Everybody likes to talk about their vast collections of Canon or Nikon glass. Blah, blah, blah. Good for them. But, for the rest of us? Those of us that are just way too cool for school and like taking pictures with our lenses rather than watching them rot on a shelf? Well, we know the goodness of the Takumar lenses from Asahi. Heavy in the hand, but so smooth to the eye. We like to call the one pictured "The Baby Lens" cause it just loves looking at newborns and makes that new skin look like it's glowing from the inside out. Shooting in natural light and bouncing it here and there is such a simple pleasure and these lenses with their optical peculiarities and quick adjustment help make the camera even more invisible to the operator.

And before all you Canon and Nikon-o-philes write your snarky hate notes... We're just kidding, we like Canon and Nikon, too. Remember, they're just tools.

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We like the black ones to use when filling areas in thumbnail storyboard sketches. It lets you clean up these little illustrations quickly and helps simplify small compositions when working small. A lot of artists do fantastic work with these, but we use them in a bit more utilitarian way. They're similar to the Waterbrushes we posted earlier, but these come pre-filled with inks in a range of colors.

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Got a house with lap siding you want to repaint or need to get flaking and failing paint off relatively flat surfaces like wooden doors or furniture? Do yourself a favor, bite the bullet, and spend a few bucks on this tool, The Wagner Paint Eater. It really only does one thing, but does it very well. No joke, it will cut down your prep time drastically. Way better than sanding, the special disc blasts off the failing coatings and follows up the carnage with feathered edges. Yep, it does the scraping AND the sanding in one go. You may have to purchase additional discs as they wear, but this thing has easily changed what used to be a day full of scraping one side a house into a thirty minute exercise in efficiency.

What? Think this is an odd tool to post about given the creative nature of the others? Think of it this way... Spend some time with the Paint Eater if you're in need of it and you'll be able to get back to the creative pursuits you'd rather spend your time on.

Or, if you're in the neighborhood and spot us up on the extension ladder complete with respirator, overalls, and an ipod, feel free to interrupt us with a couple americanos from down the street. We're always up for a coffee break.

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Silky smooth transitions from dark to light and cartridges that refuse to become bound from unbalanced tension. If you can find it, then buy it. If not then no problem since you won't know what you're missing anyways. Ignorance is bliss.

Our experience with this dead-stock has been problem free, as has all our use of russian photographic equipment and supplies.  It's difficult to super-hate on this Super8.  Pair this with a Canon Superzoom or even an ultra minimal windup Quarz camera and you're living the high life.  Plus, you'll gain instant street-cred with the Ukrainian-photophiles in your crew.

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It's a workhorse that has never let us down. Mechanical controls and needle tell you what's up with an 'always-on' functionality that is easy to take for granted. Keeping things simple is a pleasure with this little guy and lets you spend more time taking pictures and rolling film rather than wasting your time fussing with equipment. Of course, everything has its pluses and its minuses and incident meters are great when a reflective-only device won't do, but from a cost and durability standpoint, the Sekonic Auto-Lumi L158 is hard to beat.

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Cold pressed is cool, but we find that hot lets us work faster if you're trying to sketch out something quick and don't need the long work time cold pressed can afford you, like for storyboards or styleframes. Plus, the fast dry time makes it ideal for rapid scanning.

No secret about hot pressed, but seems people can get in a cold pressed rut that's hard to escape from.

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I'm almost angry that I wasn't turned onto these at some point in school. I'm not even sure where I first saw them, but once you're after them you will probably find them waiting for you on the shelves of your local art supply shop. You'll see them hanging there, just looking at you like you're an idiot for having not picked one up years earlier.

Watercolor is just about the most perfect mobile paint medium except for the part where you have to lug around clean water or be near a source (river/lake) if painting on location. These will change the way you work if you've never used them. It makes things easier, but also opens up new possibilities. We use various sizes, favoring the large. We've seen some people fill them with pigments, but we worry about damaging the tool. However, we do have one filled with a clear granulation-medium that works well with pigment based tube paints and after years of being filled, hasn't shown any signs of damage to the internal seals.

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