod. I do not use photographic tripods since they are ridiculously expensive in relation to the support they provide. Instead, I use a kind that is normally used for triangulation and geodetic surveys. It is heavy and cumbersome and, consequently, rock-steady. It doesn't cost much either! (Having said that, I suppose I must confess that I own a couple of Manfrotto tripods as well. One 055PRO for travelling light, one 028 that was my first tripod and is more gentle to wooden floors than my big tripod, and finally a 474 monopod - can't think of why actually...) On top of that, I have an Arca-Swiss B1g, and for big glass I add a Wimberley Side-kick. In my car, I use the ErgoRest Multitripod which I have found to be most convenient and practical. Obviously, aerial photography is done hand-held. For VR-panoramas, I use the Manfrotto 302 QTVR head.

There is a never ending debate whether the best gear is needed to take the best photographs. The politically correct answer is that "No, cameras don't take pictures - photographers do" often followed by: "Of course, with the right stuff everything is a lot easier and you get more sharp and well exposed pictures, not that I ever use autoexposure..." Those who say so can probably afford to get whatever they want. But there is actually one thing about having the right gear that is good for one's photography, apart from the obvious. Until you have the best gear you can always fool your self and say: "OK, I didn't succeed with this photograph but what would you expect with this old junk. If I had only had..." If, on the other hand, you already have the latest stuff, you can't blame anything else than yourself. Then you can start working on the real problem - photography as such. I'm working on it myself. Unfortunately, it only works until there is a new model, for if I only had that...