25th April 2026
The bulk of the still photography for the project was started in late 2009 and finished on 5 November 2023.
However, a great deal of aerial photography of the moor was undertaken prior to this and was shot using colour negative and colour transparency film from Royal Navy Sea King and Merlin helicopters and British Army Lynx, Wildcat and Gazelle helicopters whilst Neil was a Royal Navy photographer and I was working on projects for 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and other British Army units. Cameras used were Navy issue Hasselblad 500CMs fitted with 80mm f/2.8 Planars and 150mm f/4 Sonnars and Nikon F4S and Nikon F5 cameras usually fitted with a NIKKOR AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D IFED lens.
The majority of the aerial work has been done using about eight Parrot ANAFI drones (the attrition rate is severe!), although some has been shot from Royal Navy Merlin Mk3 helicopters from 845 Naval Air Squadron and occasionally from light, highwing monoplanes such as the Cessna 172 which allows easy unrestricted views downwards once a door has been removed, albeit at a huge cost with the latter.
Nikon D3S bodies, followed by Nikon Z 6 bodies, were then used with the aforementioned NIKKOR AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D and latterly with the NIKKOR AF-S 70-200mm f/4G VR lens. The advantage of the f/4 version mounted on a Nikon Z 6 with an FTZ Adapter is that it offers substantially less wind resistance than the bulkier f/2.8 version. This was later updated to the new NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8S that offers a considerable advantage in quality over both, although the extra bulk increases wind resistance a little. Almost all the aerial photography and filming is undertaken soon after dawn or near to dusk to allow the contours of the ground to be accentuated by the low sun.
Working on the ground, often in atrocious conditions (like lying for two hours in the freezing River Dart at Huccaby Bridge just before Christmas in this shot above), brings its own set of problems. Generally one is encumbered by basic survival kit before even considering what cameras to use, so unless a car is within easy reach a compromise often has to be struck. Additionally situations sometimes arise that mean the best camera to use is the one that you happen to have with you! This can often be the ubiquitous mobile phone, but a shot on a camera of dubious quality is always better than no shot at all.
Early on in the project Neil shot with a Lumix digital camera before I encouraged him to transition to the outstanding Olympus Tough TG-5, later replaced by the Olympus TG-7 version. This is a brilliant all-weather camera and, as its name implies, is built to take everything that Dartmoor can throw at it. It also shoots in RAW which is an absolute must. As the moor is so wet it has been found to be the ideal 'grab it and run' camera when you'd hesitate to haul a case full of Nikons around. However, the sensor size is really too small and the lens quality is less than you'd expect from this well-known manufacturer for really critical work.
Nonetheless there are plenty of times when only the best will suffice and heavy kit has to be carted round the moor, well away from the luxury of roads. Then in the early days Nikon D3S, along with lighter Nikon D300 bodies, were used. As noted above, when the Nikon Z 6 appeared this eased things considerably as two bodies are the same weight as a single Nikon D3S. Initially a venerable NIKKOR AF 20-35mm f/2.8D lens, along with my NIKKOR AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8D lens were used the most.
As demands increased so the amount of equipment needed grew, and soon I was regularly packing a Fisheye-NIKKOR AF 16mm f/2.8D, a NIKKOR AF-S 16-35mm f/4G ED VR, a NIKKOR AF 50mm f/1.4D, a NIKKOR AF-S 50mm f/1.8G, a NIKKOR AF 85mm f/1.8, a Micro-NIKKOR AF-S 105mm f/2.8G, a NIKKOR AF-S 70-200mm f/4G VR and a bloody heavy NIKKOR AF-S 200-400mm f/4G VR lens. Finally, in 2024, the last of the brilliant but venerable F mount lenses were sold and replaced by Nikon Z mount ones, ending a wonderful 54 year professional association. Only the Fisheye-NIKKOR AF 16mm f/2.8D has been retained, with an FTZ Adaptor, for use on the Z series bodies.
Along with a pair of Nikon Z 9 and a pair of Z 6 bodies I've added a NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S, a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S, a NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.4, a NIKKOR MC 50mm f/2.8, a NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1,8 S, a NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S, a NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 S and a NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 lens to the bag.
Then I added the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 Z, the 'cheap as chips but really quite good' Viltrox AF 20mm f/2.8 Z and the Viltrox AF 28mm f/1.8 Z lenses which filled the gaps that were in the NIKKOR Z range. The 16mm and the 28mm are outstanding, particularly in low light, with the latter being used first for a night-time smelt at Black Tor in late October 2023. A NIKKOR Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ lens has been purchased specifically to use on our air-to-air shoot with two Spitfires over Dartmoor for our forthcoming documentary to accompany the book.
All this was further bulked out with a pair of GoPro HERO 12 action cameras, an Insta360 X3 and latterly a DJI OSMO 360, an outstanding 3 Legged Thing 'Legends Tommy' carbon fibre tripod fitted with a Manfrotto MVH502AH Fluid Head along with the brilliant Kirk Quick Release Bridge System to take Arca-Swiss mounts, sundry remote triggers, Nikon Speedlights and other miscellaneous kit that is always essential. I now mainly use the superb new Shimoda Action X40 V2 bag, supported by Think Tank Airport Acceleration and LowePro bags as appropriate for the kit and expected conditions.
We purchased the superb DJI Ronin RS 3 Pro gimbal and a Nikon Z30, which allied to the new Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.2 APC lens, makes filming for our documentary so much better. In spring 2025 we added the new Nikon Z50II as well. We've also added two Viltrox DC-550 5.5" Field Monitors, which are outstanding for location use with their 1200 nits of brightness. We have just shot the final video of tin smelting on the moor and are about to begin the massive editing task, in order to publish the video around Christmas 2026 - we hope!
The Equipment
