What's in the Camera Bag: Serge Abourjeily

Our latest installment of What's in the Camera Bag looks at the gear used by photo pro Serge Abourjeily.

I switched to Nauticam housings in 2010 because of their spot-on ergonomics. The best example is how the cursor for changing focus points is located right on your fingertips, which is essential to me when shooting macro. Not having to take your eyes off the viewfinder to change settings is priceless, and I would not, at least at the moment, want to switch to another housing brand.

Another important important aspect of my camera system – besides housing ergonomics – is trim. I use 6 different float arms and some "normal" arms to achieve the desired buoyancy for each lens/port combination. I also use a carbon arm with quick disconnect for my INON LF-800N torch; I can take it off with one click and use it for lighting or backlighting.

I am currently using Sea&Sea YS-250 strobes and love them for their power, recycle time and reliability. I have used various INON and Sea&Sea models before but really appreciate the speed of battery packs over strobes that take AA batteries. I optically trigger them, which allows me to use rear curtain sync on Canon. It's a shame that Sea&Sea has discontinued these beautiful strobes. I'm now considering a switch to Seacam strobes.

The Camera Kit

Camera: Canon 7D Mark II

Lenses: EF 100mm 2.8L Macro, EF-S 60 mm Macro, Tokina 35mm Macro, Tokina 10-17mm fisheye

Housing: Nauticam NA-7DMK2

Strobes: Sea&Sea YS-250 Pro (optically triggered so i can use rear curtain sync)

Diopters: Nauticam SMC & Sea Gadget

Focus Light: INON LF-800N on a carbonarm quick disconnect

Arms: 2x INON Megafloats M, 2x INON Floatarms ML, 2x Ultralight Floatarms and various normal arms

My Little Field Repair Kit Contains:

• Spare kit (fiber optic cables, c-clips for housing buttons, o-rings, clamps, ballmount o-rings etc)
• Nauticam key-set, micro screwdrivers, pliers, cutting blade, duct tape, epoxy glue, super glue, alcohol, toothbrush, battery tester
• Lens and port cleaning material

Serge's Mini Portfolio - Canon 7D Mark II

Photo left: A male cardinalfish shows us the eggs he is brooding. Photo: Serge Abourjeily

Photo right: Nudibranchs always make beautiful photo subjects. Photo: Serge Abourjeily

Enjoy the rest of our What's in the Camera Bag series:

 Brook Peterson   |   Ken Kiefer   |   Mike Bartick   |   Ron Watkins