Table of Contents
travel photography
- see also:
Introduction:
- most travellers just need a mirrorless camera systems with a couple of decent lenses - a zoom for daytime outdoors use, and a low light lens for indoors without flash, or for portraits.
- carrying a big, heavy dSLR is overkill for most people as it not only attracts undue attention, is heavy to carry, but it can cause significant issues with carry-on cabin luggage on flights.
- professional photographers often carry a very different kit to what I describe, I just don't know how they get it on the flights, for example, Steve Davey wrote an article here and describes how he takes 2 Nikon cameras, Nikon pro-zooms: 14-24mm, 17-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm, 10.5mm fisheye, 50mm f/1.8, 60mm macro, 300mm f/4, 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, Lastolite reflector, flash, laptop, etc and stuffs much of it in a Domke photographers vest which he wears at check-in to try to avoid scrutiny for excess carry-on luggage weight. I am sure most of us do not want that hastle, and transporting it in stowed luggage runs a big risk of theft or loss.
sometimes even the battery chargers become a nuisance - check out the size of the Canon 1DMIII charger compared with the Olympus one
Which camera & lenses to buy:
- my general requirements for a good travel outfit are:
- 16-24mpixel moderately large sensor (2x crop sensor such as Micro Four Thirds system would be my smallest sensor]]
- relatively light & compact
- focal length coverage:
- a main lens with at least 24-120mm focal length in 35mm terms
- an optional telephoto zoom to extend this to 200 or 300mm eq.
- for bushwalking, when ability to capture an image quickly may be more important than image quality, consider a 10x optical zoom.
- an optional super wide angle lenses lens, preferably one which will take filters but if main lens is 24mm then not so necessary.
- an optional portrait lenses
- an optional 30-40mm eq. prime lens for street photography
- a wide aperture lens for low light, indoors use
- image stabiliser - either sensor IS or optical IS in the main lens and the telephoto - most people will not carry a tripod.
- preferably weathersealed
- preferably able to fit in a jacket pocket discretely when walking the streets at night or going to bars
my preferred international travel kit
- Micro Four Thirds system such as the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II or PanasonicG85, but if you can't afford these, better to buy a second hand Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera than a clunky, cheap, plastic dSLR with crappy viewfinder and large lenses
- a standard zoom:
- a multitude of options are available including high quality 8-10x zoom lenses, ultra compact collapsible 3x zoom lens
- the best high quality all purpose travel lens would be Olympus mZD 12-100mm f/4 IS PRO lens, supplemented with a compact, pancake lens such as the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens would cover most needs
- a low light lens such as :
- optionally, a longer telephoto zoom, or if you are adventurous, Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 or Olympus OM 135mm f/2.8 manual focus lenses.
- optionally, an ultrawide lens - the 12mm f/2.0 would be perfect for most if their zoom lens only goes down to 14mm, but some may want either the 7-14mm or cheaper 9-18mm lens.
- optionally, Olympus FL-600R flash
- optionally, a light, carbon fibre tripod for those longer exposure night scenes or waterscapes
- protective UV filter and a polarising filter to match each lens
- square/rectangular 0.6 soft gradient ND filter to bring out the clouds when you need it, plus a holder to match
Camera/laptop bag for air travel:
- check your airline limits for carry-on cabin baggage:
- Qantas international flights max. baggage:
- as at 2007, max. circumference 115cm and up to 7kg:
- eg. 1x 56cm long x 36cm high x 23cm deep bag (can carry 2 such bags if 1st class or business class)
- Singapore Airlines:
- similar to Qantas above, ie. 115cm circumference, 7kg
- you will thus almost certainly need to put the following in checked baggage and not in cabin luggage:
- cables, battery chargers, tripod, etc.
- assuming you can get a bag which is small enough to carry on board and fit your gear, let's look first at the weight issue:
- laptop:
- 1.5kg if 12“, ~2kg if 14”, could be 2.5-3.5kg for larger laptops
- camera kit:
- Olympus OM-D E-M5 II = 470g
- Olympus mZD 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO lens = 530g for super wide angle
- Olympus m.ZD 12mm f/2.0 lens = 130g for night street scapes
- Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens = 100g for social events
- Olympus mZD 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro weatherproof lens = 380g for general purpose
- Olympus m.ZD 60mm f/2.8 macro lens = 185g for 1:1 macro work
- Olympus m.ZD 75mm f/1.8 lens = 300g for bokeh work
- Olympus mZD 40-150mm f/2.8 pro lens plus MC14 = 1000g but gives 80-400mm reach at f/2.8-4
- so you can have ALL these great, compact lenses and the camera and come in at 3400g with coverage 14-400mm plus macro, fisheye and wide aperture lenses, all with 5EV 5 axis image stabiliser built-in, high quality HD video, nice high ISO image quality and a weatherproofed camera body that can shoot at 10fps (C-AF only at 4fps)
- if the 40-150mm lens is too big and heavy, consider the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 OIS X at 360g
- Canon 5D = 810g
- 24-105mm f/4L IS = 670g
- 16-35mm f/2.8L II = 635g
- 135mm f/2L = 750g
- 70-200mm f/4 IS = 760g
- total kit = 3625g
- Canon 1D Mark III = 1.3kg
- 24-105mm f/4L IS = 670g
- 16-35mm f/2.8L II = 635g
- 135mm f/2L = 750g
- 70-200mm f/4 IS = 760g
- total kit = 4115g
- weight of bag itself:
- 1.8-3.5kg
- THUS if you get the usual bag at 3.5kg, and you take the smallest laptop at 1.5kg, you are already up to 5kg leaving only 2kg for your photo kit:
- easily fit the Olympus kit with room for another lens or camera body
- fit the Canon 5D with 2 lenses
- fit the Canon 1D Mark III with 1 lens
- general requirements of a bag to consider:
- Big enough for all your essential photo gear - any gear that you would take on a 3 week trip to a photogenic spot.
- Enough extra space for the non-photography extras that you need on a long flight.
- Pack should not be immediately identifiable as containing camera equipment - no Nikon or Canon logos please!
- Compact enough to carry down the aisle of a crowded train in Europe.
- Qualifies as carry-on luggage at an airport - worst case - it will actually fit under the seat in front of me.
- Will protect your gear
- Is not too difficult to get into and allows quick access to gear.
- Easy to carry for hours at a time - like on a photo hike in the mountains.
- let's have a look at a few bags which will take your 12“ laptop and photo gear:
- see also backpacks, bags for more details
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- Crumpler “The Keystone”:
- 20cm deep, 12” laptop
- Crumpler “Whickey & Cox”:
- 25cm deep; 15“ laptop; dSLR
- Crumpler “Sinking Barge”:
- its 26cm depth may be an issue on planes
- Crumpler “Customary Barge”:
- 30cm deep
- Crumpler “The Karachi Outpost”:
- 30cm deep;
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- 1kg, small bag up to 12” laptop + 1 dSLR with 200mm lens and 2 wide angle lenses (ie. smaller lenses)
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- 1.05kg, small bag up to 12“ laptop + 1 dSLR with 200mm lens and 2 wide angle lenses (ie. smaller lenses)
- draws attention with its sleek styling
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- 1.5kg, medium bag up to 12” laptop + 1 dSLR and several lenses
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- 1.8kg, dSLR + 80-200mm lens attached + other lenses but no laptop?
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- 2.1kg, medium-large bag up to 15“ laptop + dSLR with 300mm lens & extra lenses
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- consider the optional all weather cover for these bags in rain (see http://www.tamrac.com/g_modularaccessory.htm)
- rain covers at B&H Photo
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- 1.9kg, 33x28x51cm (a bit deep for planes) = 112cm, Canon 1D with 5” lens, 2 other lenses, 17“ laptop, jacket, lunch, etc.
- photo gear on front, bottom; laptop in rear via side zip;
- a 70-200mm f4 fits nicely with hood but not attached to camera - a f/2.8 may fit snugly but perhaps without the hood.
- if you are not carrying too much camera gear this looks like a great compromise bag for travel and hiking with its versatility of section for jackets, etc.
- BUT it still worries me a little regarding security of camera equipment in the front section - maybe you need to attach padlocks to the zippers (if you can) when walking in crowded tourist parts.
- possible problem: the velcro which is attached to the inside top which the cameras LCD is stored against while in the bag - could it scratch the LCD screen? You could attach a padded velcro to cover this I guess.
- No rain cover available as this bag is not compatible with Tamrac's M.A.S. modular system.
- It is possible to carry a tripod underneath the bottom as straps can be threaded through some holes in the plastic.
- Two lash tabs on the bottom allow a tripod to be carried (requires accessory straps, Model S-113, sold separately).
- also consider LowePro's CompuRover AW bag which has a bigger jacket/lunch compartment.
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- 2.6kg, 34x26x43cm, 2xSLRs, 700200mm f/2.8, other lenses, 15” laptop, front accessory pocket.
- laptop in rear via top zip; no facility for lunch, jacket.
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- 2.4kg, 33x24x41cm, similar to 5256.
- Lowepro:
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- 32×18.5x32cm top + 29.5×17.5x21cm camera compartment + 29.5×4.8×47.5cm notebook compartment;
- All weather cover; detachable waist belt; ~$A250;
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- Naneu:
- K3:
- 2.4kg; 36x30x48cm = 114cm;