The kit a breaking news crew carries and why each piece earns its place

For news I want a camera that is ready the moment I lift it. A shoulder-mounted body gives a stable base for long takes, and the controls sit where my hands expect them without looking. I set white balance, shutter and audio levels before leaving the vehicle, so that on arrival I am pointing the lens, not hunting through menus.

I shoot with the lens a touch wider than instinct suggests. Wide shots hold up better when a story moves, and they give the editor room to cut. Then I go in for the details: faces, hands, signs, the thing that tells the viewer where they are. A newsroom needs both, and it needs them within minutes of arriving.

Handheld technique matters more than any specification. I keep my elbows in, breathe out as I move and hold each shot long enough to be useful. Ten seconds of calm picture is worth more to an editor than a minute of searching.

Viewers forgive a plain picture. They do not forgive muffled speech. Whatever else changes on a job, we check audio first: headphones on, levels set, a short test with whoever is about to speak. A handheld microphone held close beats a clever one placed far away, particularly outdoors with traffic, wind or a crowd behind the reporter.

The radio mic pair is for when the reporter needs both hands or the subject will not tolerate a stick under their chin. We always take a wired backup, because radio frequencies near busy sites can be unreliable and a dead channel in the middle of an interview is not recoverable.

A furry windshield goes on outdoors, every time. It costs nothing, weighs almost nothing and saves more interviews than any other single item we carry.

A shoot is not finished when we stop recording. The newsroom needs material while the story is still moving, so we plan how footage leaves the scene before we arrive. Sometimes that means a card handed to a runner, sometimes a file sent from a laptop over a mobile connection. We agree the method, the naming and the format with your producer beforehand.

I log what I have shot as I go: a short note of the best pictures, who was interviewed and anything the editor should treat with care. A page of notes saves a quarter of an hour at the other end, and on a bulletin deadline a quarter of an hour is a lot.

Cards are never wiped until the newsroom confirms safe receipt. We keep the originals until then, in a separate pocket from the blank ones.

Experience mostly teaches what to leave out. We do not bring a second lens set, a slider or a heavy jib on a developing story. They slow us down, and they tempt a crew into setting up shots when the story is happening a few metres away. If a shoot is planned and there is time, we bring more. If it is a call at short notice, we stay light.

I also leave behind the idea that kit makes the story. The best crews I have worked with could shoot a clean report with a camera, a microphone and a clear head. The extras help, but judgement about where to stand and when to start recording does most of the work.

Each autumn we go through the bags and retire anything nobody has touched in a season. It keeps the load honest.