Annie’s prolific career had influenced a generation of creatives starting in the field of portraiture.

There are few photographers who can dissect a subject’s many layers and establish such a strong connection to their very core as well as Annie can.

It’s this very aspect of her process that sets Annie’s work apart from her peers, which resulted in the seemingly countless iconic photographs of the stars; from John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Lady Gaga, to the queen of England.

So if you want to take a quick peek into one of the craft’s greats, let’s run through some of the gear Annie has used throughout her career.

Annie Leibovitz’ Cameras

Minolta SRT-101 – For Leibovitz, this was the camera that started it all. In Annie Leibovitz at Work, Annie described the Minolta as her very first “real camera,” which she took to Mt. Fuji on assignment. The humble SRT-1O1 supposedly sparked Annie’s love for photography.

Nikon F – In the 70’s, Annie replaced the Minolta with the Nikon F. This makes a ton of sense because the first Nikon F was so revolutionary, it was the first 35mm SLR system to be widely accepted as a pro-grade camera for pro-level use.

Unnamed Hasselblad and Mamiya RZ67 – At age 23, Annie was already Rolling Stone’s chief photographer. So when the publication made the switch to square format in the late ’70s, Annie had to work with a Hasselblad and sidelined her “small format” 35mm SLRs.

She started with a Hasselblad, possibly a 500CM though we’ll never know for sure. By the ’80s, Annie found her main camera — the medium format workhorse that is the Mamiya RZ67. Annie reportedly shot most of her work with the RZ67 till her transition into digital by the early 2000s.

Leibovitz, unlike many who built their careers in the days of 120 film, had no issues migrating to digital. As Annie had revealed in At Work,

“I believe you are better able to capture what you really see in color with digital. There’s a distinctive intensity in a digital file. Digital gives a more honest view of how things actually look, and with the advent of all these possibilities, I still want the pictures to look real. Whatever camera helps me do that is the camera I’m going to use. I’m not nostalgic about cameras.”

This may come as a surprise for a lot of people, but Annie isn’t a very technical photographer, in that she doesn’t concern herself with megapixel wars or features that one brand offers that the other does not. She likes what works, and the simpler the setup, the better, as you’ll soon see. Leibovitz went on to say:

“I’m not in to it because of the equipment, and I’m not concerned with the things that concern more technically acute people. I want to use whatever helps me take a picture in all kinds of light with faster speed and fewer problems.”

This brings us to her choices for her digital cameras. A recent profile about her reveals she made the switch to digital in 2003, though there was no mention of any particular system. Given her stature, it’s not hard to imagine Annie shooting a Nikon D2H or the Canon 1DS at the time.

Fast forward into the 2010s and we see Annie shooting the Canon 5D series on different occasions.

She actually shot the Vanity Fair group photo of 2017 with the relatively ancient 5D Mark II, which just goes to show Annie’s indifference to what’s the latest and greatest in photographic gear. Whatever works, works.

A great example of this is perhaps the Lincoln campaign Annie did featuring several artists. Check out the behind the scenes video below to get a glimpse at the master at work:

In the video, we see Annie seamlessly switch over from a digital Hasselblad to what looks to be a D810 and an A7R-series body, probably because she needed a faster AF system and a bigger depth of field, reserving only the medium format beast for more static shots.

She also seems to be a fan of compact bodies. On one portrait we see her holding a Canon point and shoot, on another, a Leica, on the next with an Fuji x100.

Annie Leibovitz’ Lenses

We first talked about Annie’s preferred lenses in our 10 Portrait Photography Tips, so I recommend checking that out if you need guidance in approaching portraiture as a beginner.

To recap Annie likes the 35mm focal length a lot. Leibovitz went on record to say that her lens of choice was always “…the 35mm. It was more environmental. You can’t come in closer with the 35 mm.”

In the Lincoln ad, we also see Annie using the D810 along with a 24-70mm f2.8G, and a Sony A7R-series with a FE 24-70mm f4.

Back in the ’70s, she’d carry a 35mm lens, a 55mm, a 105mm along with three SLR bodies on assignments. If she were still shooting the Minolta along with her Nikon F at the time, then there’s a good chance she had shot with the Minolta MC W.Rokkor HH 35mm f/1.8.

We went on a deep dive on the best value legacy lenses before and this very Rokkor lens made the list, so give this one a read if you’re interested in shooting vintage glass.

On the medium format side of things, where Annie made most of her photos, she cites the Sekor 140mm F4.5 L/A Macro as a particular favorite for portraiture. That, and a 55mm lens with the two focal lengths translating to 70mm and 35mm lens equivalent respectively in full frame terms.

Annie has this to say about the 140mm lens:

“I enjoyed the sense of spontaneity I got from the 35mm digital camera, but after a while I missed the formality of the Mamiya 140mm lens. It’s a beautiful lens that I used to to take some of my favorite pictures. It is a long lens but you can make it feel a little wide if you want to. It’s similar to the 55mm on the Minolta. It is a graceful portrait lens.”

Recent BTS footage confirms Annie never really let go of her love for the 35mm focal length. In the video below, you can see Annie shooting a 35mm f1.4G on what could be a D810.

Annie Leibovitz’ Lighting Kit

If you’ve seen Annie’s most recent works, you’d be forgiven to assume she brings a dozen strobes and a dozen more modifiers in every project.

But the truth is Leibovitz would shoot everything under ambient lighting if she could. Like her philosophy on camera gear, she likes to keep her lighting very simple and prefers to travel light.

One way you could mimic natural light is to use a huge light source. And that’s exactly what Annie likes doing most of the time: one strobe and one huge umbrella.

Even with group shots, she’d always prefer to work with as few lights as possible, sometimes just working with a single light source, a large umbrella, a few modifiers. Take a look at some of her most iconic shots and you’d see how the master adores splashing her subjects in big, very soft lights.

Clay Cook says he’s always seeing a Profoto Acute 2-D4 Flash Head (now discontinued) and a Photek SoftLighter II 60″ umbrella in Annie’s BTS footage so get yourself a similar kit if you’re giving Annie’s approach to lighting a go.

Annie Leibovitz’ Backdrop

Look past the extravagant set designs and high-end composite work in Annie’s most recent projects and you’ll see an Oliphant backdrop. That’s not a surprise at all, considering anything that comes out of Oliphant’s studio is destined to be shot by, or with, an a-lister.

An Oliphant backdrop carries with it the highest level of prestige, thanks to their decades of involvement with the best photographers in the world. The likes of Mark Seliger, Steven Meisel, Lara Jade, Sue Bryce and many, many more legendary names, including Leibovitz of course, have had Oliphants handy in their studios.

You only need to check the Oliphant Studio’s homepage if you want to see the caliber of creatives who had used an Oliphant in many high profile gigs, with Annie’s work front and center.

We talked about photography backdrops in depth before so give that a read if you’re looking to get a portrait backdrop at any budget.