This is a short guide to my frequently-used hardware and accessories. Always in flux.

Computers

I do all my work on one computer.

MacBook Pro 16" M1 Max

I was blown away with the M1 Max.

I was... not happy with the outgoing maxed-out MacBook Pro I used along with my Intel Mac Pro, but the M1 Max does everything I need to do — 3D work, 2D design, photo and video editing and processing — quickly and with fantastic battery life.

But it's the small things that by now, years into the Apple Silicon transition, seem like tiny details, that made all the difference. Plugging in my display didn't freeze my computer and made windows flicker and contort: it just instantly lit up a second screen. Waking up from sleep was instant, effortless. Battery life lasts me an entire flight to Amsterdam.

By now, it's a lot more beat up than the photo above, and it still does spectacularly. I can't foresee myself upgrading unless I really have to (though, that black finish on the new MBPs is pretty slick...). Must-have accessories? I have very few, save for Apple's blacked-out MagSafe cable, a set of black-woven Thunderbolt 4 cables from Apple, and... a display, of course.

Nano-texture Pro Display XDR

Launched to scoffs and laughter at the seemingly-absurd price of its (separately sold!) $1000 aluminum stand, the Pro Display XDR is entering 'old technology' territory now, but my nano-textured Pro Display XDR is the single biggest productivity booster I have outside of good sleep and a fast computer. It sounds ridiculous, but having a 6K display is all I ever needed to work better.

Put a 4K video in the middle and have room left for Davinci Resolve. Have two full (and I mean full) browser windows open side by side. Multi-task with a dozen apps without feeling annoyed. I am spoiled, ruined, by this resolution and size. When I lived part-time in Amsterdam I went so far to buy one there because I couldn't stand working without one. I rode it home on a bicycle. I don't care if it's 'old': if you want one recommendation from me on hardware, this is it.

Many people ask about the nano-texture finish, and to me it is sublime. It diffuses light slightly in a way that some might perceive as being less sharp; to me, it looks like paper, almost. I love it, and in the image above there's a set of very bright sunny windows on the right outside the frame. No reflections. Nothing. No eye strain, no annoying glare. Perfection.

Additional hardware around the office:

I play a lot of Apple Music through my first-get HomePod. It's terrible at everything except being a speaker for Apple Music. Many complaints but none for office 'radio'.

I keep an iPhone or two on a Nomad desk charger — the kind you hook a MagSafe cable into. In fact, I like the MagSafe cables so much I stuck one to the dash of my car as a 'car mount'. It works incredibly well.

If I use an iPad (which I rarely do), it's on a little stand. I use this one.

Ubiquiti networking gear wires my fiber internet around the office and I pair it with a lot of HomeKit-compatible gear. Hue lights, Netatmo air quality monitoring, with Logitech Circle cameras running HomeKit Secure Video to keep private recordings of my office.

Cameras

iPhone 15 Pro Max

I shoot... a lot on my iPhone. That's always with Halide and Kino, of course. I often get questions if I use cases or accessories like external lenses. I don't; external lenses are always worse than built in optics, though there's some value in some video setups. AppleCare+ is my case of choice.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max, is, well, the best iPhone yet. Apple didn’t lie there. My previous favorite cameras by Apple were the iPhone X, iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro. Max-series phones are always a necessity-purchase; the iPhone 12 Pro Max had a lovely 2.5× lens, and this 15 Pro Max the 5× lens. I can’t imagine living without my 5× lens at this point, but I miss the 3× optical lens on a daily basis. It’s rough.

Ergonomics-wise, I find the 15 Pro Max to be blatantly too large. I hope to ‘downgrade’ to an iPhone 16 Pro this year if rumors are true and it gains a 5× lens and is camera-spec identical to its larger Max cousin.

For video, I do like the Beastgrip and Neewer cage-like setups for popping on ND filters and being able to handle it in a more 'camera-like' way. For attaching iPhone to a tripod, I use the Glif or a Neewer tripod mount.

Sony A1

I bought the Sony A1 when it was released, mostly for speed and versatility. It remains an absolute champion, top end camera for anything I throw at it years later. It is so massively overpowered at almost anything that it continues to delight me in everything but its user interface.

And boy, does it fail to delight there. Using the Sony A1 remains a frustrating, terrible experience (along with all the other A-series bodies I own), but I put up with it for the images and video. It's a workhorse with a face only a mother could love.

Accessories I use: Sony's excellent multi-mode hot shoe mic and the battery grip.

Leica M-P / M6

I shoot film, and love doing so, and I only do it on cameras I love shooting with. While both of these cameras have an annoying tendency to sometimes have mechanical failures*, they are by far the most delightful little film cameras. It's just an essential, nice experience that hasn't been captured by any other device. A bonus is their excellent glass, which I use for just about anything and is very compact.

*Leica is utterly atrocious, unacceptably so, in it service department handling, which has held on to my camera for over a year now. I've waited 18 months for a lens repair before. Worse, they tend to happily estimate 'a few weeks' for such cases and don't communicate about it at all. Buyer beware.

Leica M10

Leica's digital M body is a fun exercise in simplicity and complexity. It's simplicity is the essentials of photography: no extraneous dials here. Unfortunately, it has a lot of issues: it is slow to start and shoot, has annoyingly bad software, a useless ISO dial and an EVF that's too slow to be useful. I'm of the mind that Leica's digital M bodies aren't really getting better, which is a bummer and a missed opportunity. But the camera is beautiful to look at, and takes lovely photos. A great perk is that most people will think you are shooting film.

Polaroid SX-70

What technology is still futuristic 52 years after its introduction? Polaroids. In particular, the SX-70. Its leather-wrapped metal body predates the design language of classic film cameras and betrays a the vision from Polaroid's founder Edwin Land to rethink photography down to its packaging. You press a button, and you receive a physical photo. Auto-exposure (and later, autofocus with the Sonar system) deliver ease of use that we take for granted today. It's a beautiful object to hold, a delight to shoot with, and thanks to the formerly-Impossible Project-now-Polaroid Originals team still entirely serviceable with film packs. I love my SX-70 and I will never live life without one.

Lenses

Of course those cameras need some lenses attached to be useful. This is my kit:

Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4

The desert island lens. I shoot 80 - maybe 90% of my photography with this, because it's sublime, renders great, and handles a beating. It has been through motorcycle crashes (three, maybe four?), torrential snow, hail and rain, freezing cold and scorching hot deserts, and more and is doing great. I finally had Leica replace the rear element, which was cracked when it fell of a motorcycle in Bhutan onto the road at 50 miles per hour (it still took great photos) so it can be with me for the rest of its presumably long life.

35mm is a fantastic focal length that works for almost anything, and the lens is fast, sharp with beautiful rendering. On a high-res body like the A1, you can crop in for a 50mm equivalent frame and lose no quality at all. This is the real deal. I use its large, metal hood as a lens cap replacement as well and have never had any issues with the front element getting damaged despite, well, practically attempting to do so.

Leica Summilux-M 75mm f/1.4
The best portrait lens and the most stunningly compact package for a longer lens you can find.

I use the old Canadian-made variant, which isn't as nice to look at but performs great and weighs next to nothing for the focal length. It flares considerably, like an older lens design, but that's a beautiful look.

Sony G-Master series lenses: 20mm, 24mm, 85mm, 70-200mm
The modern kit. Autofocus is really nice to have sometimes, for video and other purposes like having a usable camera for non-photography nerds in your life.

Sony's wide-angle primes are relatively compact and perform great; the 85mm is a spectacular video and portrait lens, and with a teleconverter the 70-200mm does duty as my long-reach lens should I never need it.

An assortment of other, weird manual lenses

I do keep a few weird and old lenses. I use a 12mm Ultra-Wide Voigtlander for funny perspectives and motorcycle-back point of view shots; a Zeiss ZM C-Sonnar 50mm 1.5; some M42 Russian lenses like the Helios 44-2 and Helios 40.

RIP: Leica Wide-Angle Tri Elmar
I loved this lens — it covered a great range of ultra-wide (16mm) and wide (21mm) in a very compact package. With the other two lenses, this rounded out my travel kit.

It unfortunately saw an at-speed crash in Bhutan as part of a Rally for Rangers ride in the Himalayas and did not survive. Leica no longer makes the lens or parts, and considered it irreparable. RIP.

Tripods: Gitzo and Peak Design
I'm a bit of a spontaneous shooter, so you're more likely to see my comically stack up rocks to balance my camera, but if I am bringing a tripod it's either my Gitzo carbon fiber tripod or, increasingly, my Peak Design one which is just so perfectly compact, light and feature packed that it delights me every time. It even has a little iPhone mount integrated! Seriously, the best tripod.

Quality of Life

Rimowa suitcase

Not much to say, but if I were to recommend one item to travel with this is probably it. Can you dent it? Yes. It'll look better dented. Good luck un-shattering a plastic suitcase. These things age fantastically and shops in Amsterdam, Tokyo and San Francisco have helped me fix any small issues in hours if not minutes. I didn't buy the suitcase for the support network, but I am glad I had it.

Ambientec TURN light

I came across these beautiful lamps, made on a lathe from one block of material, in Tokyo. I love the light they give out, the thoughtful dimming through its touch sensitive top, the wireless charging base. It's perfect. Pricy, but perfect.

Fellow coffee products

It's not often I recommend something that actually broke on me repeatedly, but Fellow's gear has broken on me. I have their Ode grinder, which ate a bean (or rock) wrong and seized up. Their kettle has gone back after acting up. And in no fault of theirs, I once melted the handle right off the stovetop kettle by leaving it on and forgetting about it.

However, coming into Fellow's SF store, they promptly fixed all my issues. They didn't know who I was, didn't care, they just got me the pieces I needed to make coffee again that day, whether that was a new grinder or a handle for my kettle. These people keep it real, and they make great kit. I am a fan. I own mugs, bean vacuum canisters, a grinder, two kettles and more from them at this point.

Did I miss something? Feel free to drop me a line to request some additions. I love answering questions about my setup.