What is the MOST gear you've ever carried on a trip?

When I travelled carrying underwater camera gear professionally I would take a Pelicase with housing, flashes, flash arms, ports, cameras, lenses, batteries, chargers, film, and much more. Weight of this lot alone on one trip was 17Kg, which somehow I managed to wangle as hand luggage. Gone are such days fortunately.

I try to not overburden myself these days for personal trips, but I do recall our trip to Austria a number of years ago in which I didn't adhere to that philosophy. I brought my Contaflex TLR with its 50mm lens and then I picked up an 85mm f/2 Sonnar lens for it from the LeicaShop in Vienna that I'd ordered. So that was like adding a lead weight to an already weighty camera bag. The other thing I brought on that trip was a Hasselblad SWC - it was actually a pretty cool camera to bring along, but clearly I overdid it with physical burdens. To be sure it was a wacky combination of cameras.

For commercial work I pretty much bring a carload of stuff -- the furthest I ever drove for a job was from where we lived near Baltimore, MD to Port Angeles, WA. I brought three Nikon digital camera bodies, I think four lenses, SB800 flash with a Quantum battery pack, Pocket Wizards, my very sizable Dynalite strobe kit with three packs and a number of heads and cables, many light stands and related light modifiers, sandbags (very important!), a large Manfrotto tripod, a smaller Manfrotto tripod, ladder, and I even managed to bring along a Leica Monochrom kit for personal work along the way. Pretty sure the only thing I didn't use on that multi-day job was my SB800 with the battery pack and one of the backup Nikon bodies.

We used to travel in an RV. Before that in a pickup truck with a camper shell. Lots of room. I could carry, and did carry, just about everything I owned at the time on several occasions.




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I spent some time traveling around remote parts of Australia carrying an 8x10 view camera, heavy tripod, three lenses, 8 film holders, boxes of film, dark cloths, meters, shades, filters, and all the other stuff that goes with that. Just getting there from home in California with everything intact was a project.

I think two bodies, each with a different lens but same film. In that way I did not have to change lenses.

On a trip from NW Oregon to Ely, NV and down to LA and back I dragged along an M9 with two or three lenses and an X2D with one. I wanted to see how the '42 CZJ 5cm 1.5 performed alongside the SBS and the Amotal. Very well. The X2D with the XCD 55V was fine as usual. The SBS and the CZJ justified my appreciation of Sonnars.

On a trip to spend a week in Kruger Nat'l Park I took my complete Canon 5d kit. 12-24, 24-105, 100-400 and cleaning gear. All in a Pelican 1510 carryon. Next trip to Africa I took a Canon T3 with an 18-200 do all lens, much easier. Both times I packed my X100 in a travel jacket pocket.

When I travel for commercial work I usually bring 2 Pentax DSLRs and 4-5 lenses, depending on the job, along with 5 mono light studio flashes and their attending light stands, reflectors, umbrellas, soft boxes, etc., and background stands, seamless paper and a couple of carts, one of which doubles as a step ladder. It fills the back of my Volvo XC 70. When I shot film that would have been a Toyo 4x5 G with 6 lenses, bag bellows, 40-50 sheet film holders, changing bag, Polaroid back and film instead of the DSLRs. I don't do this very often any more, I'm happy to say.

I need a second bag for the large format accessories like film, holders, changing bag, dark cloth, meters, etc. The camera and usually three lenses go in another bag plus tripod. Did I miss anything? I always seem to forget something and a few times when I am on location. Shutter cable and loupe! I have forgotten these more than once.

When Fuji and Kodak made Quickload/Readyloads it was easier flying and walking with 4x5. It’s the holders and two film boxes that make up most of the bulk. All the others can fit inside a backpack. And with pack film like Readyloads I didn’t need to worry about airport security.

I divide my time between two countries and always schlep a lot of stuff around. For photography, the best solution so far is a Manfrotto spinner carry-on.

For an urban landscape project, I carried on foot during day-long excursions: Mamiya C220, 55, 80, 135, 180, and tripod. As expected, the TLR drew some positive comments from passer-bys.

My kit was minimal for Festivals, 2 x 35mm bodies, 3 lenses but did lug along a Mamiya 645/80 & 45mm a couple of times.

BernardL said:

For an urban landscape project, I carried on foot during day-long excursions: Mamiya C220, 55, 80, 135, 180, and tripod. As expected, the TLR drew some positive comments from passer-bys.

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To photograph an abandoned hydro power plant: same as above, minus the 180, plus an SWC and 2x Vivitar 283.

Johngwill said:

An old image but worth repeating.

View attachment 4874283

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Too much gear! He should have left the neck strap behind.

On my trip to Egypt at the turn of the century, I took the Nikon FM3a with the 50mm 1.4 and 24mm 2.0 lenses. Enough to keep the weight down and cover a good range of shots.
I later mistakenly sold the FM3a.
Now I usually travel with one camera and one lens, usually a 35mm. (and the iPhone).

m6 or m11 and either a 35 or 28 and a 50. (so one body and two primes.) I normally take a Fuji point and shoot or a Ricoh. I am lazy and hate the weight.

Depends if we're measuring by weight or by body count 😉

By weight, it's a tossup between a Hasselblad system with 3 backs and 4 lenses or a Wisner 4x5 field camera with 4 lenses, a changing tent, and 10-15 film holders.

Over the years, the total weight has gone down, but the count of available cameras/lenses has gone up. I took a Nikon D750, a Leica D-Lux Typ 109, a Leica M2 and 4 lenses all in one compact backpack that actually fits under an airline seat, awhile ago on a trip to Greece.

I wish it wasn't such an immense pain to travel with cameras because I would love to take the Wisner with me to foreign lands, but it just way too much hassle.

When I was younger and stronger and perhaps not as wise (hopefully I've learned my lesson)... I carried a backpack full of a Nikon DSLR and the holy trinity of f2.8 zooms, an F100 and a macro lens, plus film and accessories, up to multiple suspended bridges about 30-60 meters above the jungle floor in Costa Rica.

These days, an M-body and 3 M-lenses on flat, even ground would be my max. 🙁

kxl said:

When I was younger and stronger and perhaps not as wise (hopefully I've learned my lesson)... I carried a backpack full of a Nikon DSLR and the holy trinity of f2.8 zooms, an F100 and a macro lens, plus film and accessories, up to multiple suspended bridges about 30-60 meters above the jungle floor in Costa Rica.

These days, an M-body and 3 M-lenses on flat, even ground would be my max. 🙁

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So it was a bridge too far?