Jamie Stewart Jones

Main cameras

The first cameras in my bag. My trusty Nikon Z6, a full-frame mirrorless 25-megapixel camera with professional Nikkor S lenses and adapters that allow me to attach my collection of Nikkor F and vintage Carl Zeiss, Olympus Zuiko and Helios lenses. This camera is usually found attached to a tripod, and will also often have circular polarisers and neutral density filters attached to the lens. With its high dynamic range, precise autofocus and focus peaking, it is almost more difficult to miss focus with this camera. My other go-to is a very recent addition. I was looking for a smaller and more lightweight camera to pair up with the Z6, and did not want to sacrifice the image quality of the D7100. The 24-megapixel APS-C Fujifilm X-T2 seems to fit the bill perfectly: it is a big camera in a small body and has all the features you would expect from a mirrorless crop sensor camera. I am enjoying putting it through its paces. I have recently added a new drone to my collection, the DJI Mini 3 Pro, a gift that can produce 48-megapixel images, to replace my 12-megapixel DJI Mini 2 that "inexplicably" flew into the side of a hotel on Madeira (and while it no longer folds, it still flies and takes images). The latest addition to the menagerie is a Nikon D800E, a full-frame 35-megapixel DSLR beloved of landscape photographers that I picked up for not much money (a relative term in the world of photography) and which will at one point soon become my number two Nikon (but which will never replace the FujiFilm X-T2 in my affections).

25MP full-frame sensor mirrorless camera. First released in 2018

Fuji X-T2 24MP APS-C camera. First released in 2016

DJI Mini 3 Pro. First released in 2022

Reserves

I enjoy using all of these cameras. They all have a niche and are all very useful. The Fuji X-T20 is an excellent camera with the same sensor as its bigger brother, the X-T2, albeit with fewer features. While I like its size, sometimes my fingers were just too big for the controls. so I bit the bullet and purchased the X-T2. The Fuji X20 is a wonderful point-and-shoot that shoots raw and has a number of Fuji's renowned film simulations available at the touch of a button. Its images are sharp and vibrant and just a joy to behold. The D7100 is a true workhorse that produces beautiful images. This is the camera I take, usually married with my Sigma 24-70mm 1:2.8, when I am scouting locations. It is big, sturdy and weather-proofed. A wonderful camera that is always jostling for space in my camera bag.

24MP APS-C digital SLR. First released in 2013

12MP CMOS compact camera. First released in 2013

Retired cameras

Cameras that have served me very well over the years, but which are now enjoying a well-earned retirement. I do pick them up occasionally, just for the nostalgia buzz.

18MP APS-C digital SLR (2011)

12MP CCD compact (2009)

6MP APS-C digital SLR (2004)

10MP APS-C digital SLR (2005)

35mm film SLR (1984)

Where it all began

One day in 2001, I looked in the window of a shop in the Overgate Shopping Centre in Dundee and saw a little digital camera for sale. It was the Fujifilm Finepix A202. A 2-megapixel point-and-shoot that set me back about £150. I took it with me to Portugal the following summer and it got sand in it and stopped working. So I threw it away and replaced it with the 6-megapixel Fujifilm Finepix M603 that I saw in Currys. This was eventually replaced by the FujiFilm S7000Z bridge camera in June 2004, which was in turn replaced with the Nikon D70 in March 2005.

Full-frame kit

Nikon Z6
* Nikkor Z 14-30mm 1:4 S
* Nikkor Z 24-70mm 1:4 S
* Nikkor Z 24-200mm 1:4-6.3 VR

Nikon D800E
* Samyang 24mm1:3.5 24 ED AD UMG
* Sigma 24-70mm 1:2.8 EX DG Macro
* Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 D
* Nikkor AF 75-300mm 1:4.5-5.6

Drones

DJI Mini 3 Pro
DJI Mini 2

APS-C kit

Fujifilm X-T2
* Fujinon XF 10-24mm 1:4 R OIS
* Fujinon XF 14mm 1:2.8 R
* Fujinon XC 15-45mm 1:3.5-5.6 OIS PZ
* Fujinon XF 18-55mm 1:2.8-4 R LM OIS
* Fujinon XF 55-200mm 1:3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
* Fujinon XF 100-400mm 1:4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR

Back-up

Nikon D7100
Fujifilm X-T20
Fujifilm X20

Nikon F lenses

* Sigma 10-20mm 1:3.5 EX DC HSM
* Nikon AF-S Nikkor 35mm 1:1.8 G DX

Vintage lenses

* Tokina 28m 1:2.8
* Tokina RMC 28-85mm 1:4
* Tokina SZ-X 28-200mm 1:3.5-5.3
* Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 E
* Olympus Zuiko Auto-S 50mm 1:1.4
* Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm 1:2.8
* Helios-44-2 58mm 1:2.0
* Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm 1:3.5