For these kits, I exclusively used B&H for pricing. I leave phones to the side for now, as B&H does not sell iPhones. Taxes are not included.
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Acer 15.6 Aspire 5 15" w/Intel 13thGen i7/16GB/1TB SSD/Ethernet | $550 |
A nice laptop, which I would immediately put FreeBSD on. |
| Seagate 5TB Portable USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 External Drive | $120 |
Small and portable 2.5" drive for backups. |
| TP-Link Archer A54 AC1200 WiFi5 Wireless Router | $35 |
A basic 802.11ac basestation for the home w/4 Fast Ethernet ports. |
| SanDisk 256GB Ultra Dual Luxe Flash Drive | $28 |
Slick portable backup device for a keychain. |
| Coast LED130 LED Micro Plier Multi-Tool | $21 |
A simple multitool. |
| Sony MDR-ZX310AP Stereo Headphones Blue | $20 |
Basic over-ear headphones. |
| Ruggard Slim Briefcase for 16" Laptop | $20 |
A nice nylon carrying case. |
| Pearstone Cat 6 Network Patch Cable 3' Blue | $3 |
Quality Gigabit Ethernet cable. |
Total: |
$797 |
A decent laptop kit for well under a grand! |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M2 8C/8GB/512GB/Gigabit Ethernet | $690 |
Small, nearly silent, excellent little machine. |
| Seagate 8TB Expansion Hard Drive | $150 |
Fast and quiet 7200 RPM 3.5" external hard drive for backups. |
| LG 24MP400 Full HD IPS Monitor | $100 |
1920x1080 24" monitor, connects to Mac via included HDMI cable. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones. |
| SanDisk 512GB Ultra Dual Luxe Flash Drive | $48 |
Slick portable backup device for a keychain. |
| TP-Link Archer A54 AC1200 WiFi5 Wireless Router | $35 |
A basic 802.11ac basestation for the home w/4 Fast Ethernet ports. |
| Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse | $28 |
A basic combo that has a USB-A dongle that plugs into the Mac mini. |
| Pearstone USB 3.0 Type-A Male to Female 3' Cable | $5 |
A very well made USB extension cable. |
| Pearstone Cat 6 Network Patch Cable 3' Blue | $3 |
Quality Gigabit Ethernet cable. |
Total: |
$1159 |
A decent desktop system for a grand! |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mac mini M2 8C/8GB/512GB/Gigabit Ethernet | $690 |
The M2 256GB drive is slow; this 512 GB improves perf & capacity. |
| Seagate 16TB Expansion Hard Drive | $250 |
Fast, quiet main backup drive for desktop system. |
| LG 24MP400 Full HD IPS Monitor | $100 |
1920x1080 24" monitor, connects to Mac via included HDMI cable. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones. |
| TP-Link Archer AX21 AX1800 WiFi6 Router | $85 |
A 802.11ax wireless basestation w/4 Gigabit Ethernet ports. |
| Leatherman Wingman Multi-Tool | $70 |
14 tools with a 420HC steel blade, and sturdy. |
| SanDisk 512GB Ultra Dual Luxe Flash Drive | $48 |
Slick portable backup device for a keychain. |
| Logitech MX540 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse | $45 |
Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. |
| SecureData Micro-USB to USB-C 1' cable | $8 |
To connect the backup drive. |
| Pearstone USB 3.2 Type-C to USB Type-A Adapter (6") | $8 |
A very well made USB dongle. |
| Pearstone USB 3.0 Type-A Male to Female 3' Cable | $5 |
A very well made USB extension cable. |
| Pearstone Cat 6 Network Patch Cable 3' Blue | $3 |
Quality Gigabit Ethernet cable. |
Total: |
$1,404 |
A better desktop system. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Air 13" M2 8C/8GB/256GB Midnight Blue | $900 |
A nice fast laptop. |
| Seagate 5TB Portable USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 External Drive | $120 |
A portable 2.5" external hard drive for backups. |
| LG 24MP400 Full HD IPS Monitor | $100 |
1920x1080 24" monitor, for a second screen. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones - nothing basic here. |
| TP-Link Archer A54 AC1200 WiFi5 Wireless Router | $35 |
A basic 802.11ac basestation for the home w/4 Fast Ethernet ports. |
| SanDisk 256GB Ultra Dual Flash Drive | $28 |
A backup for your pocket. |
| Pearstone USB Type-C Male to HDMI Male 4K 6' Cable | $23 |
A USB-C to HDMI cable for the LG monitor. |
| Ruggard Slim Briefcase for 16" Laptop | $20 |
A basic nylon laptop bag. |
| Sony MDR-E9LP Blue Earbud Headphones | $10 |
Handy lightweight headphones. |
| Pearstone USB 3.2 Type-C to Type-A 6" adapter | $8 |
To connect the backup drive. |
Total: |
$1,131 |
An excellent basic Mac laptop setup. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Pro 14" M3 8C/8GB/512GB Space Gray | $1,400 |
A fast laptop w/better ports than MacBook Air. |
| Seagate 8TB Expansion Hard Drive | $150 |
Fast and quiet 7200 RPM 3.5" external hard drive for backups. |
| LG 24MP400 Full HD IPS Monitor | $100 |
1920x1080 24" monitor, for a second screen. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones - nothing basic here. |
| Leatherman Wingman Multi-Tool | $70 |
14 tools with a 420HC steel blade, and sturdy. |
| SanDisk 512GB Ultra Dual Flash Drive | $48 |
A backup for your pocket. |
| TP-Link Archer A54 AC1200 WiFi5 Wireless Router | $35 |
A basic 802.11ac basestation for the home w/4 Fast Ethernet ports. |
| Pearstone USB Type-C Male to HDMI Male 4K 6' Cable | $23 |
A USB-C to HDMI cable for the LG monitor. |
| Ruggard Slim Briefcase for 14" Laptop | $18 |
A basic nylon laptop bag. |
| Sony MDR-E9LP Blue Earbud Headphones | $10 |
Handy lightweight headphones. |
| Pearstone USB 3.2 Type-C to Type-A 6" adapter | $8 |
To connect the backup drive. |
Total: |
$1,962 |
A mid-level Mac laptop setup for under $2K. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Pro 14" M3 Pro 11C/18GB/1TB Space Black | $2,000 |
Compact, lots of ports, and great for software dev. |
| Seagate 16TB Expansion Hard Drive | $250 |
Fast and quiet 7200 RPM 3.5" external hard drive for backups. |
| Seagate 5TB Portable USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 External Drive | $120 |
Basic portable bus-powered hard drive. |
| LG 24MP400 Full HD IPS Monitor | $100 |
1920x1080 24" monitor, for a second screen. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones - nothing basic here. |
| SanDisk 512GB Ultra Dual Flash Drive | $48 |
An awful lot of data, in your pocket. |
| Leatherman Wingman Multi-Tool | $70 |
14 tools with a 420HC steel blade, and sturdy. |
| TP-Link Archer A54 AC1200 WiFi5 Wireless Router | $35 |
A basic 802.11ac basestation for the home w/4 Fast Ethernet ports. |
| Pearstone USB Type-C Male to HDMI Male 4K 6' Cable | $23 |
A USB-C to HDMI cable for the LG monitor. |
| Ruggard Slim Briefcase for 14" Laptop | $18 |
A basic nylon laptop bag. |
| Sony MDR-E9LP Blue Earbud Headphones | $10 |
Handy lightweight headphones. |
| Pearstone USB 3.2 Type-C to Type-A 6" adapter | $8 |
To connect the backup drive. |
| Pearstone Cat 6 Network Patch Cable 3' Blue | $3 |
Quality Gigabit Ethernet cable. |
Total: |
$2,785 |
A mid-level Mac laptop setup for under $3K. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Pro 14" M3 Pro 11C/18GB/1TB Space Black | $2,000 |
Compact, lots of ports, and great for software dev. |
| Nikon Z50 w/DX 16-50 & 50-250 lenses, 64GB SDXC card, bag | $1,350 |
Ken Rockwell's 2nd fav APS-C, w/24-75mm & 75-375mm lenses. |
| Mac mini M2 8C/8GB/512GB/Gigabit Ethernet | $690 |
This is setup as a server and 2nd machine. |
| Seagate 16TB Expansion Hard Drive | $250 |
An excellent, fast, capacious, quiet, 7200 RPM hard drive. |
| SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD Monterey | $175 |
Main backup drive for the MacBook Pro, very fast. |
| LG 24MP400 Full HD IPS Monitor | $100 |
A basic 1920x1080 HD monitor, with included cable for Mac mini. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones. |
| TP-Link Archer AX21 AX1800 WiFi6 Router | $85 |
A 802.11ax wireless basestation w/4 Gigabit Ethernet ports. |
| Leatherman Wingman Multi-Tool | $70 |
With 14 tools and an 420HC blade, this is a great multi-tool. |
| SanDisk 512GB Ultra Dual Flash Drive | $48 |
An awful lot of data, in your pocket. |
| Logitech MX540 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse | $45 |
Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. |
| Ruggard Slim Briefcase for 14" Laptop | $18 |
A basic nylon laptop bag. |
| Sony MDR-E9LP Blue Earbud Headphones | $10 |
Handy lightweight headphones. |
| SecureData Micro-USB to USB-C 1' cable | $8 |
To connect the backup drive. |
| Pearstone USB 3.2 Type-C to Type-A 6" adapter | $8 |
A very well made USB-C dongle. |
| Pearstone USB 3.0 Type-A Male to Female 3' Cable | $5 |
Very well made USB extension cables. |
| 2 Pearstone Cat 6 Network Patch Cables 3' Blue | $5 |
Quality Gigabit Ethernet cables. |
Total: |
$4,967 |
A deluxe Mac setup, as well as Nikon mirrorless, for under $5K. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max 16C/64GB/4TB Space Black | $5,050 |
The latest and greatest laptop made. |
| Mac mini M2 Pro 10C/16GB/4TB/Gigabit Ethernet | $2,500 |
A Mac mini with a lot of storage. |
| Dell UltraSharp 31.5" 4K HDR Monitor | $635 |
A nice big 31.5" 4K monitor for the mac mini. |
| Logitech MX540 Wireless Keyboard & Mouse | $45 |
Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. |
| Acer 15.6 Aspire 5 15" w/Intel 13thGen i7/16GB/1TB SSD/Ethernet | $550 |
The main FreeBSD machine. |
| Canon EOS R6 Mark II | $2,000 |
Ken Rockwell's favorite full-frame mirrorless camera these days. |
| Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L | $2,100 |
An ultra-fast standard lens. |
| Canon RF 14-35mm f/4 L IS | $1,300 |
A terrific ultra-wide zoom. |
| Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS | $800 |
Ken Rockwell's favorite do-it-all lens: from wide-angle to telephoto. |
| Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS | $650 |
Lightweight, a bit slow, but excellent optically. |
| SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $100 |
The memory card for the EOS R6 Mark II. |
| Seagate Exos 20TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive | $510 |
The fastest and largest 3.5" spinning hard drive you can get. Quiet too. |
| SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD | $300 |
Primary backup drive for the MacBook Pro. |
| Seagate 16TB Expansion Hard Drive | $250 |
Another large 7200 RPM drive, for redundancy. Also quiet. |
| Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen USB-C | $240 |
Noise cancelling audio goodness for use with the MacBook Pro. |
| Leatherman Free P4 Multi-Tool | $150 |
This is the mult-tool of choice for Shawn James of My Self Reliance. |
| Sony MDR-7506 Headphones | $100 |
Excellent over-ear studio headphones. |
| SanDisk 1TB Ultra Dual Flash Drive | $105 |
An awful lot of data, in your pocket. |
| SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD | $100 |
Main backup drive for the FreeBSD system. |
| TP-Link Archer AX55 AX3000 Wireless Dual-Band Router | $100 |
A 3 Gb/s 802.11ax wireless basestation, w/4 Gigabit Ethernet ports. |
| Sabrent External Drive Lay-Flat Docking Station | $35 |
The case for the Seagate Exos drive. |
| Ruggard Slim Briefcase for 16" Laptop | $20 |
A basic nylon laptop bag. |
| 2 SecureData Micro-USB to USB-C 1' cables | $16 |
To connect the backup drives directly to USB-C. |
| 2 Pearstone USB 3.2 Type-C to Type-A 6" adapters | $16 |
Very well made USB-C dongles. |
| 3 Sabrent USB 3 Type-C to Type-A cables | $10 |
Never can have too many dongle adapters. |
| 2 Pearstone USB 3.0 Type-A Male to Female 3' Cables | $10 |
Never can have too many dongle adapters. |
| 2 Pearstone Cat 6 Network Patch Cables 3' Blue | $5 |
Gigabit Ethernet cables. |
Total: |
$17,567 |
An upper-tier Mac setup, w/4 lens Canon mirrorless outfit as well. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon Z50 w/DX 16-50 & 50-250 lenses, 64GB SDXC card, bag | $1,350 |
Ken Rockwell's 2nd fav APS-C, w/24-75mm & 75-375mm lenses. |
| SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $80 |
A good memory card to hold thousands of shots. |
Total: |
$1,430 |
All you really need for great photos. The Z50 also has a built-in flash. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canon EOS R10 w/RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM | $1,280 |
A 24 megapixel camera, with a built-in flash and 29-240mm kit lens. |
| SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $80 |
A good memory card to hold thousands of shots. |
Total: |
$1,360 |
A basic Canon outfit, for those on a budget. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon Z50 w/DX 16-50 & 50-250 lenses, 64GB SDXC card, bag | $1,350 |
Ken Rockwell's 2nd fav APS-C, w/24-75mm & 75-375mm lenses. |
| Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR | $300 |
The equivalent of 18-42mm, a nice street photo range. |
| SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $80 |
A good memory card to hold thousands of shots. |
Total: |
$1,730 |
An amazing system for the price! |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canon EOS R7 w/RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM | $1,800 |
Ken Rockwell's APS-C choice, w/auto-leveling & 29-240mm kit lens. |
| Canon RF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM | $300 |
Superwide zoom, an equivalent of 16-29mm. |
| Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS | $650 |
Superb wildlife lens, an equivalent 160-640mm! |
| SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $80 |
A good memory card to hold thousands of shots. |
Total: |
$2,830 |
A complete system, for those on a budget. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canon EOS R6 Mark II | $2,000 |
Ken Rockwell's favorite full-frame mirrorless camera these days. |
| Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L | $2,100 |
An ultra-fast standard lens. |
| Canon RF 14-35mm f/4 L IS | $1,300 |
A terrific ultra-wide zoom. |
| Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS | $800 |
Ken Rockwell's favorite do-it-all lens: from wide-angle to telephoto. |
| Canon RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS | $650 |
Lightweight, a bit slow, but excellent optically. |
| SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $80 |
A decent memory card for the EOS R6 Mark II. |
Total: |
$6,950 |
An excellent full-frame outfit. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sony A7R V Camera w/128GB Sony SDXC, ThinkTank bag | $3,900 |
Sony's top resolution 61 megapixel camera. |
| Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM | $1,400 |
Fast general purpose wide-angle lens. |
| Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM | $2,000 |
Ultra-fast standard lens. |
| Sony FE 85mm f/1.4 GM | $1,800 |
Fast portrait lens. |
| Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM | $6,000 |
Lightest 300mm f/2.8 ever made, by anyone. (Come on Canon!) |
| Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II | $2,300 |
Fast wide-angle zoom. |
| Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II | $2,800 |
Fast internally zooming top-notch telephoto zoom. |
| Sony FE 2x Teleconverter | $550 |
The 300/2.8 becomes 600/5.6, the 70-200/2.8 becomes 140-400/5.6. |
| SanDisk 1TB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $280 |
Large and fast, to handle 10 fps. |
Total: |
$21,030 |
A very complete camera outfit, for stills or videos. |
| Gear | B&H Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canon EOS R5 Camera | $3,000 |
Canon's top resolution 45 megapixel camera. |
| Canon RF 35mm f/1.4 L VCM | $1,500 |
Fast wide-angle lens. |
| Canon RF 50mm f/1.2 L USM | $2,100 |
Ultra-fast standard lens. |
| Canon RF 85mm f/1.2 L USM | $2,900 |
Ultra-fast portrait lens. |
| Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM | $2,100 |
Ultra-wide zoom lens. |
| Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM | $2,800 |
Innovative ultra-fast standard range zoom. |
| Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L IS USM | $9,500 |
Fast uber-telephoto overpriced zoom. |
| Canon Extender RF 2x | $600 |
With this the RF 100-300mm f/2.8 becomes a 200-600mm f/5.6. |
| SanDisk 1TB Extreme Pro UHS-II SDXC Memory Card | $280 |
Large and fast, to handle 12 fps. |
Total: |
$24,780 |
A very complete Canon camera outfit. |
Created: 3 Jan 2024 Modified: 24 Jul 2024