What’s in my camera bag – Markus Monreal

That’s a question I can’t really answer that easily! The right question would be more like: “What might be in my bag today?”

Since 99.9% of my work involves nature photography and I haven’t yet specialized in any particular field of nature photography, my gear – especially my lens collection – has continued to grow over the past years. So it’s impossible to pack all my gear into a single camera bag. (Which has led to me now owning four backpacks and three shoulder bags in every conceivable size and shape.) On top of that, I also use various tripods and a whole bunch of filters.

It would be impossible to list all the lenses that have come and gone over the years. But every lens that has stayed has its own specific purpose. As a result, the contents of my bag are constantly changing.

Nevertheless, I’ll try here to describe, using various scenarios, how I put together my gear for each specific task. I’d like to avoid showing photos of my packed bags. Instead, I’d like to use images to explain why I made certain choices and what results I was able to achieve with them. I hope this gives you a sense of what can be achieved with different sets of gear in nature photography, even though the few examples shown here represent only a fraction of what is possible.

Scenarios:
Note: Many of my lenses date back to the Olympus era. To keep things simple here, all of these lenses are labeled with the abbreviation “OM” for “OM Systems.”

Scenario 1: Wood, waterfalls, intimate landscapes
● Bag: medium-sized backpack or medium-sized shoulder bag
● Cameras: OM-1 (and OM-5)
● Lenses: Laowa 6mm F2.0, OM 8-25mm F4.0, OM 12-100mm F4 (alternatively OM 12-40mm F2.8 and OM 40-150mm F2.8)
● Equipment: stable tripod

For forest and landscape photography, you don’t need expensive, fast prime lenses – they’re actually more of a hindrance here. When it’s raining or foggy, I use two cameras, so I don’t have to change lenses in all that moisture. I choose the right (zoom) lenses based on locations I’m already familiar with. If you know what lenses you need, you can save weight, avoid frequent lens changes, and, above all, save time. (Trees don’t usually run away, but anyone who’s ever photographed at sunrise knows how quickly a special light can fade. Every second counts!)

Scenario 2: Flowers, mushrooms
● Bag: medium-sized backpack
● Cameras: OM-1 or OM-5
● Lenses: Leica 9mm F1.8, OM 17mm F1.2, OM 25mm F1.2, OM 45mm F1.2, Sigma 56mm F1.4, OM 75mm F1.8

I love how the subjects stand out against the background, and this is where fast prime lenses really shine! I don’t even try to photograph my subjects with a classic macro lens – it’s just too boring for me. I “misuse” classic street and portrait lenses for my subjects so that I can capture all the delicate beauty and fragility of the plants and mushrooms. I rarely use a macro lens.

Tip: You can also achieve beautiful results with the OM 40-150mm F2.8, especially at longer focal lengths.

Scenario 3: Animals
● Bag: large backpack
● Cameras: OM-1
● Lenses: OM 50-200mm F2.8 and OM 150-400mm F4.5 (Leica 200mm F2.8, OM 300mm F4.0)

Freedom of movement is everything here! While there are certainly situations where a tripod makes sense, that rarely happens for me. For smaller animals, such as lizards or toads, I like to use the OM 50-200mm. The OM 150-400mm is my first choice for birds and mammals. Regardless, both lenses are also excellent for landscape photography.

Scenario 4: Macro, extreme macro
● Bag: medium-sized backpack
● Cameras: OM-1 or OM-5
● Lenses: OM 90mm F3.5 macro, OM 60mm F2.8 macro, OM 30mm F3.5 macro
● Equipment: flash, lightning diffuser, remote shutter release, medium-sized and small tripod

Especially in extreme macro photography, a tripod and remote shutter release are essential. If you’re shooting a stacking series and the subject is moving, you’ll need a flash with mounted diffuser.

Scenario 5: Photo hike
● Bag: small or medium-sized backpack
● Cameras: OM-5 or OM-1
● Lenses: OM 12-40mm F2.8, OM 40-150mm F2.8, OM 60mm F2.8 macro, Sigma 56mm F1.4

For me, lightness and flexibility are key here. Since I don’t know what lies ahead, I want to be prepared for as many scenarios as possible while keeping the weight to a minimum. And a fast prime lens like the Sigma 56mm F1.4 for creative photography, along with a lightweight macro lens, are always in my bag!

Scenario 6: Photowalk (lightweight)
● Bag: small or medium-sized shoulder bag
● Cameras: OM-5
● Lenses: Sigma 56mm F1.4, OM 60mm F2.8 macro, Leica 9mm F1.7

I don’t want to weigh myself down here. I go out to unwind from my daily routine and just let things happen. Often with surprising results.

Conclusion:
In the end, it’s always the idea of what I want to photograph that determines what gear I pack in my bag.
I know that many of you love the compactness and lightness of the MFT system. I love the wide range of possibilities the MFT system offers me! As a former full-frame photographer, I can’t say my bag has gotten smaller or lighter – it just holds more options than it used to!