Did you like my attempt at YT-style clickbait? Seriously, there is no such thing. There is no perfect setup; there is no one way to do things; there is no best lens/camera/film. Only you can know what gear works for you given a set of circumstances. Let’s move on from that.
As I’m going to travel to Oslo, as I do a couple of times a year for work (I work for vikings), I thought I’d show my camera travel setup and explain my choices. Not because I do it better than anyone else and I have some magical knowledge of what is best, but just out of interest, because I like to know what people use for their own photography. Feel free to show me yours.
I have a lot of camera: most of the Canon DSLR range (from 350D to 1DX, via 5D mk I, 5D mk II, 6D, 7D, 550D, tiny 100D for my wife, 40D), and a number of smaller cameras (e.g. Sony RX100III). I also have a collection of old film cameras, but these don’t apply here. I have a ton of filters (for landscapes, you need ND and ND grads), flashes, etc. I could open a shop.
To choose a setup for travelling, I made the decision to concentrate on three main factors.
Size
The size is fairly important for two reasons:
- The set up needs to be fairly discreet for street photography. For some reason people are more worried about being taken with a large camera that usually implies more thought, consideration, and delay, than with a phone that usually means instant social media upload no matter how it looks. In the past I was told at a Starbuck in Aberdeen not to take portraits of my wife because cameras weren’t allowed inside. I was using the 5D mk I + grip with 50mm f1/4 lens. At the table next to us, a bunch of girls were taking tons of photos of each other and the shop with their phones, nobody told them anything.
- It’s not fun to lug around a camera the size of a car for walking days.
For that reason, even though my favourite ever camera is the 1DX for the way it feels and its features, I wouldn’t take it travelling. I also wouldn’t take most of the other cameras with their grip. I’ve travelled with 5D mk I + grip and large lenses in the past when it was all I had, and I end up having a camera bag larger than my suitcase, which makes you look like a weirdo.
Weight
The weight aspect is also important because when you travel, you tend to walk around a lot, and having to drag a 3kg camera at the end of your arm for entire days isn’t great.
Again, for that reason, the 1DX and all grips are ruled out. But as I have large hands and smaller cameras are hard for me to hold without having my pinky do a lot of painful heavy lifting, most of the smaller cameras are out too.
Also weight restricts the number of cameras/lenses/accessories I could take with me. I used to travel with most of my gear (ah the young days!) but would end up using very little of it. To properly travel is to travel light, therefore things must fit in a small bag and all be useful. No room for sentimentality or security blankets/cameras.
Value
Value is a factor because when you travel, bad things can happen. You’re not in control of your environment like when you’re home. A camera can be dropped by accident, stolen, crushed on the plane or in a bag, or who knows what.
For that reason, I don’t want to carry an expensive camera with me. I don’t buy new cameras anymore, haven’t in many years, but even second hand, some camera equipment is expensive (e.g. 1DX, mirrorless cameras, long lenses).
Setup
For all those reasons, my travelling kit contains 2 cameras:
- The 5D mk II with 28mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 lenses. The 5D is one of my favourite cameras, but it doesn’t have sensor cleaning. And that’s not something you want to have to do in a hotel bathroom (or ever, it’s a pain). The mk II does have sensor cleaning and is petty much the same camera. I used to take the 550D (aka “the stunt camera”), but it’s getting old and I don’t like crop factor sensors. It’s been around Morocco with us and a few other places, it has earned its retirement.
- The Sony RX100III. It’s a small camera that fits in the pocket, and a surprisingly capable tool. It’s my backup camera or the one I use when I want to be the most discreet. It has limitations though: it’s really not good in low light, and it doesn’t allow control of focus points.
The Canon 5D mk II because I bought it for 130€ on eBay (socket rubbers were gone, but otherwise it’s in perfect condition). If it gets destroyed, I won’t cry. That’s also the reason why I limit my lenses to the 28mm (90€) and the 50mm (60€). I wouldn’t take my 24-70L or my 24-105L with me. It would hurt to lose them.
The 5D mk II is a very good camera even by today’s standards, it’s weatherproof, it’s built like a tank (though not as much as the 1DX, but still all magnesium body so it will survive anything), and it’s large enough for me to just hold ok all day long without wanting to amputate my pinky. It doesn’t feel like a compromise to limit myself to it when I travel.
I’ll mainly use the 28mm lens because that’s I see things. 24mm and shorter focal length are a bit too distortiony to be versatile (especially for street photography where you end up having no straight lines in your photos). 50mm and above are too long and I feel trapped with them. I only take the 50mm because I know I will take a few people shots and the 28mm isn’t appropriate for that. The 28mm and the 50mm are small, plastic, and light. Perfect for travelling.
I also take the RX100III which is comparatively more expensive (about 250€ second hand) but needed in small spaces or where I don’t want people to pay attention to me (it’s just a tinny weeny camera, nothing to see here). So I always have it on me to be sure nothing bad happens to it (other than scratching the screen in my pockets). Sometimes you want to be stealth.
I tested this setup in Paris a few weekends ago and it worked perfectly well for me.
#Photography #Opinion #Personal #Travel #Gear #IMayBeWrong