Item number one on my list just has to be the Canon 17mm f4L TSE lens. I am currently shooting quite a bit of commercial work and I find myself using my 16-35 f2.8L lens at it's widest and then having to make sure that the back of the camera is perpendicular to the ground. Sometimes that's OK - you get the composition that you want and can stop down the aperture far enough to get the right depth of field. Alas, sometimes that is not possible and you have to compromise and either have a less than adequate composition or converging vertical lines.

I spent a lot of time at college (well over twenty years ago) working with Sinar monorail cameras and I learned a lot about the use of camera movements. I know that a tilt and shift lens on a 35mm style DSLR cannot do everything that the standards and bellows of a 5"x4" can but it would be a real help right now. The cost? £2100.00

The venerable 058B Triaut has been in the Manfrotto catalogue for a very long time. I can remember the first time that I played with one at a pro dealer and seeing how easy the single control worked. I have nothing against the 055 model that I already own but the Triaut is a beast and this is a wish list! A mere £220.00 by the way...

Beyond these three items there's a lot of other stuff in the queue. In no particular order there is:

• Apple MacBook Pro 15.4" 2.8 Ghz with the anti-glare screen option and as much RAM as it will hold.
• Apple iMac 27" 2.66 Ghz quad core with at least 8 Gb of RAM
• LaCie 4big Quadra RAID 4TB external hard drive
• Canon PIXMA Pro9500 Mark II printer
• Canon 16-35 f2.8L II lens

And the list goes on, and on, and on. The truth is that a new product catches my eye every week and so this list will be different this time next month. It's nice to dream but the "problem" with being a professional photographer is that you have to be able to justify every purchase on commercial grounds. In reality, none of this kit is a "must-have" right now... but times change!

© Neil Turner, October 2009