Essential travel gear [Archive]

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CrazyB

05-26-2004, 12:18 AM

What do you take on that once in a lifetime trip?

EricW

05-26-2004, 09:57 AM

Don't you think this question is a little too broad? 
 
For example....Film or digital? Or both? 
 
Will you be walking a lot? Will you have a car at your disposal or relying on public transportation? 
 
What weather conditions are you likely to encounter? Will it be Antartica where it is cold, the rain forest where it is humid? The desert where it is hot? 
 
What do you plan to shoot? Landscapes? Cityscapes? Macro? Wildlife? People? Any or all of the above? (If I went on an African safari, don't you think I would be sure to include the longest glass I had as compared to a trip to Paris? Would I bother taking graduiated neutral density filters if I were confined to a city environment? Perhaps.) 
 
I am not trying to pick a fight, but I think you can see that the answer to your question is "it depends on what I plan to shoot, where I am going, for how long etc." 
 
The indispensible basics, no matter what that the answers to any of the above are, are 2 camera bodies, an appropriate selection of lenses, a flash, some sort of support for the camera (full tripod, minipod, monopod, again depending on circumstances) appropriate filters including a polarizer for sure, a selection of films (lots) or a digital storage device of some sort if shooting digital - perhaps my laptop), lots of batteries for all of my gear, cleaning tools, shutter release cable, lens hoods for every lens. 
 
Get more specific and I would be pleased to respond in kind.

CrazyB

05-26-2004, 11:09 AM

Thanks for the response Eric. The thing I worry about is leaving something at home that I might really miss where ever I am at. I was just curious as to what others considered essential, regardless of the destination (taking into consideration that you've never been there, and may never go back).Just out of curiosity, what would you do differently between a trip to a rainforest, or a desert? Would you take different camera bodies or lenses?

EricW

05-26-2004, 02:36 PM

I understand your question, but again, the answer depends a lot on what you are doing. If you are carrying all of the equipment on your back, then you would be well advised to leave home certain things that are not absolutely essential for weight considerations. If your trip is one where you will have a car available, you might consider taking more since you can leave it in the car when hiking if you don't need it. Of course, there is always the difficulty in transporting all of this gear by airplane, but that is a different subject. 
 
So I again point out that if I know I am going to Yellowstone Park, I will be sure to take my long glass for the critters and my split neatral density filters, holdrs, etc to shoot landscapes and certainly my full tripod and head set. I would like to also have my macro gear, assuming I can carry all of the weight; everything is a compromise. I might have to choose between macro and long glass, if I do not have a car to stash it all in. Even I you do have a car, you will need to decide what to take on that days hike since only so much can be carried on your back. Do you leave the macro gear or the long lenses? Odds are you can't carry both in your pack. Decisions, decisions. 
 
If, on the other hand, I was going to be walking around Paris or LA, then I might opt to leave my long lenses and landscape type filters and my macro gear home and concentrate on wide to medium telephoto zooms and perhaps a small mini tripod in order to minimize the bulk and the weight of what I had to carry. 
 
The items I listed in my previous response are the rock bottom minimimum I travel with. 
 
As for what the differences are in the equipment I would carry in the rainforest as opposed to the desert....I was not thinking so much of tha ctual equipment (you obviously need a body, lenses, flash, camera support etc), but rather I was thinking of what I would need to protect the gear. If I were in the rainforest, I would take rain covers, ground covers, dessicant bags to throw into my packs to prevent moisture problems, plastic bags to wrap gear in, etc. 
 
 
If I were in the desert, I would not be as worried with rain and moisture problems, but blowing sand, grit and dust moight be a problem so I would go with lots of plastic bags, twist ties, more cleaning equipment than I might otherwise carry, etc. Aslo, in the desert, if I was shooting film, I would have to think about how to keep the film cool. I generally buy a styrofome cooler at a Walmart when I go into the desert and blue ice bags which I freeze each night at the motel. Then I throw it all away before I leave. Too inexpensive to carry. 
 
These are the types of considerations I was speaking about. As I said, everything is a tradeoff, but I will tell you one tip that, unfortunately, you will probably ignore at first, and have to learn for yourself. 
 
The tip is: you can't take everything and if you try, you will regret it. Taking too much and making your pack too heavy and too unwieldy will actually be counterproductive to good photography. You will become discouraged, not want to hike or stop frequently to unload your gear, etc. 
 
Pack wisely and just understand ahead of time that there will ALWAYS be a moment when you discover that you really need that one piece of equipment that you left home. Learn to get over it....it is not possible to comtemplate every eventuality, and even if you did, you wouldn't be able to carry it all. 
 
It is just a fact of life in photography.

with_elan

05-26-2004, 03:42 PM

A couple of things to always, always bring: spare batteries and more film / digital storage than you think you'll need. After that, Eric is right, it depends.

HungV

05-26-2004, 07:30 PM

These are the gears I am planning to take for my trip to South East Asia for the next few days. 
 
Canon EOS A2e with VG-10, Canon 28-200mm USM lens, Canon 540EZ Speedlite. Bogen 3405 Junior Tripod. A lot of batteries (8 of 2CR5 and 100 ofAA). 24 rolls of films (Afga 100, Fuji Reala 100, Fuji 160 NPS, 400NPH). 
 
And I've ordered Point and shot Canon PowerShot A310 yesterday from Newegg.com. Couples eFilm PRO 128MB Compact Flash. 
 
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0402/PMA/Canon/a310frontback-001.jpg

DrJalapeno

05-26-2004, 10:00 PM

I take a 'once in a lifetime' trip once a year to a different country. 
The gear always stays the same, no matter what the terrain or climate: 
 
Canon 10D 
An OpTech neoprene camera cover (worth its weight in gold). 
3 lenses (15-35, 28-135IS and 75-300IS). 
A Canon 440EX flash. 
A polarizing filter. 
An Ultrapod (one of those baby tripods that fits in your hand). 
3 batteries and a charger. 
2 512MB CF cards. 
A 20GB portable storage unit. 
A film point 'n' shoot for those places where it wouldn't be wise to carry an SLR. 
Travel insurance for all of the above. 
 
The key is to keep it as simple and as light as possible.

Narsuitus

06-02-2004, 12:27 PM

Here is what I carry for light travel: 
 
Lens cleaning fluid 
Lens cleaning paper 
Large Ziploc Bag 
Carrying case or bag 
 
Option A (digital) 
Point and shoot digital camera 
128MB CompactFlash Memory Card (3) 
256MB CompactFlash Memory Card (3) 
512MB CompactFlash Memory Card (2) 
CompactFlash Memory Card Reader (for use on a computer found on site) 
Extra batteries for camera 
Pocket Tripod 
 
Option B (35mm film) 
Point and shoot 35mm camera 
ISO 200 and/or 400 film 
Pocket Tripod 
Extra batteries for camera 
 
Option C (medium format film) 
6x7cm or 6x9cm rangefinder camera 
ISO 200 film (50% of film carried) 
ISO 100 or lower film (25% of film carried) 
ISO 400 or higher film (25% of film carried) 
Hand-held Light Meter 
Tabletop Tripod 
Cable Release 
Polarizing filter 
Graduated Neutral Density Filter

Narsuitus

06-02-2004, 12:53 PM

Here is what I carry for medium travel: 
 
ISO 200 film (50% of film carried) 
ISO 100 or lower film (25% of film carried) 
ISO 400 or higher film (25% of film carried) 
35mm slr camera 
35mm lenses that cover the range from 18mm to 180mm 
Small flash unit with long sync cord 
Extra batteries for camera and flash unit 
Table Top Tripod 
Cable Release 
Gray Card or Gray Cloth 
Lens cleaning fluid 
Lens cleaning paper 
Large ZipLock Bag 
Carrying case or bag 
Filter wallet 
Polarizing filter 
Warming filter 
Soft Focus filter 
Graduated Neutral Density filter 
FLD filter 
Special effect filter of my choice

CrazyB

06-03-2004, 12:47 AM

Thanks for the responses: Here is what I take. 
Nikon F100, Nikon FG, Nikkor 24-120, Nikkor 35-135 macro. 
Minolta HTSI+, 19-35 28-105 (in case the Nikon stuff fails) 
Nikon Nuvis APS 
Pentax Efina APS 
Nikon Coolpix 775 
Mini DV camcorder 
Canon 10x23 binoculars 
Batteries, chargers, media cards, 20 36 exposure iso 100 film, 6 rolls iso 400 film. Filters, cleaning cloth's etc. 
All of this fits in a Tamrac 652 rolling strongbox, and I can use this as a carry on to a plane. Once I reach a destination, I take what I feel I need for the Days shooting. I usually only take a body and one lens, and a point and shoot in a pocket. By the way, The aps and the little digital are really nice for Special dinners, or other events where a big slr would be obtrusive.

Narsuitus

06-03-2004, 12:32 PM

Here is what I carry for heavy travel: 
 
ISO 200 film (50% of film carried) 
ISO 100 or lower film (25% of film carried) 
ISO 400 or higher film (25% of film carried) 
Film X-Ray shield 
35mm single lens reflex cameras (2 or 3 bodies) 
35mm lenses that cover the range from 18mm to 1000mm 
2x Teleconverter 
Extension tube set 
35mm point and shoot camera 
Flash units with long sync cords (2 or 3) 
Extra sync cords 
Extra batteries for cameras and flash units 
Heavy Tripod 
Table Top Tripod 
Cable Release 
Gray Card or Gray Cloth 
Hand held light meter 
Lens cleaning fluid 
Lens cleaning paper 
Air bulb 
Flashlight 
Leatherman type utility tool 
Electrical tape 
Large Ziploc Bag 
Toothbrush for removing sand from equipment 
Heavy Duty Garbage bag to protect equipment from the rain 
Soft camera bag 
Waterproof hard case 
Collapsible carrying cart 
Polarizing filter 
Soft focus filter 
One special effects filter of my choice 
Gelatin filter holders (2) 
Gelatin filters 
Radio Slave receiver & transmitter 
Optical slaves (2) 
Small binoculars 
Motion sensor alarm (used to notify me if someone moves my equipment)

EricW

06-04-2004, 12:32 AM

---------------- 
On 6/3/2004 10:32:43 AM narsuitus wrote: Here is what I carry for heavy travel: 
 
ISO 200 film (50% of film carried) 
ISO 100 or lower film (25% of film carried) 
ISO 400 or higher film (25% of film carried) 
Film X-Ray shield 
35mm single lens reflex cameras (2 or 3 bodies) 
35mm lenses that cover the range from 18mm to 1000mm 
2x Teleconverter 
Extension tube set 
35mm point and shoot camera 
Flash units with long sync cords (2 or 3) 
Extra sync cords 
Extra batteries for cameras and flash units 
Heavy Tripod 
Table Top Tripod 
Cable Release 
Gray Card or Gray Cloth 
Hand held light meter 
Lens cleaning fluid 
Lens cleaning paper 
Air bulb 
Flashlight 
Leatherman type utility tool 
Electrical tape 
Large Ziploc Bag 
Toothbrush for removing sand from equipment 
Heavy Duty Garbage bag to protect equipment from the rain 
Soft camera bag 
Waterproof hard case 
Collapsible carrying cart 
Polarizing filter 
Soft focus filter 
One special effects filter of my choice 
Gelatin filter holders (2) 
Gelatin filters 
Radio Slave receiver & transmitter 
Optical slaves (2) 
Small binoculars 
Motion sensor alarm (used to notify me if someone moves my equipment) 
 
 
Do you also travel with 2 mules to help carry this stuff???

Narsuitus

06-04-2004, 03:20 AM

"Do you also travel with 2 mules to help carry this stuff???" 
 
Eric, 
 
No, just one spouse.

EricW

06-04-2004, 11:46 AM

A truly lucky man...... 
 
I tried that once. Slept outside for a week. And my back was killing me from lugging the damned camera gear to boot.

MikeStank

06-04-2004, 09:55 PM

when i went to athens, i took as much as i could carry in my photo backpack, which ended up to be a lot. I only had all my cameras on me maybe 1 day. Take lots of film but dont' take it with you ever where. leave the majority in your hotel or whatever. My only complaint from my trip was my tripod. i carried a big bogen around with me on a few days, and that was a burden. Would i do it again, Heck yea if i had the chance. I think the best way to decide is to determine if its primarily a photo trip or a fun trip.

raw_85

06-08-2004, 12:55 PM

How about a travel guide? Chances are if this is a once in a lifetime trip, you won't know much about the area you will be visiting. I went on a semi once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii, the islands of Kauai and Oahu this spring, and although I was adequately prepared with the amount of gear I had, it was my mom who brought along the most valuable piece of equiptment for that trip. I hadn't even thought of getting a travel guide, but sure enough she was able to navigate us to the most scenic of vistas and unpopulated areas of the islands that tourists like myself rarely get to see. Without the guide I would not have been able to take some of my best pictures of that trip.

ParadiseAz

06-10-2004, 12:33 AM

The answer is everything. But I have 2 sets of everything and just depends on what fits the bill. I've started carrying a Nikon F100 or N70 and a Sony DSC-S75 lately and find that a good combination for general travel. I still have an Olympus OM-1n and OM-PC set I use for heavy travel. 4 primes, 2x, 2 zooms, 2 flashes, drives and accessories. It depends on where I am going and what the subject is. Over time I will convert all the OM to Nikon as the OM will need retirement. 
 
Az

dgrif55

06-10-2004, 12:35 PM

I prefer to pack as lightly as possible, both clothes and cameras, so this is my essential camera gear: 
 
Leica M6TTL rangefinder camera 
90mm f2 ASPH Summicron 
Tri-Elmar (28mm-35mm-50mm) 
35mm f1.4 ASPH Summilux (for low light) 
15mm Voightlander Heliar (to get really wide) 
polarizers for all lenses (except 15mm which doesn't accept filters) 
lens cleaning pen 
spare batteries 
SF20 flash (which I almost never use and should leave at home) 
film of course 
Nova 2 bag. 
 
If I wanted to go REALLY light I would put the Tri-Elmar on the camera, carry the 35mm Summilux on a spare lens bracket mounted to the bottom of the camera and put the lens pen in my pocket. This would cover 90%+ of any shooting I'd want to do. 
 
This system would not be good for wildlife or macro photography.

sergiodlg

06-24-2004, 12:38 AM

There are certain things that I always take with me. 
 
1. A way of stabilizing the camera, either a tripod, minipod, or bean bag. 
2. A way of cleaning the camera, squeeze bulb, lens pen, cleaning fluid and cloth or tissue. 
3. A way of protecting the camera, one and two gallon zip lock bags. 
4. Lighting, an external flash and a sync cord for off camera flash. 
5. Power/batteries and film/CF cards. 
6. Remote release for cameras being taken 
7. Filters, Polarizer, ND, Split ND grad, and warming. 
8. A bag to carry it all in. 
 
Things that vary. 
 
Film set up: 
Primary - SLR with 17-35, 28-200, and 105 macro. 
Back Up - Rangefinder with 15, 28, 40, and 90 primes, or a fixed lens rangerfinder with a 40mm f/1.7 lens if I really want to save on weight and bulk. 
 
Digital set up: 
Primary - DSLR with 17-35, 28-200, and 105 macro. 
Back Up - Digital P&S with W.A. converter and 2x converter 
Laptop with power supply. 
Blank CDs 
Two USB card readers. 
 
The lens selection for the primary film and digital SLR will change as the 28-200, while convenient, is rather slow and optically, not as good as a 28-70 f/2.8, 20-200 f/2.8 combo. 
 
Best Regards 
 
Sergio