Gear for travel over the years

KariP wrote:

deednets wrote:

I started with a Pentax ME, then a Voigtländer Vitessa, an early version of the X100 series then for many years a Nikon F3. 2 primes.

Then heavy stuff by comparison a Nikon F90x, then a Coolpix 5000 and then a variety of Nikons up to the D800.

In 2013 I discovered the first Fuji I wanted to afford, the X-E1. The camera came with the 18-55 and I quickly bought first the 60/2.4 for portraits and then the 14/2.8 for landscapes. Replicating my F3 days in a smaller package.

Fuji X-E1, July 2013, Indonesia

Lombok, Indonesia, July 2013

Then I started exploring other bodies, first the X-E2, then the X-T1. The bodies - and the lenses getting larger and sometimes heavier. First I replaced the 60/2.4 with the 56/1.2. The added the 35/1.4 and then the 90/2.0. So the package was certainly getting larger. But still ok.

Then I started traveling with more than one body. Added a variety of secondary bodies, sometimes another Fuji and sometimes just some extra - complementary - body. Like the RX1. Or the Olympus Pen-F. Or the Panasonic LX100.

In 2018 I traveled to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam with my to date heaviestestest Fuji gear. Fast glass, 2 bodies, 5 lenses.

Taken with the X-T20.

Chiang Rai, Thailand, March 2018

Luang Prabang, Laos, April 2018

Subsequently I decided to shed one Fuji and then take only one of the "larger" Fujis, either the 90/2 or the 56/1.2 but not both. Added one of the Sony RX1 series bodies, instead and often walked around cities and villages at night with just one body, one lens.

But kept on adding heavier lenses as I carried on. First the 23/1.4 and then the 16/1.4.

16/1.4 Myanmar, October 2018 (I think)

56/1.2 Myanmar, November 2018

That was already 2 fast lenses, large by comparison.

I then tried the 50/2 and the 16/2.8 to see where I might be going regarding weight and size.

And still, going back to the 56/1.2. Compromise?

56/1.2 Su Thep, Thailand, April 2019

56/1.2 Su Thep, culture clash, Italian woman at Buddhist Temple

Not happy-happy with my bag. Could have just taken the 56/1.2 and nothing else. Maybe the 14/2.8? But 2.8 isn't helpful at night ...

Again quite heavy travels later on in 2019. Took the 35/1.4 and the 56/1.2. plus ...

55-200 ... Varanasi, October 2019 (I think, maybe early November??)

That zoom wasn't particularly lightweight either.

And then 2020 came. The BIG reset. Lockdowns. Dogs at play instead of burning people in Varanasi.

During lockdown, weight no longer mattered. And those trips within New Zealand were manageable. Car travel isn't difficult.

Fuji 35/1.4 (I think...) At home no trouble regarding weight or size ...

And then some "internal" travels within New Zealand:

Also no issues regarding size of weight.

But somehow, the dream of travel light was over. I then added an A7C plus some Monsters of Rock, the Zeiss 16-35/4 ... weighed a ton and since I also had my X-Pro3 with me in Rarotonga, I thought this wasn't really what I had envisaged in 2013: to travel light with a capable kit.

Sony A7C plus Zeiss 16-35/4 at 20mm, similar to the Fuji 14/2.8, but MUCH heavier!!!!!

Taken at 20mm ...

Fuji X-Pro3 + 16mm

That trip to Raro I thought was just not what I had planned when I had left the sjooopurr heavy D800 behind.

Then in 2022 I thought I would maybe simplify matters a bit by adding first a Q, the a Q2.

Leica Q2

But had my X-Pro there as well.

X-Pro3

And now I am pondering as to what to take to Vietnam and Japan in March.

Currently thinking of maybe the 52/1.2 and the Viltrox 13/1.4 ... the 35/1.4 and the Leica Q2??

Or maybe just the 13/1.4 and the 56/1.2 plus the Q2?

Leica Q2

Sometimes I think I might just get another 16/2.8 and then take the 50/2 and be done with it ...

First world problems aye??

You all have a good Christmas!

Deed

I often think that I have too much gear - at home and when I go out with a backpack with gear. And I do not believe really (anymore) that the great images are somewhere there far away. Local beach has surprised me quite often. And I can go there again tomorrow with some other gear;-)

But it was nice to read your post - now my gear problems are just very small.

BTW - nice images.

There are I think 7 larger waterfalls here in Auckland and 100+ beaches, so could go out and take some pics. But that's not as exciting as it is to ride a motorbike up north somewhere where I haven't been before.

Wouldn't qualify a bushwalk before lunch as "travel" either, but know what you mean.