Around the World With:

[ktmrider2]

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I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago over on Rangefinder Forum but thought I would update it here.  I am not completely sure which forum I should put it on but lenses seemed like a good choice.

I am leaving for a six month trip around the world in three days.  I have been dabbling in Leica's since 1974 when I acquired a CL and have pretty much owned all film Leicas up to the M7.  Anyway, I will be taking an MP240 with three lens which are the Zeiss 25f2.8 Biogon, 50f1.2 Nokton, and 90f2.8 Elmarit.  The 25 and 90 are small and light.  The 50f1.2 is a recent (two days ago) purchase to replace the 50f1.1 which needs a calibration.  I have shot the 50f1.2 a lot over two days mostly wide open.  Wow, I can see why it is getting accolades all over the internet.  I have had several suggestions to take something wider than the 25  but honestly I don't get on with extreme wide angle lenses and gave away or sold both the 15 and 21 so 25 just works for me.

 I will probably throw the EVF for the MP240 in the bag since it is so small and light.  I prefer the optical finder on the M and it is the main reason I have been using Leicas for almost 45 years.    The 50f1.2 seems to be spot on with the MP240's rangefinder but the EVF should provide nice backup with all three lenses.

I will also pack a FujiX100F as a backup and to cover the 35 FOV which is my favorite but it and the 50 FOV are almost a toss up.  The X100F is just amazing especially with its ability for flash synch and flash fill.  I had looked at the latest Ricoh GR3 but the viewfinder and 35 FOV of the X100F decided in favor of the X100F.  The jpegs using Acros and Classic Chrome are amazing right out of the camera.  In fact, I had given serious thought to just traveling with the X100F but why own thousands of dollars in Leica equipment and leave it at home on a once in a lifetime trip?  I have just returned from a month of diving in the Philippines in July and the X100F was the only camera on that trip and the light weight and technology of the camera more then made up for a fixed lens. Weatherproofing would have been nice and the MP240 is weatherproof.

The gear fits nicely in a Hadley Small along with an extra battery for each camera, extra SD cards, charger for MP240 (X100F charges with USB cable), optical finder for 25 as well as lens and camera cleaning equipment.  I will put a small Gorilla pod and Godox flash in checked luggage.  The flash works specifically with the X100F but also works with the MP240.  

I have been asked why no film Leica.  Well, you can't take everything unless you drive a pickup truck and it is hard to cross the Pacific in a Ford F150.  I have come close to just packing my M2 with 35 C-Biogon but digital has it all over film for travel.  I know you can use film but the hassle does not seem worth it compared to the simplicity of digital.  If I miss the M2, I will just put the X100F in full auto and pretend it is a film M2.

I still have a few days to change the combo so open to suggestions.  I think the above will just about cover everything I want to do.  I will be camera hunting in Tokyo, Hong Kong or both depending on how the trip works out.  I need to be back in US by 1 April 2020 for taxes.

[Herr Barnack]

An M-P 240 and 25, 50 and 90mm lenses with your X100F as a backup sounds like a good kit for your 'round the world endeavor. 

Some would hoot and jeer that it's too much, too heavy, too big, etc.  I cannot agree with their thinking.  Last time I went to Mongolia, I took with me two lenses that are "monsters" in terms of size & weight by some people's standards:  The 50 f/1.0 Noctilux and the 90 f/2.0 Summicron APO.  I have many excellent images that I would have not been able to get without these two lenses.  Was carrying the supposedly "hideous burden" of these two optics worth the trouble?  Without question.  After all, I went to Mongolia to make photographs. 

I have often thought that the ultimate travel kit wold be an M10-P with two extra batteries and three lenses:  A 28 Summilux ASPH, a 50 Summilux ASPH and a 90 Summicron APO and a backup camera like the X100F.  If forced to go ultralight, I would choose an M10-P with one extra battery and a 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit M, a 50mm f/2.4 Summarit M and the X100F as a backup. 

Lighter still would be leave the M kit at home and go with only a Q2 and its 28mm f/1.7 lens.  One camera and one lens sounds like an interesting challenge - but for a once in a lifetime adventure, I would want at least an M camera with 28mm and 50mm lenses.   JMHO.

 

 

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[Gobert]

You are travelling by KTM?

[Ouroboros]

Loads of options with the gear you have and the X100F is the more versatile of the two cameras you are taking. I travel light, so I'd be happy with just the X100F and both WCL and TCL converters, but you want to take your Leica stuff too, so here's my take on it:

X100F (I would add the WCL-X100)

MP240 with 25mm ZM and 50mm f1.2 Nokton

No flash needed (for me), but I would take a lightweight travel tripod such as a Gitzo 1550T and cable release and 6 & 10 stop nd filters (I like to make longer exposures than any digital Leica M can cope with).

If you need a longer fov than 50mm (equivalent), you have the expandability of the X100F digital converter for the few times you might need it, so no need to take the 90mm elmarit for the MP240.

 

[ktmrider2]

Well, I have the WCL adopter for the X100 and took it along to the Philippines as well as a GoPro7 for diving.  It was rainy season and the visibility was only 10-15 feet which was ok as we were diving wrecks in Subic Bay.  However, the GoPro7 never got wet or even turned on.  For this trip the Leica and 25 will photograph anything the 28 would.  

Originally, I planned to go with carry on only.  I could still do it if I left most of the Leica gear at home and perhaps just carried the MP240 with a 50 and the X100F but why carry an interchangeable lens camera with only one lens.  As I said if I was taking my Ford F150, none of this would be a problem.

[frame-it]

I would take only a leica M + 50mm.

[Ko.Fe.]

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I'm pictures taker and traveler across continents and regimes .   

World is the same, from photography technical perspective. BTW.

From this and very perspective it is irrelevant how round, long your incoming trip is going to be. If you are picture taker... camera doesn't know what your location is. All camera knows is what pictures are taken regularly. 

As pictures taker, I never understand these topics. I was taking pictures in Canada today, tomorrow in Poland and day after tomorrow in Russia. But for camera and way I see and take pictures - nothing has changed. NOTHING it is the SAME. Get the gear you are most familiar with. This is it.

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Ko.Fe.

[Ouroboros]

6 hours ago, ktmrider2 said:

......For this trip the Leica and 25 will photograph anything the 28 would...... 

 

Which is exactly why the just the X100F and WCL and TCL  would be perfectly adequate for me.    You  want to take your Leica too,  for me that does not make much sense.

We're all different, but I don't feel that travellers need  to carry a 'back-up' camera.  I have travelled extensively with only one camera and have never lost sleep worrying about camera failure or loss which has never happened.  Two cameras face the same risks as a single camera, but if you are certain you need a 'back-up camera, then taking a second  X100F would seem more logical than taking two completely different cameras.

This is why I never really understand these threads, taking too much gear could mean more confusion and less photography.

[ktmrider2]

Well, I could take a bunch more as I own seven M mount lenses, a film M, a couple 35 SLR's and a MF system.  I don't think I am actually taking that much gear as it ALL fits in a Hadley Small which is not exactly a large bag!  And no one has said I have to carry all the gear all the time.  If I feel like going light or simple, either the X100F or Leica with one lens.  I already stated that the X100F reminds me of my favorite camera, an M2 with 35mm.  However, I can't retrieve the gear from the hotel room if I don't take it to the hotel room.

I actually feel it is a pretty good mix.  I have been doing photography for 52 years and not exactly new to travel.  I know we all have our ideal travel kit (if we can afford it) be it a Kodak Instamatic or Leica M10 with Noctilux.  The X100f makes a good backup but it is really going for its capabilities for auto flash fill and portraits in the harsh sun conditions I expect in the tropics.  The Leica may end up as a backup for the Fuji.  

And the digital zoom on the X100f works great for the 50 which is 12mp.  However, the 70 setting is stretching the quality IMHO.

[OR120]

To me my mode of transportation would be one of the key points of consideration regarding what I carry. If you are mostly traveling on your own (around the world) place to place - had to be flexible - I would travel very light because I'm carrying the load. If I was with a group - transportation and all bags carried - (no small planes with tight limits) - I would bring more. When I travel for fun, not for a client, I travel very light - I want to enjoy the moments.  Not miss moments because I'm looking for another lens - another camera body - always watching all the gear. Have a wonderful trip! No matter how much you travel - the more you go the more you realize you really haven't seen anything ---- YET.

[Sam]

I've traveled extensively with a 35 Summilux and 50 Noctilux, and it's heavy. I've also traveled with only a 35 Summilux and it was liberating. You can drive yourself nuts thinking "I might miss that perfect portrait if I don't have my 90 or miss that amazing panorama without my 25". There's no simple answer to your question and I feel your pain as I've been confronted with those decisions myself. I will only say that I strive to travel as light as possible and I'm always glad that I did. Switching lenses is a PITA and it's caused me to miss shots.

[Stein K S]

I have some options. But to lower size, weight and ¨stress¨ (!?... this last reason probably stupid though) 😉... I would have brought my M9 (not my M10), my 28 elmarit v4, my 35 cron v4, my elmar-m 50 and my elmar-c 90. 

[wattsy]

I'm not sure I get the point of the thread. The OP asks for "suggestions" (not just here but apparently on another forum too) but when members offer their opinion, those ideas are largely dismissed because the OP already knows what he wants to take (and has 52 years of travel and photography experience, blah blah).

Edited September 13, 2019 by wattsy

[ktmrider2]

So, I am the only one who asks for ideas on this forum?  And I am the only one who has his own ideas?  I don't think so.

Anyway, I have been in Manila for five days and brought the kit I posted.  However, depending on mood I only carry the MP240 or X100F.  It is still rainy season in the Philippines and my only complaint is the X100F is not weatherproof.  However, both cameras live in a Billington Hadley Small which is waterproof.  

And the two cameras and extra lenses fit nicely in a Hadley Small so I still don't think it is a lot of gear but I like the simplicity of only carrying one camera at a time.

[miessli]

I travel 2-3 times a year all over the world and i take the 28summicron and 50lux with me and miss nothing.

[snooper]

I go around the world several times a month and used to carry just the M10 and a Cron 28 + the APO 50, and now I'm trying to shrink that to a Q2.

Dont forget to look outside the camera when you "go around the world", as it is usually where it all happens

Sometimes a simple iPhone or whatever Osmo pocket also  allows you to keep good memories: I've posted a few on Instagram...

 

[ktmrider2]

Am tempted to fly home from the Philippines and grab my M2, 35mm and a dozen rolls of TriX and just be done with it.  I know technology is great and digital is really the way to go for travel but there is just something about an M2 with a 35 or 50 and TriX.  It does not have to be MP or MA as I think mint M2 is the best camera Leica ever made.

The X100F comes pretty damm close to the M2 for the ultimate travel camera.

[mdp]

I bought an X100F for the same reason, but I rarely use it. Now I just pack the M2, MP and three lenses... Delta 100 or 400 in the M2 and Ektachrome in the MP. 

[rent]

I have been traveling in Europe and Asia for 4 months with one more to go with the following:

* M10 / M3

* Summaron 5.6/28

* APO 2/50

* Summarit 2.5/90 - Picked this one up from the Leica store in Vienna. Would have opted for the cron-APO they had but its focusing was badly out of alignment. Hate the hood but it has the reach I want.

* RRS Pocket Tripod with micro ball head.

All fits nicely in Think Tank Retrospective 5 with room to spare for charger, extra battery, shutter release cable, and backup SSD drive.

 

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Hallo,

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[m410]

Lot's of WtW trips with M240 or M10 body and only my 28mm Elmarit 2.8 ASPH and 90mm Macro f4.  The key for me is having both moderate wide-angle and telephoto with light weight.  All the fast but heavy lenses aren't much use if you don't want to (or can't) be hauling them around everywhere you go.  The saying "the best lens is the one you have with you" really applies when you are far from home.