Vacation gear

[truls]

Last summer I had to consider the amount of cameras/lenses to bring in the bag... As I sorted out gear, not much was left. But the remaining did work out as I had basically one camera, more focus on what to photograph than what lens to use. Here is the setup.



One film camera with 35mm lens
Russian Industar, does not take much room if I need a 50mm.
Small digital if the camera should fail.


One minor adjustment this year is a close up filter for small interesting objects.

As I only have color film, I have decided to convert pictures into bw if wanted, here an example.



What do You think about this, and what does you take in the photo bag on holidays?

[Berndt]

Nice thread and always an ultra hard decision ... which gear I should put into my bag for a vacation The gear might also vary a little bit, depending on the destination/purpose of the vacation ( like snorkeling, etc. ), but let's say, it would be a travel with just sightseeing, maybe meeting friends, having fun and getting some nice pictures for a memory. If I would have to leave today, this would be in my bag:


my holiday camera bag by bokuwanihongasuki, on Flickr

Always heavy and bulky, but I noticed, that I always regretted, if I left my TLR at home. So it needs to be in the bag ( not necessarily this model but a TLR ), loaded with fantastic Kodak E100VS transparency film ( which I might need to replace by some other transparency film soon though as it has become discontinued ). Very light and easy to use, my Bencini Koroll 24s is mostly with me too. I can't say why, but I love this camera and the results ( 3x4.5 pics on 120 film as well ). For this one, I will take some rolls of B/W film with me. Its huge latitude let this camera work well at nearly all daytime conditions. And last but not least, a digital P&S ( my Casio Exilim EX-ZR 200 ) will accompany me too - simply for HD video, HDR and all situations, where the other equipment wouldn't work. Oh, and I also added my iPad mini. I don't use it as a camera, but its light meter app for my TLR.

Looking forward to have a look into other member's holiday bags

[nikonbob]

It really depends on where I go for vacation and what is on the menu as far as possible subjects go. I gave up trying to cover all the possibilities and accept I will inevitably miss some shots. Besides being too photography oriented can spoil a vacation especially for your partner. I try and take the least amount of gear the will cover most of the anticipated subjects.

Typically by car in North America I carry a D700 with 24-120/4 VR lens and a D300 with 70-200/2.8 VR plus 2X converter if animals are likely. Charger and a spare battery with a couple of spare CF cards. Out of country with no animals likely, eg Europe, then just the D700 combo. Out of country with animals as the main interest, eg Africa, then the D300 combo supplemented with a 35/1.8G lens as a walk around.

The two camera outfit fits in to a Lowepro mini trecker backpack and is compact enough in a car. The single camera outfits fit into a Domke F6 for day to day use. We don't carry a laptop on holidays either, just another thing to keep an eye or lose.

Editing and post processing/converting to B&W is done at home in comfort. There are better things to do on vacation than editing photos.

Bob

[Deleted]

After lugging around everything from a Nikon F4 to a D300 and several lenses on vacations, I settled on a Fuji F600EXR Point and Shoot. Fits in the pocket, produces excellent picture that blow up as big as I'll ever want to blow them,and you can shoot a thousand pictures without reloading. My shoulders no longer get tired from lugging around the gear and I enjoy our vacations a lot more. I do wish the Fuji also at an optical viewfinder, however.

W.

[nikonbob]

Wayne

That is a very sensible route to go too. I maybe getting close to that myself in the not so far off future. With that kind of set up even Jpegs look pretty good off an SD card plugged into a big screen TV for viewing. Well, they satisfy me anyway.

Bob

[matty]

I have enough difficulty deciding what to put in the car for a day out let alone for a holiday. As we holiday at home in the UK and my car has a massive boot I have space for my usual every day case, Praktica MTL50 and 50mm prime, FED4 (don't ask me why, I just like it), Lubitel 166 (not my favourite bit of Soviet kit, I am on the lookout for a better tlr) Optomax 80-250 zoom, Chinon 135 mm, Pentacon 28mm and 2x teleconvertor. There's space for a couple lens hoods and a cable release and I have a great 1960s Kodak tripod that collapes down to about 10 inches and opens up to about 4 foot high. As a sneaky extra the Agfa Isolette 1 fits nicely in my coat pocket. I have a light meter app on my phone and a rangefinder app that is handy with the Isolette.

[matty]

Oh I forgot, Fuji Finepix compact digital as well.

[olroy2044]

The last traveling kit that I put together was intended to be for an extensive photo trip.  I went to My daughter's home in Las Vegas for the 1st birthday of my grand-daughter.  Because I flew there, I took quite a bit of equipment, wrapped up and distributed through my luggage.  The only thing I took as carry-on was my Oly XA2 in my pocket.  Two K-mount bodies and a variety of lenses went in the checked luggage.  My ME Super failed, and I was very happy to have my Ricoh XR1 with me!  My wife was unable to go so I shot a lot of film. 

BTW:  That trip, and a three-day airshow when I got home, were what finally pushed me to digital.  The cost of processing over a dozen rolls of film at the same time was the deciding factor.  It was simply more than I could afford to continue. The airshow was shot with a pair of Minolta SRT202's. One with a 28-80 zoom, and the other with a Series 1 70-210 zoom, with a 2X to use with the long zoom.  Once again, the little Oly was in my pocket.

Now it will probably be the 20D with a short zoom, with a long zoom in reserve, along with an off-camera flash.  Still the Oly in my pocket!

Haven't gotten tired of the weight yet!

[Deleted]

Bob:. The reason I went with the Fuji is that it was the first P&S I have encountered with zero shutter lag. plus you can shoot RAW images if you want to get the most out of them. Shutter lag in P&S has always driven me to distraction. Also the Fuji has GPS so you can mark the exact location of travel shots. I will admit, however, that it's harder for an old guy like me to hold the little Fuji steady on telephoto shots.

W.

[hansz]

Still the Oly in my pocket!

Me too, XA or a mju:2. Standard equipment!
Depending on the trip, an EOS350D or 20D with a travel-zoom and always a 1,8/50.
And always a Zeiss Ikon, just for the fun of it.
Hans

[nikonbob]

Roy

That is exactly what drove me to digital also, the cost of processing multiples of rolls at one time. I was also looking forward to retirement and realized I could not sustain that in retirement.

Wayne

Yea, those P&S cameras have come a long way. Speaking as another old guy I too find holding a small light camera difficult at tele settings.

Bob

[Berndt]

That is exactly what drove me to digital also, the cost of processing multiples of rolls at one time. I was also looking forward to retirement and realized I could not sustain that in retirement.

For me, it was the opposite. I shot just digital for a few years, but then I noticed, that I took more pictures than I can ever review in my life. I still use digital cameras, if I want to upload something instantly on Facebook or in situations, where a digital camera offers capabilities, a film camera doesn't ... but in general, film let's me take less and better pictures. I think twice, if I should take a picture or not, which reduces the amount of pictures and lets the quality increase ... just from my experience. I also like the surprise when picking the film up from the lab. About some pictures, I already forgot, that I took them, some came out excellent even never expected and some might have been failures, but I learned, not to cry about it. Film is less perfect than digital, but it also knows to surprise ... in the one or other direction.

And another ( just personal issue ) is, that I could never feel comfortable with using digital cameras and the newer they are, the "over styled" they are too. So many modes, options, settings and features for everything ... a mechanical simple film camera is so much more relaxing to use ( for me ). If I just look at my Casio, a simple P&S: It has an AUTO mode ( to keep things simple ) but it also has a Premium Auto Pro Mode ( couldn't find out yet, which is better ) or should I better use one of the many Best Shot Modes ? The exposure metering should multi, or centered ... or maybe center weighted ? Face detection on or of ? And how about the focus ? Several options for that too and the nasty thing is, that some settings are automatically set or not available in certain modes. How easy and enjoyable to use is a classic camera instead.

Money can be an issue, but the fact, that film costs money can also cause something good, I think. If I do not consider a picture being worthy of paying a few cents for it, it is probably not worthy being taken at all. Maybe a strange opinion, but it personally helped me to increase the quality of my photography.

[nikonbob]

Berndt

surprisingly I take about the same amount of photos on a trip using digital as I did using film. It just takes a little discipline not to get carried away with the whole thing. Again better pictures come from discipline not whether you use film or digital. Personally my photos are just as crappy with film or digital. I don't like surprises after slinging my butt into an airplane seat for 16 hours non stop one way and finding surprises when I pick up my film after getting it processed at home. Been there done that and it was not pretty.

I set my Nikon DSLRs up the way I used to do with film SLRs and forget about all the bells and whistles I don't need. Just as easy to use as a my Nikon FM or FE was. It is not that complicated unless you choose to make it so as it is with most things in life.

You pay as you go with film and I paid up front with digital. The costs in the long run probably average out about the same. So in that sense of the word both film and digital photos are just as valuable and worth about as much wasting or not money on. Again it has nothing to do with increasing or not the quality of ones personal photography. I have seen and I have produced just as much garbage with either medium. That may be a strange POV but there you have it.

This not an anti film screed BTW but I am sick and tired of proponents on both sides of the film/digital divide trying to claim some sort of moral superiority over the other. There just plain isn't any from where I sit. It is also a reason I don't bother too much with photo forums anymore.

Bob

[Berndt]

This not an anti film screed BTW but I am sick and tired of proponents on both sides of the film/digital divide trying to claim some sort of moral superiority over the other.

No worries Bob, I understood you well ... as I also just wanted to explain my personal workflow. I think, it's just about that, not moral superiority. I tried both ( and still use both ), digital and film ... and you too, I guess. We both came to different conclusions and that's all. None of us is right or wrong - we just can be that for ourselves.

[Deleted]

Bob: I'm like you. I have nothing against film and like to shoot some every so often--especially with my Contax and my film Nikons. But when I'm on a trip I can only afford to take once I liketo edit as I shoot. I've used this example before, but in 2002 our daughter got married on Maui. Had a Nikon FM and FE and shot 15 36-exposure rolls. That's about 540 images. When I had the film developed (no small cost) by the time I eliminated duplicates and just plain bad pictures, I probably had a little over 200 what I would consider good shots good shots.

A few years later I took my first digital trip--two weeks traveling around Europe with a Nikon D100. Every day I would edit as I shot, deleting obvious junk. I got home with about 1,100 images. Eventually, I winnowed the number down to maybe 800 but the ones deleted were nice images. They were just more than I needed to tell the story. But I hadn't had to pay for processing them so I didn't feel like I was throwing away money. Plus I knew before we got on the plane to come home that I had IMAGES. That's a big plus. And now the smaller digitals have reached the point where you aren't giving up a lot of quality by using them.

W.