Want A Really High Quality, Lightweight And Small Travel Photo Kit?

The "Audra" in Jones Creek, Rescue, Virginia, U.S.A. (click to enlarge)
X-T1, 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 lens @ 164mm; 1/140th sec. @ f/8; ISO 400

Are you a photo enthusiast who would you like to travel with a relatively small, lightweight, "cover almost every situation" travel kit which will also give you very high quality images?  I suspect so as most of us do.

It is easy to get caught up in the "over thinking" method of planning what gear to take with us during a trip, or even just a full day out photographing.  More often than I care to remember, I've packed much too much photo gear when traveling.  I wanted to be able to cover any and every situation that may arisen.  After all, I probably wouldn't be back to any specific location again and I would hate to miss a potentially good photo.  The solution was "take it all!"

After many, many trips and realizing I used only a small portion of all of the gear I took with me, I started to look to downsize but keep flexibility, when it comes to covering most subjects I may encounter.  I decided on lenses that were not the fastest and not "full frame," as I had always carried in the past.  APS-C and M4/3 serve my purposes nicely (and I shoot stock professionally).  I don't feel as though I am compromising on quality with a smaller format.

I can make an argument that one could go even smaller, lighter and fewer pieces of gear that I now carry, but there are compromises and it is up to each of us as to what compromises are and are not acceptable for our photography.  For example, I have tried zooms that range from (35mm equivalent) of 28-300mm.  Although decent quality, I have found them too heavy to carry around on the camera all day.  I traditionally use a wrist strap and try to keep my camera gear lightweight.  If I carried my camera around my neck on a strap, I may feel differently.  So, I choose to break up the focal lengths into two separate lenses.  You may choose differently.

Here is my current travel kit:

Fujifilm X-T1 Camera Body (This body can handle just about anything I encounter)

Fujifilm 14mm f/2.8 lens (I have the 10-24mm f/4 lens but the 14 is so much smaller, faster and lighter, so I choose to travel with it.  What about the 10-13mm spread I'll be missing? Typically, I just have to back up a couple of steps and I can cover what I may be missing)

Fujifilm 18-55mm f/2.8-4 lens (of course, the mainstay as it covers the most used focal lengths.  I have found my copy of this lens excellent!)

Fujifilm 55-200mm f/3.5-4.8 lens (excellent medium to long zoom which covers up to 300mm field of view on a traditional 35mm camera.  It is relatively small, lightweight and sharp, even wide open.  One almost never needs a focal length longer than 300mm)

Nikon 6T Achromatic Dual Element Close-up Filter (this very sharp close-up filter has two elements to eliminate most aberrations and image softness. It is 62mm so it fits the 55-200mm lens perfectly.  Its diopter is 2.9.  So, on the 55-200mm lens, I can get magnifications from about 1/4 life size at the 55mm end of the lens to 0.87x, or almost life size at the 200mm setting!  That normally takes care of my macro needs without have to carry another lens or spend the extra money on a macro lens.  Nikon still makes the 6T, as well as the 5T, which has a lower diopter, but you can pick one up on EBay for less than $100 U.S. Canon makes a 250D and 500D dual element achromatic filters that I suspect are very similar, if you prefer that brand.)

Flash (I don't yet have a decent Fujifilm flash as I am waiting for Fujifilm's new one to be introduced. I do carry the little one that with the X-T1 if I need a small pop of light, but I also pack away a Nikon SB-800, as it is my only other flash.  I use it with a generic off-camera flash cord and only carry it if I think it is necessary.  I very rarely use flash, but like to have one if absolutely necessary.)

Tripod (I have an old [over 25 years old] Gitzo carbon fiber travel tripod with a medium sized ball head that has served me very well.  I take it and shove it in the back of the car when traveling or out for the day.)

Bag and Accessories (I have an Ape Case Large Messenger style bag which I have written about here, which is anything but large, it doesn't much look like a camera bag and is very lightweight.  I carry spare batteries, charger, a few spare SD cards, lens cloth, and three very high quality filters: a 77mm polarizer and a couple of 77mm ND filters [6X and 10X] as well.  Why 77mm?  My three Nikon lenses take 77mm so I have made it a habit to buy the largest filters I need and use very inexpensive step up rings on my lenses with which to mount them on any of my lenses)

I'm covering the effective field of view (on traditional 35mm film) from 21mm to 300mm and that should handle 99% of everything I encounter.  If I miss something, so be it. Sometimes it is just better to stand, watch, listen, smell and soak it all in.  Add the high quality, but lightweight and small dual element close-up filter and I can focus in on almost all items that you would want an extremely close image.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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