What sucks about traveling is choosing a camera.

[lubitel]

I am going to visit my family in Tacoma and then in San Diego area next week. After long hours of contemplating which cameras to take I decided not to take an SLR. The lucky winners are: a Bessa with J-3 and j-8, a minox 35gt (my only wide angle) and a Holga for MF. Dont know if I should take my lubitel along, It makes nice photos but it will make me switch back and forth between holga and lubitel. Revue 400se didnt make the cut because it can be unreliable (double exposures, film advance problems, etc).

Plus I am hoping to find a CV 35/2.5 in Seattle for a better price than here in Europe, if I find it, I will probably forget all about my other cameras and just use bessa. Looking forward to the trip.

 

[kaiyen]

I fretted over what to bring to my only-a-couple-times-in-my-lifetime trip to Paris in November. I eventually decided to bring just 2 Canonets. I used a similar policy for Hawaii in January - a DSLR and that's it. I fought the urge to bring any of my numerous other cameras (well, not that many compared to most folks here).

I have decided that traveling is a great, liberating exercise for my approach to photography. Just lock myself into one camera system, and see what i can do. Sure, I might miss something because my lens isn't wide enough or I might wish I had MF instead of 35mm, bu that can happen to me each time I leave the house to do photos locally, too.

allan

 

[lubitel]

3 is minimum for me 🙂

Bessa with a 50 will be my standard.
Minox is great for candids and for situations where I dont want to take a larger camera with me. (like a party or dinner)
Holga... there are some situations that just call for a Holga. So I gotta have it.

 

[wtl]

Easy, Lubitel, you can always transfer the ticket to my name and solve the problem. 😉

Joke aside, at the end of the day, what camera you bring matters little. Have fun.

 

[vha]

My idea and tip for travel photography is never to bring more than you would like to carry for lets say 15 hours a day .. . Just ask my cousins wife, she spend 2 weeks in greece , carrying my cousins Nikkor 80-200 2,8 🙂, nice lens but not made for walkabouts.

A bit more serious, 1 main camera , one small but good p&s with manual function, and 2 lenses, depending on your taste. And dont bring it if you can´t afford to loose it or your travel insurance covers it . .
A good saying says "not more than 4 lens-cap shots pr film 😉"

Enjoy.

vha

 

[peter_n]

My last longish trip I took one Leica M camera, a CV 35/2.5, Leica 50/2.8, Leica "thin" TE 90, and a Jupiter-11 135/4, all very light lenses. I also took a Canonet QL-17. Most shots were with the Canonet and Leica 90 - they made a terrific pair.

 

[amateriat]

The most therapeutic thing I've done – photographically speaking, at any rate – was to boil my equipment down to what for me were the essentials: a pair of RF bodies, three lenses, a flash (or two)...and that's it. All fits in a small bag with a few other items and up to twenty rolls of film. No agonizing or head-scratching over what to take or leave behind – simply grab and go. Fretting excessively over gear is pretty much at the bottom of my list of Things To Do when planning a trip of any duration, even if photography is central to the occasion.


- Barrett

 

[pvdhaar]

Less is more..

I've found that when I keep it simple -one camera one lens- that I enjoy my holidays most. Sure, I'll stand a risk of running into the side effects of Murphy's law, so carrying a spare RF body would be wise.. But the experience is liberating. Not switching systems all the time allows me to get into the tune with what I'm carrying.

 

[Robin Harrison]

Oh man...I have troubles every time I walk out the door! Life is hard sometimes.

I'm away in Wales this weekend. Was going to just take the Oly XA, but decided on the M6 with 50 f2.8 Elmar and VC 28 f3.5.

Best travel combo I've found is the Leica CL, CV21, Cron 40, Elmar 90 and a Yashica T4 for backup/colour film. Perfect!

 

[Robin Harrison]

Oh man...I have troubles every time I walk out the door! Life is hard sometimes.

I'm away in Wales this weekend. Was going to just take the Oly XA, but decided on the M6 with 50 f2.8 Elmar and VC 28 f3.5.

Best travel combo I've found is the Leica CL, CV21, Cron 40, Elmar 90 and a Yashica T4 for backup/colour film. Perfect!

P.S. See www.robincharrison.com/china for the results from that combo described above.

 

[zuikologist]

Robin - very nice China photos, especially the people series.

 

[danielnorton]

It's funny, I bought the Konica Hexar AF just for travel, but still find myself struggling over which cameras to bring, in the end though I'm usually very happy with just the Hexar.

and sometimes a zorki for backup :angel:

and maybe my bessa and a few lenses :bang:

 

[raid]

I have narrowed down my daily camera equiment to what I used in my Japan trip last summer, but I am now leaving behind the MF.

I take two Bessa or Canon cameras with the CV 25mm/4, Canon 35mm/1.8, Nikon 50/2 and Summicron 90/2 or Elmarit 90/2.8. The Minox GT is always thrown in the bag as a back-up and for occasions when it is not suitable or proper to carry a camera case. I found out that I am very well covered with the above equipment. The 90mm lens usually is only used for portraits, and this is less often than other types of photos. People sometimes get aware of the lens and get unhappy about it, but shooting with shorter lenses usually is less noticed.

 

[FrankS]

My travel choices:

M6 with CV25, Canon 35 f2.8, a few 50mm lenses (compact one, fast one, interesting one) and either 90mm Elmar or Canon 100mm f3.5. (The Canon 100 is smaller, but I need more experience with the results of these 2 lenses to choose.)

Then either M3, CL, IIIa, or Hexar AF. Or 2 of these.

I'd love to also take either my Rolleicord or Fujica GS645W

 

[raid]

Frank: i may add my Horizon202 panorama camera in my next trip. It has a very sharp lens and the results can look stunning.

 

[Jeroen]

Last time I traveled, I took my ugly old taped up Nikon F301 plus a 20 and a 50, my Yashicamat and my Mju:II/Stylus Epic. Next time I'll probably go for a (soon to buy) D70s + 18-70, a 20 and a 50 - or I might just go for the 'Mat. Plus the Olympus, ofcourse.

By the way, that Olympus has proved the most fun while traveling. I went on a trip once with just the Mju and a few rolls of Superia 400. It really gets you thinking while taking shots - and it doesn't, at the same time. Don't know if this makes any sense.

 

[hjfischer]

For travel I don't want to ponder which lens to interchange for a particular shot and certainly don't want to carry around several camera bodies. That's why I leave my Bessa R2 and its lenses at home and use only my Nikon SLR and 28-105mm zoom. For backup my wife has my Oly Stylus Epic.

 

[lushd]

All my cameras have travelled with me at some time or other but the one I have been most impressed with on a quality to size/weight ratio is the Kiev 35a - tiny but punches way above its weight.

 

[35mmdelux]

I decided to take a M4-P w/ 35mm/2.0 for the bulk of my color work. I also carry a Contax T2 w/ Ilfo 400 film ( w/ timer so I can get in on some of the family shots) and a ISOLETTE 6x6 folder w/ 400 Ilfo. All very light, easy to carry, and gives me multiple formats. Its the 80/20 rule for me. The M4-P does the 80%.

 

[mikebrice@mac.c]

I agree this is the most difficult decision. I usually pack my clothes and other stuff the day before and then spend all night second guessing my decision on what camera to bring.
When I went to Europe last summer, I took the Leica MP and 35/2 and 50/2, as well as the d2x with 17-55 and 70-200. After the first day, I just carried the Leica MP, and left the D2x in the hotel room. The only time I used it was at a bull fight and during the running of the bulls, otherwise the Leica with the 35 or 50 was the best combination.
I recently went to Las Vegas and some of the National Parks and took the D70s and the 18-200. It was the best decision I made. One camera, one lens, fine for scenics and a few close-ups, and the VR was great for the night shots along the Strip.
I think for me, my first choice will be the MP unless I know I am going to shoot a lot, then one digital body and the 18-200 with either a coolpix or powershot point and shoot as a back up in the luggage.
Enjoy the trip and don't get too weighed down by the camera gear. The first day in London, carrying all the gear was awful. When I switched to the MP, my mood changed 100 percent. I shot 20 rolls of 36 over about 8 days. Got it developed only and to CD before I left for a reasonable rate at a place in Madrid. The only bad thing is that the scans are ok for sharing online but for any good prints, I need to scan. But at least the scans help me pick which ones to scan.