vacation - what do i/you take (meant as fun thread)

[domagojs]

my vacation started today - Woo-hoo!!! we are going tomorrow for three weeks to the sea cost and now i'm wondering what i take with me to photograph our family summer vacation and occasional picture for my own fun. i have to take my bessa + m-rokkor CLE 40 f/2 + jupiter-8 (this is already more than enough for practical needs) since i love shooting with it. but i also love my nikon fm2n + 28/2.8 + 35/2.8 adn that has to come. recently i acquired a hassy and since i don't have the time to shoot it while working i hope i'll get a chance to run one or two rolls of film through it. so it also comes along. a small plastic bag of tri-x + acros 100 + rollei retro 100 + some color and b&w for hass also goes into the baggage.

now we come to the question. i only have two camera bags, where do i stuff nikon d40 and it's two lenses to take summer snapshots, most likely only pictures that anyone will look at in ten or twenty years? and how do i make myself use that plasticky device for taking lifeless polished pictures while having all those gorgeous cameras? how do you deal with that?

p.s. answers to go and buy fuji x-100 and replace my obsolete d40 with it are not going to be followed. there's no shop which sells x100 in my town...

 

[FrankS]

Can't answer your question, but like you, I use vacation time to use gear I don't normally have time to use.

 

[Phantomas]

The biggest load of cameras I have ever brought with me was just half of that and I thought that was a lot! Plus I was traveling by car, so I didn't have to worry about lugging gear around. (Coincidentally the trip was to Croatia, few years ago, roadtrip which I will be repeating in a couple of weeks but with MUCH less gear 🙂 ). Bringing so much gear by car is OK, and I wasn't particularly planing to make it photo-centric trip, just have fun with gear, but I wouldn't do it again, even by car. So much gear would get in the way of my photography. Nowadays most of my travels are photo-centric, so I bring two (similar) bodies and two lenses. This way thinking about gear does not interfere with thinking about photography.

Heh, I just realized I made a photo of the gear I brought wth me to Croatia. Actually as I was packing Fed ended up staying home, and possibly so did Mju, at least I didn't end up shooting with it, all Bessa and Hassy.



This time the Croatia trip is going to be another rare non-photocentric one. But I will bring my laptop to relax and work on my "serious" portfolio, something that I wanted to do for several years.

 

[GaryLH]

my vacation started today - Woo-hoo!!! we are going tomorrow for three weeks to the sea cost and now i'm wondering what i take with me to photograph our family summer vacation and occasional picture for my own fun. i have to take my bessa + m-rokkor CLE 40 f/2 + jupiter-8 (this is already more than enough for practical needs) since i love shooting with it. but i also love my nikon fm2n + 28/2.8 + 35/2.8 adn that has to come. recently i acquired a hassy and since i don't have the time to shoot it while working i hope i'll get a chance to run one or two rolls of film through it. so it also comes along. a small plastic bag of tri-x + acros 100 + rollei retro 100 + some color and b&w for hass also goes into the baggage.

now we come to the question. i only have two camera bags, where do i stuff nikon d40 and it's two lenses to take summer snapshots, most likely only pictures that anyone will look at in ten or twenty years? and how do i make myself use that plasticky device for taking lifeless polished pictures while having all those gorgeous cameras? how do you deal with that?
e
p.s. answers to go and buy fuji x-100 and replace my obsolete d40 with it are not going to be followed. there's no shop which sells x100 in my town...

For me.. When I am on vacation with family it is all about enjoying the time with family... I tend to bring a point and shoot instead... To capture those memories with them. I used to bring a dslr as well for this purpose, but as I gotten older, I really am tired of carrying all that weight around, cuts into the enjoyment factor, especially when it comes to being able to hand the camera over to someone else I can be in the picture 🙂

My panasonic lx3 and zs7 served that purpose well for quite a long time. This next vacation I plan to use my new Sony rx100 paired with the zs7.

The x100 is a great camera... It is light and the 35 equiv lens is sharp and fast. It will fit in a jacket pocket. The question is are u ok w/ just a35equiv for the whole time on vacation? If u get it, make sure u get latest firmware update.

I have taken a CL w/ 40 and 21 in the past as well.. This is a great combination... The cle is only a tad bigger... Personally I would leave the bigger d40 at home, but that is me ymmv.

Good luck,
Gary

Ps. Have fun on your vacation.

 

[twhittle]

Just got back from Japan. I only took my Leica M2 with summocron 35/2 and Elmar 50/2. I was debating to take medium format stuff, but lightweight and superb optics won out.

 

[seakayaker1]

Vacation

Vacation

On vacation at the moment and brought with me a M6TTL, MP, and M9 with a 24/3.8 Elmar, 35/2 Cron, 50/1.4 Lux, 75/2 Cron, 90/2.8 Elmarit. So far have only used the M6TTL and MP and have shot 10 rolls of film over the last 10 days. The 35 and 50 have gotten the majority of use with the 75 used for about a roll and 1/2. With a couple of days left to go I will most likely stay with the two film cameras and the 35 and 50.

Lazy, Hazy days of summer!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Even for 'professional' travel (articles in mind) I don't take much: 2 M bodies, 2-5 lenses, sometimes Alpa or LF.

Cheers,

R.

 

[froyd]

Leavin on Tuesday and leaving everything behind except a digi P&S and the Rolleiflex. I find that kit easier to handle than the M4.

But normally the Contax G come along with two or three lenses. Bought that kit especially for travel and it's perfectly suited for it.

 

[ckeith]

I am on vacation now I have my 8x10 view camera, a roundshot 28/220 and a Fuji x-100 for snaps. My camera is about half of our luggage foe a family of three.

 

[taskoni]

My vacation is booked for January. I will explore India alone for a month on a photo-centric trip big time off the beaten track. 1 backpack, 2 M bodies with 4 lenses, R7 with 4 lenses, digital voice recorder, satellite phone and 300 rolls of film. I am already having fun pre-planing the route, study the maps while sitting at home, trying to save for additional lenses.

 

[dave lackey]

Bobby,
Which digital voice recorder are you using? I find the good ones here are expensive so I need to make the right choice!🙂

 

[taskoni]

An oldie, but still serving me well, the H2 Zoom

 

[robert blu]

Just back from a short holiday 100% film and only one lens (m7+50mm F2). It was somehow liberating!
robert
You can read about in my blog!

 

[boomguy57]

Vacations vary, for me. During the annual summer vacation in Florida, I spend time on the beach; the sun in very bright and it is a slow pace. This year I brought my D700 with the 32/2, 85/1.8, and 105/2.5, and my Hassy with the 80/2.8 and 50/4. I use my iPhone for snapshots.

I only bring my D700 since I am responsible for making the photo book for my entire family, and a digital component makes that easier than a film-only workflow.

I don't use my Hasselblad enough day-to-day and it's good to have it here and force myself into using it.

When my travels consist of moving, I travel light. If there is walking involved, the last thing I want is too much weight. In those instances, both the D700 and the Hassy would be left behind, in favor of smaller equipment, so it's nice to put it to use now.

Cheers.

 

[Phantomas]

Vacations vary, for me. During the annual summer vacation in Florida, I spend time on the beach; the sun in very bright and it is a slow pace. This year I brought my D700 with the 32/2, 85/1.8, and 105/2.5, and my Hassy with the 80/2.8 and 50/4. I use my iPhone for snapshots.

I only bring my D700 since I am responsible for making the photo book for my entire family, and a digital component makes that easier than a film-only workflow.

I don't use my Hasselblad enough day-to-day and it's good to have it here and force myself into using it.

When my travels consist of moving, I travel light. If there is walking involved, the last thing I want is too much weight. In those instances, both the D700 and the Hassy would be left behind, in favor of smaller equipment, so it's nice to put it to use now.

Cheers.

On that topic, I found that a good bells'n'whistles modern strap alleviates huge portion of weight issue. When I was shooting in the middle east, carrying D700 with a fairly light manual 35/1.4 my shoulder would feel discomfort by the end of the day. That was with a native strap. This year I bought Crumpler's Saigon something-something strap, mostly due to it's length to carry camera over my shoulder and chest (messenger style) and hated it at first, wanted to bring it back. But I took it to central asia with me and would carry D800 with the new heavier 35mm (plus a bag) 9-10 hours a day and felt no discomfort or shoulder fatigue. What a difference a padded "ergonomicised" strap can make!

 

[Murchu]

Generally on holiday, as little as possible, yet enough capable kit that I do not feel deprived of being able to capture the shooting opportunities that cross my path. These days, with all shooting opportunities, I fall into two camps, that of a simple M & lens, or that of a dslr with a wide angle zoom and a fast normal prime.

All that said, reviewing my travel photos for the last few years, it seems it is actually worth it to lug a dslr, tripod and several lens. As much as I loath to admit it, I have gotten great results from bringing more as opposed to less, when I travel.

 

[zuiko85]

Too much and not enough.

 

[ChrisPlatt]

Often just one of these (or something quite similar) in my pocket:

Chris

 

[kshapero]

Last year I took my Nikon F and a CV 40/2 and Nikkor 105/2.5. Loved it. Will do the same this year.

 

[Vostok]

Last time I went on vacation I only took a Smena 8M, a FED-2, two rolls of 36 exposure Lucky 200 and one of Kodak 100. Enough for three days in Uruguay.