The Traveller's Dilemma

The Traveller's Dilemma

  • I take my best gear. I want to make the best possible photographs, regardless of the hazzards.

    Votes: 172 62.8%

  • I leave my best gear at home. I want to know that it will be waiting for me when I get back.

    Votes: 24 8.8%

  • I only have the best. For me, there is no choice to be made.

    Votes: 44 16.1%

  • Nothing I own could ever be put in the same sentence with the word "best."

    Votes: 34 12.4%
  • Total voters
    274
When I travel by airplane, space is usually at a premium, so if I bring a film camera it is usually one of the tiny cameras I got for backpacking decades ago. I've only had a few trips by plane in the last few years, business trips to Saigon and to Bologna, Italy. I took my Olympus XA to Viet Nam. I took my Minox 35GT to Bologna, only to have the shutter fail... after 30 years of faithful service. My last trip to Bologna I took the XA again, but hardly used it. It was wintertime, and my iPhone ended up being far handier.

As much as I love these tiny, comfortable old friends, I can't consider them my best cameras. I do take my best cameras with me on car trips, my Leica and my dad's old Konica. They're best transported by car, with all their lenses in their hard cases. I suppose I should try traveling lighter with those two cameras on a trip to see how it works out, but the charm with those cameras is having all the prime lenses for each.

Scott
 
My intention is to use the gear which best suits each situation. At a friend's wedding, it can be anything from a M9 to a 5D Mark II to a GR. On the street, it will be the M9, GR or a m43 camera like the GX85. When traveling, I take the M9 and a m43 camera, plus a compact. The M9 is primary, m43 for video and AF work, and the compact for when I need to be discreet. It's not like I own a Hasselblad X1D or Fuji GFX 50s, so while my gear is expensive, it's not stratospheric.

I know some people who travel with stripped back gear like a couple of Olympus XAs and leave the M gear at home, but what's the point of having great cameras and lenses if you don't use them where it counts? Just be safe and sensible, stay low profile, and use a weatherproof bag. There was a post on LUF some years ago about how well the Leica MP worked in the winter of some Scandinavian country. Use the best gear available to you that is suited to each situation.
 
skucera said:
When I travel by airplane, space is usually at a premium, so if I bring a film camera it is usually one of the tiny cameras I got for backpacking decades ago. I've only had a few trips by plane in the last few years, business trips to Saigon and to Bologna, Italy. I took my Olympus XA to Viet Nam. I took my Minox 35GT to Bologna, only to have the shutter fail... after 30 years of faithful service. My last trip to Bologna I took the XA again, but hardly used it. It was wintertime, and my iPhone ended up being far handier.

As much as I love these tiny, comfortable old friends, I can't consider them my best cameras. I do take my best cameras with me on car trips, my Leica and my dad's old Konica. They're best transported by car, with all their lenses in their hard cases. I suppose I should try traveling lighter with those two cameras on a trip to see how it works out, but the charm with those cameras is having all the prime lenses for each.
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I was fortunate to get a Contax T3 about ten years ago, before the prices went ballistic, which means I get to enjoy a very high quality compact film camera. It's as good as a Leica M with 35mm lens in many circumstances in terms of image quality, and far smaller. I would travel with the T3 in lieu of a film M any day.
 
The thing I found when considering what to pack for a trip is that I often defer to light and compact, rather than lovely-to-use favourites. Exempli gratia: I’ve often taken a CL or two with aluminium ZM lenses, instead of an M or two with brass Leica lenses, even though I much prefer the usage of the latter. It’s never been a matter of monetary value though, so far.
 
size and weight is that I consider foremost.
here is what I carry right now, while traveling:
Sony NEX5n, C.V. Heliar f4.5/15mm, C.V. Skopar f4/25mm, M-Rokkor f2/40mm

travel set by kuuan's lens tests, on Flickr

actually I carry one more lens, the tiny Canon LTM f3.5/100mm, and all, camera + 4 lenses, fits in my belly bag:
( here with a "Pen-F" Zuiko f3.5/100 instead of the Canon LTM )

travel set by kuuan's lens tests, on Flickr
 
I like to keep it simple on a trip - Rollei instead of my Hasselblad kit and a Leica film camera plus a single choice of a 35 or 50. This fits into a small bag that I can keep with me at all times. No decisions to be made just photos to look for.
 
In our last trip to Europe I kept it simple; M9+lens plus M8+lens plus a small third lens. All fit well in a small camera bag.
 
I was impressed with my Sony Nex 3n with a 30mm lens (equivalent to 45mm)on my last trip. Next summer I very likely will pair it with a Rolleiflex 3.5. They both will fit in a small bag.
 
I normally take a couple of Bessa bodies and Hexar AF (or Contax T2), leave M6 at home, but not because of value - because of weight. Then I choose appropriate focal lenths for a particular trip. As far as MF goes, lately I tend to leave Rolleiflex at home and travel with Fuji GA645 . Again - weight and convenience dictates, not value. GA645 is basically P&S in medium format, great for street but works for landscapes as well.

If I travel by car then I might take more (even Mamiya C330).
 
DanskDynamit said:
to me it depends where I'm traveling to and what kind of photos I want to make. Then I pick the camera and lens.
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When I have the luxury of taking my own car on a trip, rather than be subject to the limitations of air travel luggage, I find myself taking as much as possible.

About ten years ago, I went on a 2.5 hour drive to a country town and took the following:

- Canon 30D + 17-55/2.8 and 35L
- Zeiss Ikon + CV 25/4P and CV 35/1.4
- Sigma DP1
- Canon G10 (remember those? 28mm zoom lens in the new mini rangefinder style body)

When I went out, the appropriate gear came with me, although it was mostly the DSLR and two compacts. The Ikon stayed at base until I wanted to shoot film. This was pretty much my best gear at the time, so the best did come with me.

A year before that, I went to Hong Kong with the 30D + 17-55, Fuji F30 and Contax T3. And I came back with the Canon 35L and the Zeiss Ikon, so it was a very acquisitive trip!
 
Mine from a working professional persepective. Up until yesterday, I freelanced for a Japanese in-flight magazine for the past 30+ years. I stayed in decent hotels in the cities but always made sure beforehand that there was a safe in the office that I could use for gear, cash, and passport, in addition to a small safe in my room that was mounted. I also started using assistants these past 10 years or so to help with everything including watching my back. In the developing world both hotels and assistants are very reasonable and I highly recommend it. I switched to Fuji a few years ago and bring it all. 3 bodies and 10 lenses, but I only carry one body and 2-3 lens at a time. The rest stays back in the hotel safe.
 
When in Korea I usually carried anything I wanted (pretty much all I had at any given time), along with a good (and hard) Velbon tripod. Never had a problem.

Later i was contemplating a trip to Germany and didn't want to take a chance on losing my Fujica ST901 and Fujinon lenses (plus it was a heavy kit).

I had an FX-103 to replace a Contax 139Q so I opted for three zoom lenses from 18 to 150 and a Contax 50mm f/1.4. I really got lucky, two of the zoom lenses were Vivitar and the 18-28 was a Phoenix of all things. All three turned out to be quite acceptable for travel use. I never made it to Germany, but still have the kit with an added Contax 167mt, and still use it when I get the chance to photograph.
 
How cool that this thread got resurrected.

I didn't vote initally, nor can I now. My option isn't among choices.

As with nearly everything in life, "it depends."

It depends on exactly where I'm going, exactly what my photographic intentions are, exactly what my risk tolerance is at the moment, etc., etc.

Having said that, I definitely weigh all the [dis]advantages associated with my gear choices, and I have left gear at home because of my aversion to risk (damage or theft) to "good" gear.

But equal factors are those of weight, focal length, reliability, appropriate characteristics (e.g., weather resistant for wet environments, or wide apertures for low light). When all the factors are weighed, I end up taking my little LTM CV 21/4 over my bulky Leica 21/2.8 pre-asph more often than I would have thought.

^This is one key reason why I have redundancy of gear. Yep, multiple 50mm lenses, multiple bodies, multiple bags, and so on. Its not all because of my insatiable desire for more lenses -- just because they're beautiful lovely lenses. 😉
 
Since I don't have a lot of camera choices the decision is easy. Take what I have. My view is that if someplace isn't safe enough to take a camera, it isn't safe enough to go without a camera.
 
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