My photography work has primarily focused on weddings however I love to travel and my cameras always accompany me on trips! Most notably, over the last decade or so we’ve been to Tokyo, Hokkaido, Shanghai, Chungking (Chongqing), Nanking (Nanjing), Kaifeng, Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Paris, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Munich, Monte Carlo, Rome, Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice, Siena, Pisa, Tuscany, Belize, Vancouver, Alaska, and Hawaii.
In that time I transitioned from bringing rolls and rolls and rolls of film to a handful of SD cards, from bulky NiMH batteries to tiny Li-ion rechargeables, from an unwieldy aluminum tripod to a small Pedco Ultraclamp. Amazing technology advancements have allowed me to go from a Canon 1VHS, Canon 1Ds, Canon 5DmkIII, or Contax G2 to a small kick butt rangefinder-esque Fuji X-Pro1. I can bring 2 bodies, 3 lenses, 3 batteries, 9 SD cards, a double camera harness, laptop, external hard drive, chargers, and a bunch ancillary things all fitting into a small portable bag. Truly incredible!
Of course, what you take with you on trips depends on the photographic goals and tradeoffs you can make. You probably aren’t going to shoot a magazine cover or FIFA soccer match with X-Pro1’s but experience has shown that travel and travel portrait photography is where these types of cameras make their mark. Small and discreet, these are perfect for use on the busy streets of crowded foreign cities without drawing undue attention from authorities, locals, or thieves.
What is in my travel camera bag? Above is what I traveled to China and Taiwan with:
In that time I transitioned from bringing rolls and rolls and rolls of film to a handful of SD cards, from bulky NiMH batteries to tiny Li-ion rechargeables, from an unwieldy aluminum tripod to a small Pedco Ultraclamp. Amazing technology advancements have allowed me to go from a Canon 1VHS, Canon 1Ds, Canon 5DmkIII, or Contax G2 to a small kick butt rangefinder-esque Fuji X-Pro1. I can bring 2 bodies, 3 lenses, 3 batteries, 9 SD cards, a double camera harness, laptop, external hard drive, chargers, and a bunch ancillary things all fitting into a small portable bag. Truly incredible!
Of course, what you take with you on trips depends on the photographic goals and tradeoffs you can make. You probably aren’t going to shoot a magazine cover or FIFA soccer match with X-Pro1’s but experience has shown that travel and travel portrait photography is where these types of cameras make their mark. Small and discreet, these are perfect for use on the busy streets of crowded foreign cities without drawing undue attention from authorities, locals, or thieves.
What is in my travel camera bag? Above is what I traveled to China and Taiwan with:
- 2 Fujifilm X-Pro1 bodies w/ assist grips
- Fujifilm XF 18mm F2.0 lens
- Fujifilm XF 35mm F1.4 lens
- Fujifilm XF 60mm F2.4 macro lens
- Pedco Ultraclamp
- 3 Fujifilm Li-ion batteries
- Fujifilm battery charger
- Lenovo X230 12.5” Thinkpad w/ charger
- Seagate 500GB Backup Plus Slim hard drive
- 9 Sandisk 8GB and 16GB SD cards
- iPhone charger
- Sun-Sniper Double Press Harness w/ additional safety clips
- 2 Pacsafe Carrysafe 100 camera straps
- Compass
- Black Diamond screwgate carabiners
- 1L Nalgene bottle
- Fenix LED flashlight
- Thinktank Retrospective 7 bag (modified with a Fastex buckle under the flap)
- Thinktank Skin Strobe pouch
- Thinktank SD Pixel Pocket Rocket
- Hand wipes, notepad, pens, mints, snack bars, business cards, camera manual, mini gaffer tape, Tylenol, bandaids, Neosporin, earplug
