Hi and welcome to my Biotography 🙂

My name is Erik Zandboer and I have been photographing almost my entire life. I started out with a Prinz 100 camera when I was a kid:

Prinz 110 camera using 110 film.

Can you believe I actually strapped this camera to a model aircraft to do aerial photography? Take off, fly to the target, throttle the engine down (to avoid shake), click once, dive back to the airfield, land, prime the camera for the next shot, take-off again… Those where the days 🙂

When I got older, I was allowed to use my dad’s Yashica 35 full-manual 35mm rangefinder camera. With a separate light meter, manual everything:

Yashica 35 camera. Not an SLR, but a 35mm with range finder. Fully manual, no light metering in camera.

We photographed a really big portion of the center of Rotterdam, the Netherlands around 1985. All kinds of streets and buildings. We usually shot Fuji slide film, because their coloring was a bit greyish, very good for cityscapes. The slide film also had better resolution than regular film. My dad had a black Praktica B200 SLR camera. I learned SO MUCH while working with this fully manual Yashica 35! After having shot a lot of film with this camera, I moved into to the digital age, with my first digital Canon compact camera:

Canon A10 1.3Mpixels digital compact

But the more professional photography kept itching… So just before leaving for a trip to Singapore, I bought my first digital SLR: The Canon EOS 350D with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (non IS!!) kitlens and the kind of wobbly Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM. Although the 55-200 is a crappy lens when looking at build quality, optically it is not bad at all and I got some great shots from it.






Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) silver

Canon EF 55-200 f/4.5-5.6 USM II

Moving on in the world of photography: Me and my wife’s honeymoon came up. A trip to Trinidad, Dominica and the inlands of Guyana. For the occasion I upgraded my set to a 400D, and I upgraded from the 55-200 lens to a Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM lens, and some tubing for macro work:

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. I LOVED this lens!

Now I really got the feeling for photography! I emptied my attic, sold all electronic/computer stuff I did not need anymore, sold my dear Canon 70-300 lens and upgraded to a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM. What a great set!

In the time to come, I bought more and more stuff. I did a lot of wildlife photography, and I got more involved in macro photography. Later on I did more and more theater and party shooting. Nowadays I also shoot weddings, and things are taking a (part time) professional turn. Right now I have this stuff to get the job done:
















































Canon EOS 7D plus grip Canon EOS 7D. This is my main camera at the moment. Canon EOS 400D plus grip Canon EOS 400D. This is my backup body.
Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. Great all-round lens. Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC. I LOVE this lens.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II ('Nifty Fifty') Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II (“Nifty Fifty”). Great little cheap 50mm. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro USM. I love this lens for macro work.
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM. My longest lens and does great for wildlife. Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II kitlens. I upgraded from the non-IS version of this lens. Actually not a bad lens looking at how cheap it is.
Canon EF 12 tube Canon EF 12 tube. This tube is both EF and EF-S compatible. Soligor DG tubes Soligor DG tubes in 12, 24 and 35mm. With electronic contact. Great for closeups.
Soligor/Kenko 1.4x PRO Teleconverter Soligor/Kenko 1.4x PRO Teleconverter. Pixel Componer VS-801 and VM-801 Pixel Componer VS-801 and VM-801. Master and slave to be connected together using regular RJ-45 networking cable for using your flash(es) off camera.
Canon Speedlite 270EX Canon Speedlite 270EX. Tiny flash unit. Great replacement for the popup flash. Bilora D140RFC Bilora D140RFC macro flash unit. Great help when shooting handheld macro.
Nissin Di866 mkII Nissin Di866 mkII. I choose this one over the Canon Speedlite 580EX-II. Half the price, same options, more light. Pretty reliable too. Falcon Eyes FGAK-7 Falcon Eyes FGAK-7 diffuser set. Great addition to any powerful (semi)pro flash.
Vanguard Altra+ 263AP Vanguard Altra+ 263AP tripod. Sturdy tripod that holds my 100-400L lens comfortably without bouncing in the wind. Velbon RUP-43 Velbon RUP-43 monopod. Gives stability but allows you to move and is quick to setup. Great for macro too.



I am ALWAYS looking for some excuse to get new gear. This is my wishlist with some explanations to go with it:


















Canon EOS 5D mark II plus grip Canon EOS 5D mark II. Even though the mark III is out, I feel the mark II Is perfect for me (for speed I have the 7D). Empty spot; With the 5D mark II I think I have all the bodies I need!
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM. This would upgrade my Canon 50mm f/1.8 II. It is on my list mainly for the better bokeh. Also, it produces good results straight from f/1.4. Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 L iS USM Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 L iS USM. Less reach than my 100-400L, but awesome optical quality and a much better IS.
Samyang 8mm Fisheye f/3.5 Samyang 8mm Fisheye f/3.5. Fisheyes are FUN! Be careful though not to shoot your feet 🙂 Samyang 14mm f/2.8 Samyang 14mm f/2.8. Very wide lens on cropped, extremely wide on full-frame. Great for parties and landscapes. This lens features some nasty distortions, so for architectural stuff not really suited.

Donations are always welcome 😉