Vacation Camera Anxiety
I'm considering for the first time spending money on a trip instead of gear. I'd like to head to the southwest, but maybe I'll start small and venture out closer to home. In either case I'm worried about my camera. The SD Quattro isn't an every-situation kind of camera and I'm afraid I'll miss shots I would have liked to take due to it's limitations, namely being bulky and having poor low light performance handheld. So much so, I have ironically begun to consider if I should just buy something more well-rounded as a dedicated vacation camera. I also worry about bringing the correct lenses, but also not over packing.
How do you guys travel with your cameras? Do you have any tips for overcoming the fear of missing shots or how do decide what lenses/gear to bring?
I bought a K-5iis for a beach vacation because I was worried about my beloved K-3 getting stolen. It seemed perfect for that role: super rough shape and super low price. I ended up bringing it *and* the K-3, plus like 5 lenses, a tripod, flash, and a small point-and-shoot. so I'm probably not the person to give advice.
I have thought about this, though. Our last vacation we had one kid and a bunch of stuff and space was limited. Now we have two kids so space will be even more limited next time. I thought it would be nice to just bring a micro four thirds with a fast wide-ish prime and a zoom. But my favorite cameras and lenses are Pentax and I doubt I'd be able to leave them behind.
I guess the logical thing to do is don't worry about missing shots and just bring the camera you already have and enjoy most. But vacation is such a good excuse for new gear, isn't it? haha
Quote from JBP on February 23, 2024, 2:34 amI bought a K-5iis for a beach vacation because I was worried about my beloved K-3 getting stolen. It seemed perfect for that role: super rough shape and super low price. I ended up bringing it *and* the K-3, plus like 5 lenses, a tripod, flash, and a small point-and-shoot. so I'm probably not the person to give advice.
I have thought about this, though. Our last vacation we had one kid and a bunch of stuff and space was limited. Now we have two kids so space will be even more limited next time. I thought it would be nice to just bring a micro four thirds with a fast wide-ish prime and a zoom. But my favorite cameras and lenses are Pentax and I doubt I'd be able to leave them behind.
I guess the logical thing to do is don't worry about missing shots and just bring the camera you already have and enjoy most. But vacation is such a good excuse for new gear, isn't it? haha
The part about buying something for the occasion and then just bringing everything anyway is very relatable and it's exactly what I'd end up doing if I don't stop myself. I did this last time I went up to the mountains and it turned into a massive headache (and backache).
You're right, I just have to accept that I'm going to miss something, sometime. It's just hard when it's a special event and you can necessarily, easily go back.
But to your other point about it being your favorite camera and you wouldn't want to leave it behind; the more I think about it, the more I realize I own the cameras I do for a reason and there isn't anything else on the market I would be 100% happy with. Either I take the SD Quattro and compromise in terms of lowlight and action or I buy something new and compromise by not the image character I like so much. I do wish though there were other camera's in the mount that didn't all have exactly the same short comings lol.
Also with regard to it being stolen. You should look into getting your gear insured. It's very affordable, I have all 5 lenses and 2 bodies covered and it costs me like $10/month. It covers theft, and damage including drops and water. Just not 'wear and tear'. It's definitely a nice piece of mind
I find that I tend to bring two cameras on trips: one that I know is tried and tested and one experimental one.
The most common combo is one digital and one film camera. Lens-wise, I tend to bring just a 2-3 lenses max. If I bring a Pentax with me, then I also have a Pentax film camera so I don't have to bring two sets of lenses. It's the same if I bring a mirrorless camera. Sometimes, I feel experimental on both so I bring a digicam or a bridge camera then a film camera on the side. If I feel brave, I just bring one prime. I can always stitch images together if I want something wider though I never ended up doing this. I guess with one lens, I tend to work with the limitations.
My 2 cents.
I think traveling with more limited gear is okay! It can make it part of the challenge. Just set yourself up for success by doing a little planning into the places you'll go, at the right times of day, to get the shots you want for the gear you brought.
I use to bring cameras and every lens for every scenario, but it's just not fun or practical. Even IF you brought the "right" gear, you're gonna miss something. On the trips I bring landscape and macro and multiple bodies, then I see an eagle carrying a possum (actually happened). On the trips I go with a great wildlife setup I'm lugging it all around and see no wildlife and wish I just brought a pocket camera haha.
So I agree to embrace missing some kinds of shots, and just go after certain ones, and then be creative with the limitations of whatever you brought with you.
If you do want a backup do-it-all camera, grab something cheap and pocketable. Those can be really fun to have something with you at all times that isn't so large and awkward (inside a restaurant, for example).
Quote from James Warner on February 23, 2024, 10:31 pmI think traveling with more limited gear is okay! It can make it part of the challenge. Just set yourself up for success by doing a little planning into the places you'll go, at the right times of day, to get the shots you want for the gear you brought.
I use to bring cameras and every lens for every scenario, but it's just not fun or practical. Even IF you brought the "right" gear, you're gonna miss something. On the trips I bring landscape and macro and multiple bodies, then I see an eagle carrying a possum (actually happened). On the trips I go with a great wildlife setup I'm lugging it all around and see no wildlife and wish I just brought a pocket camera haha.
So I agree to embrace missing some kinds of shots, and just go after certain ones, and then be creative with the limitations of whatever you brought with you.
If you do want a backup do-it-all camera, grab something cheap and pocketable. Those can be really fun to have something with you at all times that isn't so large and awkward (inside a restaurant, for example).
Speaking of pocket cameras, I've been eyeballing some of the Sigma DP cameras as something I can pocket and be and EDC, but they are a little on the expensive side and the lack of an evf seems irksome, but I've also been considering the Sigma fp/L, as a potential buy lately.
I think you have an excellent point about even if you have all the right gear, you can't have it all equipped and ready to go and you're always going to miss shots. The story about the eagle and the possum sounds almost too comedic, it appears the universe does have a sense of humor. I think that a certain amount of acceptance and maybe instead of viewing the shots as "missed" maybe trying to convince myself that it's just a reason to return again next year with a different setup.
Quote from tristancarlos on February 23, 2024, 10:18 pmI find that I tend to bring two cameras on trips: one that I know is tried and tested and one experimental one.
The most common combo is one digital and one film camera. Lens-wise, I tend to bring just a 2-3 lenses max. If I bring a Pentax with me, then I also have a Pentax film camera so I don't have to bring two sets of lenses. It's the same if I bring a mirrorless camera. Sometimes, I feel experimental on both so I bring a digicam or a bridge camera then a film camera on the side. If I feel brave, I just bring one prime. I can always stitch images together if I want something wider though I never ended up doing this. I guess with one lens, I tend to work with the limitations.
My 2 cents.
Yeah that's what I like about Sigma SA, I have a film and digital body and they use the same lens mount. That could be a solution as well. Bring my film camera loaded with high ISO stuff to fill the gaps that my digital leave. I think there might also be something in setting limitations before hand as a way of not feeling like you missed stuff, but it moves that feeling of control back to my choices, which could be less frustrating
Recently I and my wife had a chance to take a trip from the west coast USA to Europe; Greece to be exact. It was big for me as it was my first Europe trip (hopefully not the last). My consideration of camera gear for the trip had a few considerations: I had to pack light since we went without checked luggage, so I ruled out the hefty Pentax K-1 (only slightly regretted it), and I wanted a combination of wide angle and some reach so I could isolate scenic parts of the landscape. I have an Olympus EM5 mark II and I decided to buy the m.zuiko 12-45mm f4 Pro lens for the trip. Besides that, I didn't bring any other lenses but had my Ricoh GRIIIx on me pretty much all the time.
The lens performed really well, and Micro Four Thirds makes one of the best travel setups you can have. But it's a little outdated of a sensor on the EM5 II; one of their better 16mp models, but dynamic range as well as resolution are a couple areas you don't want to skimp on if you can help it and if you're shooting typical travel photos. My photos came out really well for the most part, but when I post-processed them, there were some where I wanted subjects (mostly distant points of interest) to stand out a little more from their surroundings, or where I wanted to alter exposure to fit closer to what my eye saw, and I couldn't make it work with the RAW files.
I think you should know your gear well, and know what the ideal exposure range for your sensor is (for instance, MFT sensors don't have a ton of highlight recovery, and have fair but not super extensive shadow recovery, so you typically want to expose for the highlights and allow some of your shadows to remain quite strong after PP, that's just how the sensor is going to work most effectively in wide-dynamic-range situations). Buying the new lens for the trip worked out well for me, but if I had gone cheap and just gotten one of the kit zooms with the same or similar range, I know from prior experience with those lenses that I would have been a little less pleased with the output.
Next time I think I will probably sacrifice other things to bring along the K-1 with a 50mm at the very least, even if I still bring a smaller camera with a zoom... just because I can't think of a better feeling than strolling around the streets of Athens with the K-1 and a prime lens!
Quote from mitchel stark on May 28, 2024, 9:03 pmVacation camera anxiety can be eased by focusing on capturing moments rather than perfection. Remember, it's about enjoying your trip and creating memories, not just the quality of your photos.
I think there is something to be said for this. I was out the other day with my K-1 and I realized I had taken about 70 photos and I had no idea. I was mindlessly snapping away, thinking about pretty much everything except what I was doing. As a result most of the photos weren't worth keeping and at the end of the day I spent so much time in my own head that I was never really present, and I also didn't have any great photos to replace that with. So I kind of failed on both fronts. I do think that I tend to get lost in 'getting a shot' and not wanting to miss a photo that I often forget to actually be present and enjoy the thing I'm doing. I think you're right, photography should be a support that helps me get out to create memories, rather than me getting out to create photos.
