Best Storm Photography Setup

[Steven Marshall]

"Best" set up? IMO depends on your intent with your images. Long gone are the days when you have to spend a years income on camera gear. I run a dual head set up on a tripod....one side is a cellphone mount, and the other side has a video camera that cost me $199 that gives me as good of a video image as the $20,000 news camera I used to have to haul. The cell phone is great for live video...remember the days of "first look" 3 line cell video with a 40 pound "portable" computer? Yikes. Glad those days of over. Unless you're producing videos for the commercial market or tv ( meaning you expect to be paid handsomely for it) not much use in spending a ton anymore. My Iphone gives me video as good as I used to get with the huge panasonic DVC that ate batteries for lunch.

 

[Greg McLaughlin]

Knowing your gear is a key to shoot quality photos. Getting shots that are in focus with the right exposure is also just as important. Everything else is secondary. I started doing photography in 2014 with a Canon Rebel XSI and upgraded to a Rebel 5T (18 megapixel) a couple years later. I just ordered a Canon 90D (32 megapixel) which is a significant upgrade from my current Rebel 5T. The most common lens I use while chasing is a Rokinon 14mm F2.8 lens which is a really solid wide angle at a great price. I tend to use the "get close - shoot wide" strategy when chasing.

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

What about the photo software preferred by all y'all?
Photoshop Elements; or the full version?
GIMP?
Others?
Does the 'Elements' software cover lens correction, CA, and de-noising . . . etc?
If not - then which software covers that?
Do any of these programs also have built in training wheels - for dummies like me?
Other preferred programs?
and - why?
Looking into software - ATM.

-Thnx!

PS-
My gear?
Using a Canon T7, EFS 10-22mm/f2.8, EF 50mm/f1.4, EFS 55-250mm/f4-5.6 IS, and the better EFS 18-55mm IS kit lens.
Nothing fancy . . .
My avatar was shot with an old (very noisy) Minolta DSLR - BTW (Quinter, KS May 23rd,2008)

 

[Ethan Schisler]

I edit my photos primarily in Photoshop 2019. I had upgraded to 2020 version, but for some reason I had severe issues with it on my Macbook Pro 16" when I upgraded to Big Sur, it caused my computer to continuously crash (I have a fairly good video card and 32gb of RAM). Adobe told me it was likely an issue with their software, so I just downgraded. I know most people use Lightroom, I never really personally cared much for it, but it is a good way to store your photos and organize them.

Current gear I shoot with for chasing:

Sony A7RIII/Sony A7SIII + 12-24mm F/2.8 GM/24-70mm F/2.8 GM. I use both for video and stills. Sometimes I use my 24mm F/1.4 for stills as well or night-time stuff as its wide and fast. I actually sometimes prefer the A7SIII for stills as the color science is amazing for JPEGs straight out of the camera and requires little to no editing on my part and the file sizes aren't huge. Not to mention the autofocus is top notch, even coming close to my A9 II for speed, just crazy how far technology has come.

12.2mp is honestly enough for even large prints I've found and more than enough for social media. Having a 12.2mp sensor is also incredibly useful for low light as the pixels are much larger and I can get up to 12,800 ISO or higher and get a super clean image. Something years ago I'd never dreamed I'd be able to do.

I also picked up an A7S (the original) for super cheap this past summer (It actually still performs incredibly well given it was released back in 2014 and the one I got only had a shutter count of 100 when I got it). The only reason I got that was the price was too good and I wanted to pick up a camera for my fiance to learn photography and videography as she has been chasing with me for going on 3 years now and wants to start shooting photos aside from her phone.

I have several other lenses, but the above 3 are the ones I use the most. I like using the 100-400mm for good compression on landscapes for distant tornado shots or just general landscapes, but I don't like changing lenses, so I usually just stick to 2 bodies and 2 different lenses. I recently got a mount so I can mount a mirrorless camera in my car and it's working fairly well (Gripper 115XL) with zero issues. Can't wait to use it next year.

 

[Dave C]

What about the photo software preferred by all y'all?
Photoshop Elements; or the full version?
GIMP?
Others?
Does the 'Elements' software cover lens correction, CA, and de-noising . . . etc?
If not - then which software covers that?
Do any of these programs also have built in training wheels - for dummies like me?
Other preferred programs?
and - why?
Looking into software - ATM.

-Thnx!

PS-
My gear?
Using a Canon T7, EFS 10-22mm/f2.8, EF 50mm/f1.4, EFS 55-250mm/f4-5.6 IS, and the better EFS 18-55mm IS kit lens.
Nothing fancy . . .
My avatar was shot with an old (very noisy) Minolta DSLR - BTW (Quinter, KS May 23rd,2008)

Photoshop and Lightroom together are 9.99 a month. Elements is easier to use and works great, I used it for years until I had needs that could not be met by Elements. Elements has a RAW processor that will eventually get out of date since it is bought once and used for a while. It has a basic filter for applying lens profiles to correct distortion and CA. Elements is only up to date for a year or two and then you need a new version.

The subscription software are always up to date. Unless you do heavy layer editing, masking, etc. than I think Elements is a good deal for basic editing, but if you need more advanced features and the most up to date than the subscription is not bad. I have not used GIMP in a long while, but unless it has changed a lot, the user interface is tougher to learn than Adobe products. It can do a lot if you want to learn it.

My rule for cameras and software is buy something affordable and master it until it holds you back, then upgrade to more advanced gear. Truly none of the product mentioned are bad, and I think you might want to consider your needs and budget and pick. Not a lot of totally wrong choices here.

 

[Wes Carter]

I’m with Dave C on this. I use the Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for $9.99/mo. It does everything I want it to do and it’s always up to date. I run it on a MacBook Pro and it doesn’t have any trouble with it at all. My newer Windows 11 notebook struggles big time with it, even though it has more memory and a faster processor (on paper). I’m not sure why the 2015 MacBook is faster than a 2021 Windows machine with Photoshop, it seems to do everything else very well, just not photo editing.