the perfect travel kit

[IkarusJohn]

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Let me try one more time. The heaviest gadget bag in the world will not make you a better photographer. Knowing every datum point about every lens in that bag does not mean you know how to use them to best effect, let alone which lens to use when.

I don't think anyone did say that. I thought this discussion was about what we might select from the gear we have as the perfect travel kit. That's an interesting proposition. The question was not "how rubbish are your travel pictures", but what gear would you take.

 

And insults do not a debate make.

I agree entirely. Nor does treating people with contempt, being offhand or misrepresenting the points that people are trying to make.

 

Internet discussion is not an argument there is any point in winning. It would be so much better if this discussion could return to being informative.

 

Cheers

John

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[bill]

I agree entirely. Nor does treating people with contempt, being offhand or misrepresenting the points that people are trying to make.

 

You never spoke a truer word.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Rick]

Luka, no one is saying that we shouldn't know our tools. You keep saying that as if you think we believe that. Get that out of the way, we don't believe that. We have to be able to know and control our brush or we might as well be finger painting.

 

You did say (write) there is an artistic side of photography. Yes. And, some of us like that aspect more than we enjoy the technical. It isn't that we like the uncertainty, that not understanding the technical brings, it is more that we believe that the technical can only get us so far. Then it becomes boring and mundane (for us). It starts to get in the way of the creative. Coming at photography from the technical becomes no fun. It stifles our creative side. That's us, not you I guess.

 

So, to try and stay on topic with the thread; you are a really smart guy, I mean that. I'd like to know how does your kit reflect what you are try to do artistically? As you stare down into your bag of lenses, what are the artistic considerations going through your mind when you chose a lens for your kit. Besides the technical that, for you, is intricately inseparable from photography itself (I believe that too), what are the artistic considerations you make when you put together the perfect kit? What artistic result are you trying to create by carrying around a particular bag of lenses? That's all.

[IkarusJohn]

You never spoke a truer word.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

Actually, I probably have, but thanks!

[IkarusJohn]

While we wait for a reply from Luka, Rick, you commented:

 

You did say (write) there is an artistic side of photography. Yes. And, some of us like that aspect more than we enjoy the technical. It isn't that we like the uncertainty, that not understanding the technical brings, it is more that we believe that the technical can only get us so far. Then it becomes boring and mundane (for us). It starts to get in the way of the creative. Coming at photography from the technical becomes no fun. It stifles our creative side. That's us, not you I guess.

 

Sure, there are some people who can see no further than the technical (I'm not sure you can assume that Luka falls into this), but surely photography is about artistic expression. So, since we're in a thread about the perfect travel kit, Rick what is yours (for your artistic expression) for a year on the road?

 

Cheers

John

[jonoslack]

I can't be bothered to read most of this thread, but it seems to be a punch up, which is odd, because it doesn't seem to be a contentious subject. Anyway, as regular guys seem to be slagged off for reasonable comments I thought I could chip in:

 

Fogg b-sharp bag

apple ipad with adapter

2 M9 bodies

WATE

28 'cron

50 'lux

75 'cron

 

 

Waiting for the flak

 

all the best

[jonoslack]

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Anyway, not to go completely offtopic, no I don't think I got your point. My guess is that you were trying to say that it's no fun reducing photography to an exact science and that you prefer some uncertainty. If that is what you meant then my answer is that there is plenty of freedom in the artistic part of photography without there being any need to introduce unpredictability in the technical part. I'd rather not be at the mercy of not knowing how the tools I use work in an as detailed fashion as possible.

 

But perhaps I'm missing your point again..

 

Hi Luka

Just looked at your website (some fine shots), interesting statistics:

 

Lens tests: 26 galleries

featured: 13 galleries

thematic: 1 gallery

private: 13 galleries

 

There isn't anything wrong with the fact that there are twice as many galleries dedicated to lens tests as to anything else . . .in fact, it's probably grounds for congratulations . .

 

One question - is this ratio a reflection of the time you spend on photography?

[IkarusJohn]

I can't be bothered to read most of this thread, but it seems to be a punch up, which is odd, because it doesn't seem to be a contentious subject. Anyway, as regular guys seem to be slagged off for reasonable comments I thought I could chip in:

 

Fogg b-sharp bag

apple ipad with adapter

2 M9 bodies

WATE

28 'cron

50 'lux

75 'cron

 

 

Waiting for the flak

 

all the best

 

Like the book very much, Jono!

[Swanny66]

M9

Fogg B leica bag

4 batteries & 3 16gb cards

charger

35 lux

50lux

75 cron

90 cron

LX5 for back up

gt1542 tripod, RRS30 head, and L plate.

[denoir]

Hi Luka

Just looked at your website (some fine shots), interesting statistics:

 

Lens tests: 26 galleries

featured: 13 galleries

thematic: 1 gallery

private: 13 galleries

 

There isn't anything wrong with the fact that there are twice as many galleries dedicated to lens tests as to anything else . . .in fact, it's probably grounds for congratulations . .

 

One question - is this ratio a reflection of the time you spend on photography?

 

Jono, I'll write a more detailed answer in my reply to Rick, but the quick answer is yes.

 

You'll notice however that the "test" galleries aren't exactly shots of ISO focusing charts. They are about as much test shots as the ones in your "Field Testing the Leica M9" book (some really nice shots there by the way).

 

The reason is rather simple. If we take the M9 for instance, I've had it for 10 months now. In that period I've purchased ten or eleven lenses. When I buy a lens I usually shoot with it exclusively for a couple of weeks. It's the images from that period that typically go into a test gallery. So for those past ten months I've spent a lot of time using just one lens at a time (i.e. the most recent one) and there's one gallery per lens in the test section.

 

This section is however unlikely to grow much further. At this point I'm pretty much happy with what I've got in terms of lenses - in fact, I'm more likely to reduce the collection than to add more to it. A possible exception is the new SEM 21 that looks very interesting.

 

By the way, thanks for this post - it reminded me that I had forgotten to make a 90 Cron AA gallery in the test section. I've fixed that now.

 

I have a huge backlog of images from a long trip to a bunch of national parks in the US so depending a bit how I choose to organize it, the number of regular galleries will increase.

[Rick]

denoir, I will say this, your are one interesting character.

 

 

(Hi Jono!)

[denoir]

Luka, no one is saying that we shouldn't know our tools. You keep saying that as if you think we believe that. Get that out of the way, we don't believe that. We have to be able to know and control our brush or we might as well be finger painting.

 

You did say (write) there is an artistic side of photography. Yes. And, some of us like that aspect more than we enjoy the technical. It isn't that we like the uncertainty, that not understanding the technical brings, it is more that we believe that the technical can only get us so far. Then it becomes boring and mundane (for us). It starts to get in the way of the creative. Coming at photography from the technical becomes no fun. It stifles our creative side. That's us, not you I guess.

 

So, to try and stay on topic with the thread; you are a really smart guy, I mean that. I'd like to know how does your kit reflect what you are try to do artistically? As you stare down into your bag of lenses, what are the artistic considerations going through your mind when you chose a lens for your kit. Besides the technical that, for you, is intricately inseparable from photography itself (I believe that too), what are the artistic considerations you make when you put together the perfect kit? What artistic result are you trying to create by carrying around a particular bag of lenses? That's all.

 

Rick, I suspect that our disagreement in the posts from the last few pages primarily stems from very different approaches to photography. This in turn has led to a series of misunderstandings.

 

I can't really answer your questions directly as I'd have to answer 'none' to all of them as I don't think in those terms. I'll try however to give an explanation as to how I do use my lenses and how I make a selection for use.

 

My 'relationship' with a lens starts when I buy one. I first spend a period of time doing informal walkaround photography. I get to know it and see what I like about it and for which types of photographs it seems to shine.

 

After that initial phase comes the analysis. I try to see how my informal subjective opinion of the lens relates to the actual technical attributes of the lens. I look at the MTF charts in detail. On occasion I perform a wavelet decomposition in Matlab on images to see in detain how the different spatial frequencies are handled. I have not bombarded Leica with questions but that the people at Zeiss in Oberkochen have been extremely helpful and forthcoming with providing me with additional unpublished lens data, such as MTF charts for different distances as well as for different wavelengths. I've also had lengthy discussions with their optical design group about the optical attributes of their lenses. In addition to that I discuss all this technical stuff with the people over at the FM Alt gear forum as there are a lot of people there that are as interested in this type of stuff as I am.

 

The end result? I get a very solid understanding of the individual lenses and know when and why I should pick a certain lens to get the results that I want.

 

Ok, so now we get to the travel kit. There's not much to it - I pack as many of the lenses I like as will be convenient to carry. For the M9 it's usually a Domke F-803. If weight had not been an issue or if I had had a bunch of assistants carrying my gear for me then I'd take every lens and every camera system I own. That doesn't mean that I would necessarily use everything but it would not hurt to have it accessible should I want to use it.

 

I'm not more fond of carrying too heavy camera gear than the next guy. On my recent trip to the US southwest I had apart from the M9 and M6 a complete DSLR kit as well. I won't be bringing that along next time as I barely used it and it's difficult to justify the weight.

 

Alright, so say I'm on the trip at some interesting spot. I've got some interesting looking rocks in the foreground and majestic mountains in the background. It's the middle of the day. First I see some composition that I'd like to try and determine that a wide angle or ultra wide angle would work best. Since the light is harsh there's a risk of colors appearing washed out. There are no clouds in the sky and I risk getting a boring flat and too bright sky. My decision is simple - I pick the 28 Cron ASPH. Apart from being between WA and UWA so that it works with the composition I had in mind, it produces outrageous vignetting even at f/5.6 which helps a lot in keeping the sky interesting. Furthermore its color rendering is exceptionally strong so I reduce the risk of washed out colors. The MTF charts that I've looked at tell me that it produces a high micro contrast in the fine detail (40 lp/mm), which should bring out the texture of the rock quite nicely. I also know I should watch the edges as both the vignetting and a drop in micro contrast at all spatial frequencies will affect the image. It will create a more closed in space and give a more personal experience. And so on.

 

So I take the shot, or perhaps several shots until I get the framing exactly the way I want it. I keep the lens on the camera and look for other shots that would work well with the 28 Cron. After some time of using it I discover another potential shot that I'd really like to take but where another focal length would work better. Subsequently I switch to say the 90 Cron AA instead and start working on that shot with my knowledge of what to expect from that particular lens.

 

In short, I select a lens to work with and do so until I encounter a situation where I think another one would be more suitable and I switch.

 

You see why I can't really answer your questions. I don't pick my lenses for a travel kit based on artistic considerations - I pack as much as I'm comfortable carrying and make the decision about which lens to use on the spot in the field. Even if I have no problem using just one lens for a longer time I like to have choices available to me - especially since I may never get the opportunity again to photograph a certain place.

 

I'm very interested in hearing though what your answers to the questions you asked would be Rick. i.e How does your kit reflect what you are try to do artistically?

[denoir]

denoir, I will say this, your are one interesting character.

 

Heh, I think you'd be amused to know what type of photography I most enjoy doing. No, it's not landscape photography at all. I love shooting abstracts that are closely related to graphical art. Construction sites and junk yards are my favorites as you can find all sorts of interesting unintentional geometrical arrangement of objects with interesting shapes and textures. As it happens the rendering style of the lens isn't very important in those cases.

[Rick]

denoir, your post was so right on target to what I was asking for and I like that you picked the 28Cron as your example as I own that lens and have stated many times that I love (sorry) that lens and think that it is one of Leica's best... and for those exact reasons you so eloquently stated is why I love that lens. Your example really makes sense and I bet it was more instructive to others reading it than almost any other technical review written about that lens.

 

And, you are right, we approach photography very differently. I appreciate and to a lesser degree understand and think about those things you mentioned about the 28Cron. They still translate into why I love that lens(sorry), but I am trying to devoid myself from thinking about those things when I'm taking pictures. I'm trying to visualize what I want in the final print with more importance placed on the objects and the spaces between them (for example) and then, very secondarily, thinking about the way the lens will do that for me in technical terms.

 

So, yeah, we take pictures from a different approach. Give me some time to try and answer the question. I've got to go to bed...

[Nick De Marco]

This is one I am always considering too...

I like to take at least one film camera with me, and also have a dilema about whether it should be medium format, large format (not doing that abroad for a while too heavy) or 35mm.

 

I'm in my house in Italy right now, and took with me one of the smallest bags of equipment so far. I'm very happy with this travel kit, combining simplicity with functionality.

 

It is:

My new M9 (love it)

+ 2 batteries, one 16gb sd card, an 8gb spare, apple mac laptop and portable 500gb drive

An old M3

+ 8 rolls of Neopan 400, 6 rolls of Portra 400, 5 rolls of Kodak Ektar 100 and 5 rolls of Agfa 100, and a Leicameter (which I don't really need), plus that meter on my iPhone

 

Lenses:

21mm Zeiss Biogon f2.8 (not used it on this trip yet)

28mm Summicron f2 ASPH (perfect)

40mm Summicron f2 C (also perfect, great on M3 or M9)

50mm Jupiter 3 f1.5 (I'm loving this on the M9, and decided to take it instead of the Leica 50 cron, my favourite 50, for the extra speed)

90mm fat Elmar f2.8 (definitely need one tele)

 

If I had to loose some of the above lenses, I would keep the 28, 50 and 90.

 

Also My Fuji X100

+ 16gb sd card

(been using the lovely X100 far less since I got the M9 - but it will be useful for some low light/nighttime stuff).

 

Apart from the fact I would need more film if I went away for a year, and I would be tempted to add the Mamiya 6 medium format camera too, and/or substitute the M3 for the M7 (although I'm finding using the M3 more fun), I think this is nearly perfect.

 

Oh and I forgot, the Hipstamatic Ap for my iPhone, it's like taking a Holga and some 120 film (the quality is far better than I expected) except you have it with you all the time, it's far cheaper, and I don't need to add something else to my bag.

 

By the way I got all the above, and an iPad to go with the laptop, in a small Billingham black briefcase like bag -- the first time I have been able to take that instead of a larger more cumbersome one.

 

Nick

[wattsy]

By the way I got all the above, and an iPad to go with the laptop, in a small Billingham black briefcase like bag

 

Three cameras, five lenses and an ipad? You did well; was that in a Hadley Pro?

 

At a risk of sounding either too technical or too ignorant, my current preferred travel kit is M9 + 35 Summilux. Single spare battery and charger. No extra lenses or other clutter. Seems just right (though next time I go away in September I will probably also take a 28 Summicron and Traveller tripod).

[danielt]

If low light is no problem, M9 + TriElmar 28-35-50 is the best solution.

And as backup, Fuji X100.

This is my light travel kit.

[Nick De Marco]

It was the small hadley pro, and included also a Mac Powerbook 13"

This is the beauty of RF cameras!

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[pnoble]

At a risk of sounding either too technical or too ignorant, my current preferred travel kit is M9 + 35 Summilux. Single spare battery and charger. No extra lenses or other clutter.

 

A man after my own heart!

[pico]

For short trips, 35 Lux pre-asph, 75 Lux, spare batteries, cards. For long trips, the same + tripod, 25 Zeiss Biogon, 13-in Macbook pro, card reader, charger for camera, power cord for Mac.

 

Tri:)

 

For strictly walking trips, or bicycle rides, an M9 and pre-asph 35mm and Leica mini pod. (I made a very nice well padded bike pack for the M9.) Sometimes I leave a super-clamp attached to the frame to act as a tripod. (side note - Trek sent me a brand new replacement helmet free: standard policy for any of their helmets involved in a crash.)