Your experiences with traveling light?

[TraamisVOS]

@TraamisVOS Since I got the M9 in 2010, I have taken it on almost every trip. It's been with me to Japan, Hong Kong, and numerous states around Australia. It's shot everything from family weddings and funerals, to elite level athletes for work, and I always love the process and output. The few times I've left the M9 at home, I've missed it and regretted the choice, but on rare occasions it has been necessary due to carry-on baggage limits. I've taken the S5 and G9 with me for a work trip and dearly missed the M9. Taking two cameras of similar size (M9 and S5) kind of goes against the desire to travel light, so if I were to take the S5 on an overseas trip with the intention of leaving the M9 at home, it gets tricky. I know I'll return with decent images but would always have the sense of wishing I had taken the M9 as well. I know I'm anthropomorphizing an inanimate object, but my M9 is a friend and companion as much as a camera. I might as well just suck it up and take the M9 and S5 on my next trip.

oh man I felt the same way with my M8.2 for the longest time. I started photography with the Panasonic LX5 but outgrew it so fast. The M9 was just released at the time and I went to Michaels in the city but salesperson refused to show me the M9 when I asked about it, talked to me condescendingly. Before that week was over, I bought an M8.2 on eBay.

That M8.2 was my companion for years after that, I took it everywhere with me every single day. It was the camera I really learned photography with, I captured many memories with it. I would still be using it today if the sensor hadn't crapped out on me (in spite of Leica Wetzlar's best efforts to fix it). One of the last photos I took with it was of my daughter who was 1-2 yrs old.

I've since bought the M9-P, M240, and M10. The M10 is now my carry-everywhere.

So I'm pretty sure I understand your relationship with your M9.

What do you do with your other cameras that you can't do with your M9? I know telephoto shots are out of the question more or less, so that's when you need to look elsewhere for your camera needs.

 

[TraamisVOS]

On the rare occasions I travel I usually just take the Leica M 240 & one of my 50's.

The next time I might simply take only my Super Ikonta.

I used to just do with a single 50 equivalent. But I've opened up and use a fisheye with an adaptor, a 35mm, and a 90mm. I very hardly use the 90mm though.

 

[rayvonn]

In this day and age, I find checking and collecting baggage on plane trips a bit of a no-no which means hand baggage only and therefore much reduced and carefully chosen gear to fit within weight restrictions. A GR and iphone go in the coat/ trouser pockets, so they don't even count, that's two picture taking devices good to go before you've even packed, leaving a 'main' camera and one, maybe two lenses for your hand luggage (for this instance, let's say one). The equiv 28mm focal length of the GR which I'd be taking is, in this scenario, a bit to close to a 35mm lens, so for me with the 'main' camera, any one 50mm or above lens is the way I would go for trips.

 

[TraamisVOS]

In this day and age, I find checking and collecting baggage on plane trips a bit of a no-no which means hand baggage only and therefore much reduced and carefully chosen gear to fit within weight restrictions. A GR and iphone go in the coat/ trouser pockets, so they don't even count, that's two picture taking devices good to go before you've even packed, leaving a 'main' camera and one, maybe two lenses for your hand luggage (for this instance, let's say one). The equiv 28mm focal length of the GR is, in this scenario, a bit to close to a 35mm lens, so for me with the 'main' camera, any one 50mm or above lens is the way I would go for trips.

I said this before - the first time I went to Japan, I photographed mainly with the 50mm. I was all about single-50mm photography up until then but I could not understand why I couldn't get my photos to work the same way. It wasn't until nearly the end of the trip when I realised that Tokyo and certain other parts of Japan are so tightly packed with so many things and yet it's so vast, that I really should've been photographing with a 28mm at least, in order to get things into my shots, in order to capture the mood.

*edited - meaning, I kinda started photographing with other lenses and have been bringing several lenses with my camera now. It used to be just my M8.2 and my 50 equivalent, that's it.

 

[stratokaster]

When I'm traveling very light, I typically take only the tiny Panasonic 12-32mm kit zoom with me. My copy is impressively sharp at all apertures and focal lengths, and generally produces very pleasing images.

If I have a bit more room in my bag, I may also take a small fast prime (preferably with good close focus abilities) but that's it. E.g. both Panasonic 25mm f/1.7 and 42.5mm f/1.7 excel at close-ups.

 

[mfturner]

One lens for travel can be fun, especially if you allow a cell phone to be part of your kit. I visited NYC with the Canon STM 40 pancake on an aps-c body as a mild telephoto to complement the 28mm equivalent cell phone, and was happy. I could use Hugin and stitch panorama to get something in between, or something wider.

Now with different kit my favorite smallest setup is Panasonic 35-100 f5.6 on an Olympus pm1 plus cell phone, which is how I visited New Orleans. Those two give me 13-200mm ff equivalent, and I can stitch panorama to get between the cell phone and the 35mm minimum on the Zoom. I’ll take more than this to Portugal and Spain to deal with walking in the rain, and for more backup.

 

[doobs]

My camera of choice when I'm traveling lately is my Fuji x100f.

Easy to carry around and very capable.

 

[John King]

For me, E-PM2 plus 14-42 EZ, until the lens broke .
So using the E-PM2 plus f/1.8 25 until I can buy another 14-42 EZ.

 

[Archiver]

@TraamisVOS I see you understand the emotional cache of the M9! Not easy to leave it at home when it produces images and gives that unique shooting and handling experience.

When I was in Japan back in 2010, my M9 as primary camera was mostly a blessing and occasionally a bane. The handling and image quality were ridiculously good. The bad part was seeing something and not being able to capture it because I couldn't manually focus fast enough, especially if I was shooting wide open at night. Regarding your experience with 50mm in Japan, I had the Zeiss Biogon 21mm f2.8, along with the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 and Summicron 50mm f2, so capturing wides was only a problem if I had to change lenses. I much prefer the depth of field from lenses at f2.8 or wider, which is why I tend to shoot with primes over zooms. But zooms are just so darn versatile and convenient. I also shoot a lot of video, which the M9 clearly does not do.

As an experiment, I went out on Australia Day weekend with my Panasonic G9 with 12-35mm f2.8 and Olympus 25mm Pro. Had a biiig walk around the City, went to the NGV, did the sort of things I would do when traveling. I don't have a zoom for the S5, so the G9 was the closest thing as there is no way I'm taking something huge and noisy like my old 5D Mark II overseas.

What I discovered:

• 24-70 equivalent is so convenient. Being able to move to any focal length in that range without having to change lenses is so freeing.
• Shooting high quality video with the same camera is awesome.
• I am not entirely happy with shooting at f5.6 full frame equivalent. It's just not shallow enough for my liking. On m43, f1.8 (f3.6) is the minimum that works for me.

G9 - Silver Sister by Archiver, on Flickr

G9 - The Darkness of Max by Archiver, on Flickr

Some possible solutions are:

• Buy a couple more fast primes like Sigma 20/2 and 35/2 as I described in an earlier post.
• Buy a short zoom like the Sigma 24-70 and a fast 35, or Sigma 28-70 with Sigma 20/2 for those wide angle needs.
• Buy a crazy expensive and large Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7, which gives me f3.4 equivalent aperture, much better low light than f2.8, and a really useful 20-50mm equivalent range.

Note that these solutions are in order of increasing weight and price!

I have a Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 and a Speedbooster XL, but this setup may be a bit cumbersome for walking around all day. I will test this soon. The XL has a 0.64x magnification, so the 18-35 becomes 23-44mm f2.4 full frame equivalent. It ticks a lot of boxes except for the whole traveling light concept

Edited to add: I just did some tests with the G9 with Sigma 18-35 and Speedbooster XL, and I'm reminded why I don't use this combination very much. It's more comfortable to use than I remembered, but the autofocus is quite unreliable. It almost defeats the purpose of using autofocus lenses, as the lens racks back and forth and often misses focus, by which time I could have manually focused a legacy lens and taken the picture. Not what I want for a fast street and travel setup.

 

[TraamisVOS]

@TraamisVOS I see you understand the emotional cache of the M9! Not easy to leave it at home when it produces images and gives that unique shooting and handling experience.

When I was in Japan back in 2010, my M9 as primary camera was mostly a blessing and occasionally a bane. The handling and image quality were ridiculously good. The bad part was seeing something and not being able to capture it because I couldn't manually focus fast enough, especially if I was shooting wide open at night. Regarding your experience with 50mm in Japan, I had the Zeiss Biogon 21mm f2.8, along with the Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 and Summicron 50mm f2, so capturing wides was only a problem if I had to change lenses. I much prefer the depth of field from lenses at f2.8 or wider, which is why I tend to shoot with primes over zooms. But zooms are just so darn versatile and convenient. I also shoot a lot of video, which the M9 clearly does not do.

As an experiment, I went out on Australia Day weekend with my Panasonic G9 with 12-35mm f2.8 and Olympus 25mm Pro. Had a biiig walk around the City, went to the NGV, did the sort of things I would do when traveling. I don't have a zoom for the S5, so the G9 was the closest thing as there is no way I'm taking something huge and noisy like my old 5D Mark II overseas.

What I discovered:

• 24-70 equivalent is so convenient. Being able to move to any focal length in that range without having to change lenses is so freeing.
• Shooting high quality video with the same camera is awesome.
• I am not entirely happy with shooting at f5.6 full frame equivalent. It's just not shallow enough for my liking. On m43, f1.8 (f3.6) is the minimum that works for me.

View attachment 362337G9 - Silver Sister by Archiver, on Flickr

View attachment 362338G9 - The Darkness of Max by Archiver, on Flickr

Some possible solutions are:

• Buy a couple more fast primes like Sigma 20/2 and 35/2 as I described in an earlier post.
• Buy a short zoom like the Sigma 24-70 and a fast 35, or Sigma 28-70 with Sigma 20/2 for those wide angle needs.
• Buy a crazy expensive and large Panasonic 10-25mm f1.7, which gives me f3.4 equivalent aperture, much better low light than f2.8, and a really useful 20-50mm equivalent range.

Note that these solutions are in order of increasing weight and price!

I have a Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 and a Speedbooster XL, but this setup may be a bit cumbersome for walking around all day. I will test this soon. The XL has a 0.64x magnification, so the 18-35 becomes 23-44mm f2.4 full frame equivalent. It ticks a lot of boxes except for the whole traveling light concept

Edited to add: I just did some tests with the G9 with Sigma 18-35 and Speedbooster XL, and I'm reminded why I don't use this combination very much. It's more comfortable to use than I remembered, but the autofocus is quite unreliable. It almost defeats the purpose of using autofocus lenses, as the lens racks back and forth and often misses focus, by which time I could have manually focused a legacy lens and taken the picture. Not what I want for a fast street and travel setup.

Your post has been tumbling around in my head for a couple of weeks. I think in order to understand the detail of your choices and experimentation, it would help (and it'd also be fascinating) to observe your process when you're on your walks.

I don't use zoom and rarely use telephoto lenses, I'm not really sure what my process is these days. I do know that it's predominantly still driven by light.

 

[olli]

My travelling light kit is my RX100Va
My travelling heavy kit is my X-S10 with 23/2 and 35/2 and the RX100Va

I almost always travel light.

 

[gryphon1911]

Funny how I look back at what I responded to in 2017 and in 2023, a lot has changed for me.

Mainly , my attitude to which gear I use now.
I’m gradually getting over my self imposed ban on cameras without an OVF/EVF. To that end I got another Ricoh GR, the GRIII. Added an hotshot OVF for those times when I need it.

For me, light travel is one of a few kits.

• Nikon Z fc with either the 24-120/4 or the combo of 16-50&40-250
• Ricoh GRIII and the Oly EM1.2 & Panasonic 35-100/2.8
• Olympus EM1.2 & 12-100/4 Pro

I find the Oly EM1.2 & 12-100/4 to be the most versatile.

However the others are not far behind. The GRIII is almost unnoticeable by most people and great for quick documentary shots.

The Z fc is a sleeper, something that a lot of people overlook or skip due to bias based on its looks or what the interwebz talking heads would have you believe of it.

I can tell you and if my voice has any weight, that I’ve used the Z fc for just about everything and once you understand it and realize it is not a Nikon DSLR you can get some great performance out of it.
I’ve cemented that for myself after shooting MMA in a dark event center with it and the Z85/1.8 and an adapted Tamron 70-200/2.8 G2.

One thing that has not changed for me and my thought process is the following. Shoot what makes sense to you for the situation and that size and weight are all relative. What I would consider an everyday carry may be out of the question for others.

 

[Iron]

I am still overseas and I find it truly satisfying carrying one body and 2 lenses only. I have the K-3 + the Pentax-M 28mm F2.8 and the 18-55mm WR. I always carry a WR now just for more challenging weather conditions. I almost always shoot one lens for a day, so limiting the choices to 2 lenses isn't a problem for me.

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The 28mm is almost on the K-3 right now. I've used the WR around 3x when it rained (tropical) for 2 days on the side of a volcano and a few days ago when it was dry and hyper dusty.

I wear the camera all the time, as usual, and put it in a sling bag when I am inside a "no photo zone" and in the Vanguard S41 when traveling longer distances. I only have one mall that prohibits photography/media-taking but, oftentimes, I just still wear the camera and tell them that I won't use it. I prefer wearing it now because the strap is much more comfortable and lighter than any other strap I've tried.

 

[wee-pics]

My travelling light: Lumix LX100.2 , my travelling normal: E-M5 with 4/12-100.

 

[Archiver]

I am still overseas and I find it truly satisfying carrying one body and 2 lenses only. I have the K-3 + the Pentax-M 28mm F2.8 and the 18-55mm WR. I always carry a WR now just for more challenging weather conditions. I almost always shoot one lens for a day, so limiting the choices to 2 lenses isn't a problem for me.
The 28mm is almost on the K-3 right now. I've used the WR around 3x when it rained (tropical) for 2 days on the side of a volcano and a few days ago when it was dry and hyper dusty.

I wear the camera all the time, as usual, and put it in a sling bag when I am inside a "no photo zone" and in the Vanguard S41 when traveling longer distances. I only have one mall that prohibits photography/media-taking but, oftentimes, I just still wear the camera and tell them that I won't use it. I prefer wearing it now because the strap is much more comfortable and lighter than any other strap I've tried.

This is great in so many ways. The Pentax K3 is a super little camera. I own a copy of that exact Pentax-M 28mm f2.8 SMC, it's actually on the desk as I type. And a Minolta Maxxum strap on a Pentax body, hahaha!

I've been through a few malls which supposedly prohibit picture taking, but I just keep my larger camera in a bag and slip out the Sony RX0 if I want to grab an image of something. Even in those places, no one bats an eyelid at someone taking photos with a smartphone, so a tiny black cube is no different.

 

[Archiver]

Funny how I look back at what I responded to in 2017 and in 2023, a lot has changed for me.

Mainly , my attitude to which gear I use now.
I’m gradually getting over my self imposed ban on cameras without an OVF/EVF. To that end I got another Ricoh GR, the GRIII. Added an hotshot OVF for those times when I need it.

For me, light travel is one of a few kits.

• Nikon Z fc with either the 24-120/4 or the combo of 16-50&40-250
• Ricoh GRIII and the Oly EM1.2 & Panasonic 35-100/2.8
• Olympus EM1.2 & 12-100/4 Pro

I find the Oly EM1.2 & 12-100/4 to be the most versatile.

However the others are not far behind. The GRIII is almost unnoticeable by most people and great for quick documentary shots.

The Z fc is a sleeper, something that a lot of people overlook or skip due to bias based on its looks or what the interwebz talking heads would have you believe of it.

I can tell you and if my voice has any weight, that I’ve used the Z fc for just about everything and once you understand it and realize it is not a Nikon DSLR you can get some great performance out of it.
I’ve cemented that for myself after shooting MMA in a dark event center with it and the Z85/1.8 and an adapted Tamron 70-200/2.8 G2.

One thing that has not changed for me and my thought process is the following. Shoot what makes sense to you for the situation and that size and weight are all relative. What I would consider an everyday carry may be out of the question for others.

These kits are very cool, and make a lot of sense. Pairing the GR III with the EM1.2 and 35-100 gives you an everyday camera and reach when you want it. The Zfc honestly looks like a fun camera, and I suspect that Nikon has made it quite close to the full frame Z series in quality and operation.

I used to carry a Panasonic LX7 all the time, and the clip on EVF was such a blessing, but not necessary.

The Olympus 12-100 is a lens I've hankered for over a number of years, but secondhand availablity and budget have never come together at the right time. It would go so well with my Panasonic G9. If was going that route, I'd pair it perhaps with a Panasonic GM1 and 12, 25 and 45 f1.8 primes. The lenses are fully interchangeable and the 12-100 could even be stashed in a bag while the G9 and GM1 have tiny primes.

 

[mfturner]

Back from 3 weeks in Europe (part of which were walking the Camino Portugues da Costa, 280 km, 170-ish miles over two weeks with all camera gear on me), my TL;DR is to not over think it, and take gear you enjoy using.

1. Of the many hundreds of pilgrims hiking the trail, I counted three with dedicated cameras (one each Sony, Canon, and a super Zoom compact of unknown brand). Everybody else uses cell phones. So if you bring anything at all on a walk like this, you are in the top 0.5% for capability.

2. Of the hundred or so tourists on the bus tour to Finisterre, or however you spell it, again there were three cameras in addition to mine (Sony, Canon, Leica), so now you are in the top 5% for capability, and no one but me got off the sidewalk in spots for a different view.

3. I really appreciated the weather sealing of the Olympus m5.3 walking in the rain.

4. Likewise I appreciated the light weight with the lighter weight lenses I chose.

5. Inspired by @gryphon1911 I chose to select a lens a day and not swap, partly in order to see if I liked the FF equivalent 28-300 mm super zoom better than the FF 24-100 with better close focusing. I got along with both fine, there were times 300mm wasn’t long enough and times 24mm wasn’t wide enough, but they were rare. I chose the 24-100 for use on days where I might be in villages or in woods or the weather wasn’t likely to give good “seeing”. That worked well. I might have been just as happy leaving one at home, but I really appreciated the peace of mind with the backup lens anyway, even if was buried In my pack all day. Overall I was able to make whatever I had in hand work well enough.

Gear taken:

Olympus m5.3 took 95% of photos.
Olympus pm1 for backup with matching battery to the m5, took a few evening photos.
Olympus 14-150 II, main lens on sunny days with open vistas, about half the shots.
Olympus 12-50, main lens in tight quarters or lousy weather, about half the shots.
Panasonic 20mm f 1.7, a free evening shots
Backup SD cards (I’ve had one fail in years past) and usb cable for recharging camera.
iPhone 13 mini as backup and selfie camera for the two of us.

I might leave the pm1 or one of the zooms home if I were to redo it, but maybe not, backup while stumbling in the woods or in the rain takes the stress off. I need to see how many photos were wider than 28mm or longer than 100mm FF eq first.

[edit]. Counting, out of the 465 photos I kept, 37 were longer than 100mm FF eq and 18 were shorter than 28mm FF eq (by enough that I probably couldn’t step closer or further to make them work). So I would have missed maybe 8% if I only had the shorter Zoom or 4% with only the longer Zoom. And there were a half dozen shots I took advantage of the higher magnification of the close focusing of the shorter Zoom. So It’sa toss-up, either way I’d get a little over 90% of what I wanted to get if I only chose one of the zooms.

 

[Lawrence A.]

I've been back over a month now after 2 months in Laos, but haven't even downloaded my photos onto the main computer I use.. I arrived home with Covid, which laid me low for a good week, and the day I arrived back in Albuquerque a good friend of mine in town died. I haven't quite got over the double whammy and am only slowly returning to normal energy. BUT! as for the kit I traveled with, the Pen with the 14-150 II did nicely, better than I'd anticipated. I climbed to the top of Wat Phu with both that in a sling and the Leica X113 in a small bag, and though it was a strenuous undertaking, it was well worth the climb. For general, walking around, going out in the city shooting, I often took just the Leica and my Note 10+. I might change kit for another occasion, but I have no complaints about the two cameras I took. (My back-up E-M5 bit the dust, so I was glad not to have to use it. For Pi Mai (New Year), with lots of water being thrown, I used my phone, carried in a zip lock bag when I wasn't using it. Not worrying about a camera, I threw a lot of water and was drenched by the end of the 2nd afternoon (of 3).

I some point I hope to have some well processed photos to put up, but I'm still feeling a little clobbered by the circumstances of my home-coming. I will miss my friend, though I think she was ready to let go.

 

[Archiver]

I some point I hope to have some well processed photos to put up, but I'm still feeling a little clobbered by the circumstances of my home-coming. I will miss my friend, though I think she was ready to let go.

Sorry to hear about your friend. If she was ready to let go, then she is now at peace. Photos can wait, get some good rest.