Hi!
My name is Jenda Kolena and I'm a photographer - mostly landscapes and nature in general, but I also like to shoot a wedding or a portrait from time to time.
My story
I've held a camera for the first time when I was six years old - it was a Zenit E, a kilogram of honest Soviet steel with a solid fifty. Shooting on a vintage/expired black and white film, I learned the basics and understood that a) a fixed lens was too restrictive for me; b) the camera will break my neck soon. That's why I begged my parents for a compact Nikon camera with a 3x zoom, which I've been happy with for many years.
But time progressed and the camera broke - so in 2005 I got my first digital one: Kodak Z740 with 5 Mpx and 10x zoom. I loved it! It allowed me to vent my creativity fully, and I slowly worked my way through other mysteries of photography, leaving behind hundreds and hundreds of files.
I had a Sony Alpha SLT-A55 (16 Mpx) since 2011, which was blind in the end, but not a bad branch of Sony's mirrorless cameras (after all, perhaps their very first mirrorless, even though technically it had a mirror :) Interesting concept, read it about it!) that kept the body of a classic DSLR but offered the advantages (and disadvantages) of the electronic viewfinder. After 4 years, I upgraded to the Sony SLT-A77II, which was already 24 Mpx APS-C, but with the functions of higher-class cameras and, above all, perfect ergonomics.
Well, the crappy ergonomics of Sony's APS-C models in 2021 was one of the main reasons why I switched to fullframe - the now almost legendary Sony Alpha 7 III.
My gear
I am currently using the Sony Alpha 7 III and have Sony 24-105/4 G, Sony 16-35/4 ZEISS, Samyang 45/1.8, Tamron 70-300/4.5-6.3, and Sony 200-600/5.6-6.3 lenses.
I've never fully enjoyed prime lenses, and as a primary nature photographer, it's pointless for me to carry around large and heavy 2.8 lenses. I will much more appreciate, for example, the 24-105 range instead over the standard 24-70 one.
As a tripod, I use a carbon Genesis C1 with a ball head and a leveling base from LeoFoto.
Some time ago I completely switched to magnetic filters from VFFOTO and I cannot praise it enough. The flexibility and speed of change is fascinating! One especially appreciates it when one forgets to pre-focus before using the ND2000 - whether the correction is for 2 minutes or 2 seconds operations can be quite a significant difference, especially with fragile fingers during chilly weather.
I carry all my equipment in a Shimoda Action X50 backpack. Compared to other backpacks of the same size, it also has a side entry, which I tend to use when walking between locations.