IN Premjith’s BAG
01 Manfrotto Xpro 680B monopod WEB: www.manfrotto.co.uk
THIS monopod has travelled to places that tripods could not; I’ve used it to cover the Ski World Championship in the Swiss Alps, the World Polo Championship at St. Moritz and, of course, Formula 1 tracks. It provides support for my heavy 300mm f/2.8 and 400mm f/2.8 lenses, and weighing just 1.65lb, with a minimum height of 22 inches, I find it to be compact and strong.
02 Canon eos-1d X Mark ii WEB: www.canon.co.uk
THIS camera has an ultrafast and intelligent autofocus system. The buffer capacity is amazing, and the incredible 14fps burst performance means I get what I need ‘faster’, with excellent image quality. It also has a powerful battery that lasts for thousands of shots. I find it very comfortable and easy to shoot using AI Servo focusing mode for panning shots with a long 400mm or 300mm lens.
03 Canon ef 70200mm f/2.8l is ii USM WEB: www.canon.co.uk
AS I get closer to the race tracks, I need to have a varying focal length lens to control my panned frames. This versatile zoom lens is the solution, and matches any prime lens for quality. The ultrasonic autofocus motor provides fast, smooth and silent autofocus without vibration, and things seem to magically pop into focus.
04 Canon ef 400mm f/2.8l is ii USM WEB: www.canon.co.uk
I MOSTLY use this lens with a 1D X Mark II to cover major portion of the racetracks. F1 tracks often have distracting backdrops, and this lens features superb image quality, even at wide-open apertures, causing the distractions to melt into a colourful background blur. I find the Image Stabilization to be a hugely valuable feature and use Mode 2 for panning the cars.
05 Blackrapid RSD-2BB Sling strap WEB: www.blackrapid.com
THIS twin camera harness enables me to carry my Canon 1D X Mk II and 5D Mk IV on each shoulder. The weight is dampened by shoulder pads built from nylon mono mesh, which provides a perfect cushion. The length of each camera strap can be adjusted, and I like the compact stainless steel CR-3 connectors, which screw into the tripod mounts on the underside of each camera.
06 Sanho hyperdrive Colorspace Udma 250GB WEB: www.hypershop.com
WHEN you are shooting for hours, memory cards get consumed fast. This Hyperdrive Colorspace UDMA 250GB is the perfect place to dump my images. Once you insert a memory card it gets uploaded by itself. The 3.2-inch colour LCD is good for browsing images. I find it very useful because it saves time and effort, avoiding frequent trips to transfer the images to my laptop.