My "Minimalist Kit"; Less Is Often Better Than More

My take on a minimalist style camera kit. See description below. (click to enlarge)

Minimalism is an attractive concept to me.  Maybe I should rephrase that and say partial minimalism is attractive to me.  It seems to me, as I have aged, I've found that less is better than more.  Fewer things, less stuff, less consumption, less complication, less chaos, less confusion, which for me results in easier decision-making and more personal enjoyment.  

Lately, in my photography I find myself thinking more and more about the same—less is better than more.  Sometimes—taking less gear with me when I go out to photograph means fewer decisions I have to make before pushing the shutter button. It also means less bulk, less weight and an easier time moving around quietly and unnoticed.  The result for me is more satisfaction with the photographic experience.  Better photographs?  That, I don't know.  But I do know from past experience that if I only carry a very small bag with only a camera and a lens or two, I will take it with me wherever I go.  When I have a bag loaded I'll often leave it at home or in the car because I don't want to be weighed down and inconvenienced.  Result?  Photographs that should have been taken are not.

There are certain benefits to minimalism in life as well.  In an article I found entitled "10 Benefits of Minimalism" written by Allison Fallon, which can be found here, the author lists some positive attributes to the philosophy which I find very interesting and mostly in agreement.  With other aspects of what she proffers, well, maybe not entirely.

There are also some claimed downsides to minimalism.  One I've seen mentioned is the fear-of-missing-out (FOMO), which can result in some anxiety.  I've written about that before in relation to what we humorously call the gear acquisition syndrome (GAS). If you type FOMO into the blog search bar you can find additional posts where I've written about this phenomenon.  Another is the sometimes very difficult process of deciding what to keep and what goes.  A third is a greater attachment to those things you decide to keep.

In the end, I don't think minimalism in photography or life is for everyone.  I don't think "absolute" minimalism is for me.  I like and intend to keep much of my "stuff" but I still try to rid myself of those things that I think cause distraction, clutter, chaos and unnecessary expense in my life, not to mention having to store all those things somewhere.  When it comes to photography gear, I find it extremely difficult to make the decision as to what gear to give up and what gear to keep.  

I had three full camera systems representing micro4/3, APS-C and full frame. To me, that is more than excessive.  I knew I needed to sell at least one if not two systems.  I tried for almost two years to make that decision and I admit, I struggled to do so.  Finally, last year I did sell of one but I still need to winnow my way down to just one system.  But it is not easy.  I love using my gear regularly and enjoy what each brings to my photography.  But even two systems is too much in my opinion.

In my photography there are times when going on a specific trip I take just about all of my gear and, as illustrated here, are times when I leave my home that I want to take a minimalist kit.  This post is about the contents of what I call my minimalist kit.

Last week I turned 68 years old (hard to believe!).  The night before my birthday, just before I went to sleep, I said to my wife that I had been thinking about my age.  I never have dwelled on my age and I wasn't thinking about it in a negative way or with dread (I still feel really good and my mental age has to be in my 40s), but I was thinking that when I was a young man I never thought what it would be like or what my life would be like as I neared 70 years old.  It never dawned on me to imagine that.  I never contemplated my general future that far out.  Yes, I had started planning my retirement and economic future when I was about 22 but that was as far as it went.  So the realization of my actual age kind of struck me and caused me to think.

I consider myself fortunate, very fortunate compared to others my age.  Yes, I’ve acquired some of those nuisance maladies that come with age (example: cataract removal next month!) but my maladies don't generally keep me from doing what I want to do—within reason.  I may think of myself still in my 40s but my body and capabilities is of a man of 68.  If you don't keep that in mind, you may really hurt yourself by trying to do the same things you did 40 years ago.  That being said, I have no constant aches or pains, no bad back, no bad knees or hips and no discernible arthritis.  I still can be relatively mobile and am pretty much pain free—which is great for my photographic endeavors.  But I am careful as well.

I only mention my age and health as it plays and has played a role in my desire to minimize and simplify my life.  Even though I’m perfectly capable of carrying around a full frame camera kit, I choose not to.  Why would I want to if I don’t have to?  If I can halve the weight and bulk of my kit, make the images I want to make as well as keep the same high quality of images that I demand of myself and my gear, why would I double the number of lenses and size of camera more than is necessary.

I’ve pretty much made up my mind that I can be perfectly happy with micro4/3 gear.  (Unless Fujifilm introduces a really great camera in the future. LOL  I can't ever totally slam the door on Fujifilm as the cameras are still the most satisfying I've ever used)  If you don't believe in the capabilities of micro4/3, then you have never used it for a period of time.  For what I do and for the largest size prints I hang on my wall (16" x 20”, 40cm x 50cm), micro 4/3 is perfect!  But even with micro4/3, one can overload his or her camera bag and take too much when going out to photograph.

When I was a young man it seems one of my goals was to acquire more and more things.  And I did.  As I’ve aged, I’ve tried to divest myself of most of those things.  Some time ago I realized I don’t need nor want all of those things to clutter and complicate my life as well as most of those things are costing me money in some way.  I’ve come to realize that what I want and value more are experiences, not possessions.  Experiences are more important than things.  Read that last sentence to yourself again.  Now, I try to collect experiences and memories rather than stuff.

In trying to somewhat simplify my photography, as I've said, I’ve culled my gear down from three formats to two.  Soon, I hope, I’ll be down to a single format—micro4/3.  Yes, indeed, I have that much confidence in it’s ability to get done everything I need photographically done and with future generations it is only going to get better.  I’ve been holding on to the full frame gear as I want to finish my winter project of copying my negative archive.  If you are a reader of this blog then you know I copied much of my 35mm slide archive last summer.  When that project is complete, if ever :-(, the full frame will most likely go.  Why?  I don’t need 47mp and all the negatives that go with those huge files, let alone the size and weight of the full frame lenses.  In other words, simplify, simplify, simplify.  If I don’t need it, sell it so some other photographer can benefit from its use.

On my wife’s and my road trip from Virginia to Nova Scotia last fall, I took the least amount of photo gear I’ve ever taken on an extended journey.  I wrote about it here.  That lesser amount of gear was liberating and I enjoyed our trip much more than in the past when I carried lots and lots of gear, which most of it I never used.  I carried my camera everywhere and definitely captured some images I would have missed if I had left a large bag full of gear in the car.  For you camera phone users, no, a phone is not a substitute for a high quality, versatile camera with advanced features and interchangeable lenses.  Try photography birds in flight with your phone.  You get the point.

I’ve now decided that I can do better than that and I’ve come up with a minimalist kit that, I believe, can handle most everything I’m interested in photographing.  NOt everything, but most everything.  Here is what my minimalist consists of:

Olympus E-M1 Mark II w/battery

Olympus 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 lens

1 spare battery

1 spare 64gb memory card

1 lens cloth

1 blower brush

2 Zeiss lens cleaner packets

1 polarizing filter, 1 variable ND filter + Step-up ring

1 1/4” x 20 eye bolt with a 6 ft. piece of twine attached (loop tied at the end)

All carried in a small Think Tank Photo Retrospective 5 bag (pictured at the top of this post).

The camera's battery charger will not be in the bag.  For day trips it will stay at home and for longer trips it will be in my luggage.  

That’s it.

No other lenses.  No tripod.  No backup camera.  Just what you see.  If you're interested, here are my thoughts concerning my decisions on which gear to include.

With the 12-100mm lens (24-200mm full frame (FF) field of view (FOV) equivalent), I can pretty much cover all the kinds of subjects I like to photograph.  The lens is sharp, resolves fine detail and is one of the best lenses I've owned.  I analyzed my images from the past and I rarely use a lens wider than 24mm FF FOV.  I don't do much macro work but if there is something I want to photograph very at a very close distance, this lens also focuses very closely so a macro lens is not absolutely necessary.  Also, the lens is very sharp wide open so photographing at f/4 (f/8 full frame equivalent depth of field) allows me to keep my ISO a bit lower and have sufficient depth of field for most subjects.  For very low light photography, I have the 17mm f/1.8 as a hedge.  Another nice lens and tiny.

I would prefer to use my old Domke bag but the latch on
the front is more difficult to use than it should be and velcro
on the Retrospective 5 is a better solution.

I figure, as I have done in the past, if I come across a scene that requires a wider lens, I can shoot 2 or 3 frames and composite them together in Lightroom to get the extra wide angle of view.  I’ve done that many times before.  It doesn't work every time, but most of the time it works nicely.

If I need a longer focal length on occasion, I can invoke Olympus’ Hi-Res mode to get an 80mp image or I can just crop in.  After all, 20mp is more than most of us need anyway.  I can also use Topaz Labs' Gigapixel AI, which is an amazing plug-in that allows you to increase the size of your file.  From the tests I've seen and the reviews by some very accomplished technical people (Jim Kasson, for one), it is the best program out there for up rezzing your files.  In other words, there are always options and ways to accomplish what you want to accomplish.

What about a backup camera?  I really don’t think one is needed.  I have full confidence that the Olympus, which is solidly built and superbly engineered and as weatherproof any camera out there (except for cameras which are meant to take underwater).  I'm not worried about a malfunction.  I've made tens of thousands of exposures over the past years and never a hit of a malfunction, reset, or any electronic or mechanical issue.  Of course, that doesn’t take into count me dropping the camera, theft or it otherwise accidentally being destroyed.  But one can’t go through life worrying about things like that unless your endeavor is one of a critical nature.  Since I’ve retired from stock and other professional photographic activities, my work is just for myself—not critical.  No worries.

No tripod.  How’s that?  That’s where the eye bolt and cord come in.  Screw the eye bolt into the tripod hole in the bottom of the camera, extend the cord to the ground, step on it and pull up causing tension on the string.  You'll be surprised at the stability.  I’ve written about this device here.  Couple that with the extraordinary image stabilization built in to the camera and lens combination and I can easily take multi-second photographs using this method.  And, by the way, I just keep this in my left front pocket so it doesn’t even take up room in my bag.

Only two filters are needed.  No more.  I will be able to use the polarizer to remove reflections, deepen the blues of the sky or even as a 2-stop ND filter.  I can vary the strength of the variable ND filter to the situation.  No worries about the infamous “X” appearing in the image when using this filter if you don’t maximize the strength of the ND.  The E-M1X feature of the in-camera ND filter, I bet, will also be in this camera's successor.

With the Olympus E-M1 Mark II, I can focus stack in-camera (JPEGs) or focus bracket (RAW) images to be merged later in Photoshop.  Also, I can turn on the feature (Pro Capture) that, with a half-press of the shutter, allows the camera to continuously buffer about 30 images so when I am anticipating the peak of action (example; a bird getting ready to fly) I press the shutter fully and the peak action is not missed because those 30 buffered images that are in the camera’s memory immediately get written to the memory card.  Amazing and it works really well.  I've used it many times.  

The Olympus camera’s continuous focusing is pretty darn good so I can track most moving objects that I normally photograph very well with almost all of the images in focus.  The camera will also fire off 18 frames/second with the mechanical shutter and as many as 60 frames/second with the electronic shutter.  I'll never really need that speed but it is there if I do.

If I chose to shoot JPEGs, I can correct perspective in-camera in two directions so tall structures wouldn’t have converging vertical or horizontal lines that should be parallel.  I've used that to good success in the past.  I won’t go on but there are numerous other features in this camera that allow a photograph to cover just about anything all within its small form factor.

So there you have it.  A minimalist kit for a guy who loves his photography and requires high image quality and versatility while trying to keep things simple and small.

Less is better, as far as I’m concerned.  Simplicity is happiness.  Now, if I can only simplify my life and, oh, how I’ve been trying to do that for many years with only limited success.  Now that is a challenge!

Can you design a minimalist kit with which you can be happy?  If so, leave a comment and tell us all about it.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

All content on this blog is © 2013-2020 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.