Mark,
At first, I was shocked to see your "travel-light" list in the original
message. :-)
I wondered what would've been the "travel-heavy" version of that... ;-)
However, when I saw you were traveling by car, I thought it isn't a big
deal. The only thing I would be concerned (and that has been discussed
already in the subsequent postings) is about things being stolen from the
car.
With an adequate insurance, I wouldn't worry about that much myself.[*]
If I am traveling by car, I sometimes take my Tamrac 5612 Pro 12 full
with gear, but then use a smaller shoulder bag to put in it what I need
for the moment.
Otherwise, when I am flying I usually have:
1 body (k5-IIs at the moment), and
17-70/4
50-135/2.8
35/1.8
77/1.8
50/1.4
(all Pentax lenses)
Metz flash
From this "kit", I found that 50/1.4 was the least used lens.
On my latest trip, I didn't use it until my the second to the last day,
where I went to see some circus show and took some photos with that.
For me, 35 and 17-70 are the most used in cities. I pull out 50-135
or 77 when I am shooting portraits (Usually, 77 for the low-light
situations).
I used to carry Pentax 18-250 (instead of, and before 17-70), but found
that I seldom used the longer end while doing "sightseeing", and for that
reason prefer the image quality of the 17-70).
I still take 18-250 ocassionally, when I am expecting needing a longer
lens. But if I am with the car, I take 60-250 in those cases.
Occasionally, when I expect the need for a longer lens, I take my Pentax
x1.7 adapter, but I found I seldom use it.
In the past year, on some trips, I've been taking my 8mm Samyang
fisheye, when I was expecting some fun shots.
--------
[*] I know a guy who went to one of the Antarctica cruizes, and when the
ship sunk, so did all guy's photo gear. THe insurance company was refusing
to pay him, claiming that the amount (and the cost) of gear would mean
that he guy was a professional, and so it would not be covered by the
personal-property rider of his insurance. In the end he did get some
money from the insurance but not all.
Hope this helps.
Enjoy your trip!
Igor
On Sep 1, 2014, at 8:56 PM, Mark C <pdml-mark at charter.net> wrote:
Next week my wife and are taking a vacation to the Washington DC area. I
plan on checking out the exhibit where I have a couple of photos in
Annapolis - and that will be one afternoon or morning of our trip.
Otherwise I am anticipating a blend of urban / rural experience in
Washington DC, Baltimore and Maryland's eastern shore. We have one
wildlife refuge on the eastern shore that I really want to visit (if I can
figure out where it is).
OK - so I am trying to travel light. The biggest impediment to that is
bringing backup bodies and lenses. When you travel - do you carry backup
gear or just trust to fate that everything will work?
I am thinking of bringing (at a minimum) the K3, IR converted K10D, DA
17-70, Takumar F 70-200, DFA 100 macro and Sigma 135-400 zoom. All that,
except for the Sigma, fits in a nice little kit. I plan to also bring my Q
kit (original Q, fisheye lens, normal zoom, telephoto zoom, normal prime,
extension tubes) which all fits in a tiny little bag.
I will probably want to also bring a film body and normal zoom, and am
thinking of the Mz-S, sans battery grip, with FA 28-105 zoom. Or I might
satify the analog urge by bringing a Super Ricoflex TLR and a few rolls of
120 film.
And then I'd like a fast lens so maybed the A 50mm f1.4 or FA 50 f1.7.
I'll probably bring the 40mm XR pancake in lieu of a body cap since it is
about the same size.
And then backups and add-ons - ideally I'd like to bring they K5 (in
case the K3 breaks), the DA 16-50 (in case the DA 17-70 breaks), Sigma
70-200 f2.8 as both a backup for the Takumar F and for a faster telephoto
zoom, and maybe an external flash because it might come in handy...
I am thinking of NOT taking the "backups and add-ons" though I will kick
myself if something breaks or malfunctions on the road. The fast 50 seems
questionable and I might decide to skip the film gear...
This is not a trip of a lifetime but I'll be frustrated if something
fails along the way. I guess the Q kit is a backup for the overall kit but
as much as I like the Q kit it does have limits (slow AF, no eye level
finder, poor high ISO performance, limits on shallow DOF...)
What do you do when you travel?
FWIW I *am* only taking one automobile but I also know I can always rent
one if the car have malfunctions (I actually had to do that once in the
past.)
Mark
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