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08-19-2021, 07:54 AM - 2 Likes   #1
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Your travel setup

I've looked for this but couldn't find a thread so I thought I'd start one, to ask people who travel at least once a year, what is your travel set-up? I'm sure it has evolved over the years.

I'm not going to bore anyone with my travel photo gear history as it's nothing interesting... in my last trip I took my K200D (it was going to be the beach, so mostly just daytime pictures in good light) and a few small and small-ish lenses: the HD DA 18-50 as general use and a WR setup. Then the HD 21 Limited, the Sigma 30 1.4 Art, the DA 50 1.8 and the SMC-M 100 2.8. I took the AF360FGZ II with me but it did not get used.

They were all used, the 18-50 most of all despite my intentions to make the HD DA 21 my main lens. But the results at around f8 and the range of the 18-50 could not be argued with... (it's basically a 28-75mm lens in full frame terms but sized as a small prime when carrying). The 21mm did get quite a bit of use. The least used was the DA 50 1.8, and it still ended up broken at the end of the trip...

If I did it again I would leave the flash, the Sigma 30 1.4 and the 50mm lens at home and take the K-S1 in the bag as a second camera (with also means taking its own charger and batteries), probably with the DA 35 2.8 Limited for that normal range.

Last year I had my DA*16-50mm f/2.8 as my do-all travel lens and that actually worked beautifully but the family seemed annoyed that I was carrying a large camera setup. The small 18-50 seems to not annoy them as much.

Here's some pictures from one of our stops at Waikiki beach... all with HD DA 21 Limited on K200D.

Partial view of Waikiki beach


The board stands are common as it's the place for tourists to learn to surf...


A boat picks up passengers


Someone forgot their sandals...


The nice sight of palm trees in the sunset sun...


So what is your travel photography setup?


Last edited by ChristianRock; 08-19-2021 at 08:13 AM.
08-19-2021, 08:15 AM   #2
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Going to the beach next week with K-3iii, DA 16-85 and DA 55-300 PLM.
08-19-2021, 08:32 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChristianRock Quote
So what is your travel photography setup?
My standard travel kit is fairly small: one camera (e.g., K-3 Mark III), HD DA 20-40mm Limited, DA* 50-135mm, and either the FA 43mm Limited or F 50/1.7. Plus two extra batteries, charger, cleaning kit, two polarizing filters, and an X-Rite Colorchecker Passport. I might take my Momen tabletop tripod. Pack it in my small LowePro Flipside 200 backpack.

- Craig
08-19-2021, 09:09 AM   #4
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My travel photography set-up is something I fret over every time I have to decide on it. CoViD has stopped most of my travelling but here is what I took for the last few trips.

Valencia 2021: K-3, DA 16-85mm, DA 20-40mm, HDFA 35/2, K 28/2, M 50/1.7, FA 43mm, Z-1.
Denmark 2019: K-3, DA 16-85mm, DA 15mm, DA 35mm macro, DA 21mm, probably MX but can't remember
Italy 2018: K-3, Sigma 17-50/2.8, DA 40mm, M 120mm, A 28/2.8, M 50/1.7, MX

The 16-85mm has helped out a lot as it replaced the 18-55mm as my lens for poor weather or use on a beach as well as a longer option instead of a manual telephoto prime or the crappy 50-200mm. Generally what I do these days is take a good quality zoom (16-85mm, Sigma 17-50/2.8) but also some primes for when I have time to enjoy photography more, usually a DA Limited or two. Apart from that I'll take a small film SLR and a standard prime and maybe a wide-angle. They will be Pentax too so that I can use them on the K-3. A tripod is a must.

The problem is fitting it all in a bag/backpack.

I remember when I went to New York, it was the first time I went to the states, I wanted the flexibility of a zoom but wanted to use my DA Limited primes too, and I wanted to shoot film at several focal lengths and in both colour and B&W. The amount of gear I took on that trip and carried around was back-breaking and I'd never do it again. If I remember correctly it was:

K200D
Tamron 17-50mm
DA 21mm
DA 35mm
DA 70mm
P30N
MX
M28/2.8
M50/1.7
M 135/3.5
Tripod (aprox. 2kg in weight)

I'm sure I used it all but they were long days walking around with all that on my back.

I'm always tempted to go minimal but then comes the "oh, and I'll add this in just in case" and it quickly develops. Plus on the last day when I pack it all in and see a gap I can fit an additional lens into...

08-19-2021, 09:13 AM   #5
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In years past it would have been my K-5 II with the DA 15, 18-135, and 50 1.8. The 18-135 used for probably 90% of the shots taken, 15 for about 8%, and the 50 almost never. I could easily get along with just the 18-135 but there's something about an ultra-wide lens that gives great starbursts...

Planning a long trip for next year and right now the plan is as follows; cellphone for point & shoot (maybe a Pixel 5?) and then my Ricoh XR7 with the following glass; M 20 f4, M 40 f2.8, M 50 f1.7, and Tamron 90mm f2.5 Macro. Maybe leaving my Pentax MX at home with a friend to mail to me if I have a problem with the XR7, just in case, as I'll be pretty space limited.
08-19-2021, 09:56 AM   #6
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When I went to Cadiz it was my kp & 3 limiteds, 21, 35 & 70. The 70 saw little use. I now have the 20-40mm which I bought for travel. I may supplement that with a 15mm limited or even my small and light 50-200wr. I envisage the 20-40mm being enough as I shoot street, urban and churches
08-19-2021, 10:10 AM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
I'm always tempted to go minimal but then comes the "oh, and I'll add this in just in case" and it quickly develops. Plus on the last day when I pack it all in and see a gap I can fit an additional lens into...
Hehe. I know that feeling. It took me a few years and trips to figure out that I could return home with great, memorable pictures -- and a few 'artistic ones, as well -- regardless of what lenses I take. In other words, almost any lens will find interesting subjects. Exceptions might be made for special situations, such as birds and wildlife (long telephoto), indoor settings (fast aperture), grand vistas (wide angle), etc.

On one trip, I bought my Flipside 200 bag specifically to accommodate my camera and a mounted DA* 300mm. I brought the lens to use on an offshore birdwatching cruise to a small island in Newfoundland. I managed to get a few shots from the boat, but nothing special.

Oh, I forgot about my little Pentax-F 35-70mm. I've taken it on several trips, and actually used it! That one might get stuffed in at the last minute to fill an available space in the bag.

- Craig


Last edited by c.a.m; 08-19-2021 at 10:19 AM.
08-19-2021, 10:16 AM   #8
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A K1 with battery grip, 24-70 lens, CPL and a flash like the AF540FGZii. Spare battery and a charger, cleaning cloth and blower. Camera strap. Stuff it all in a Canon 200EG backpack.

Or

A K3 with battery grip, 18-135 lens, CPL and a small flash like the godox tt350p. Spare battery and a charger, cleaning cloth and blower. Camera strap. Stuff it all in a Pentax sling bag.


Whichever one is closes to the door and what mood I'm in when I walk out.
08-19-2021, 11:27 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChristianRock Quote
I've looked for this but couldn't find a thread so I thought I'd start one, to ask people who travel at least once a year, what is your travel set-up? I'm sure it has evolved over the years.

I'm not going to bore anyone with my travel photo gear history as it's nothing interesting... in my last trip I took my K200D (it was going to be the beach, so mostly just daytime pictures in good light) and a few small and small-ish lenses: the HD DA 18-50 as general use and a WR setup. Then the HD 21 Limited, the Sigma 30 1.4 Art, the DA 50 1.8 and the SMC-M 100 2.8. I took the AF360FGZ II with me but it did not get used.

They were all used, the 18-50 most of all despite my intentions to make the HD DA 21 my main lens. But the results at around f8 and the range of the 18-50 could not be argued with... (it's basically a 28-75mm lens in full frame terms but sized as a small prime when carrying). The 21mm did get quite a bit of use. The least used was the DA 50 1.8, and it still ended up broken at the end of the trip...

If I did it again I would leave the flash, the Sigma 30 1.4 and the 50mm lens at home and take the K-S1 in the bag as a second camera (with also means taking its own charger and batteries), probably with the DA 35 2.8 Limited for that normal range.

Last year I had my DA*16-50mm f/2.8 as my do-all travel lens and that actually worked beautifully but the family seemed annoyed that I was carrying a large camera setup. The small 18-50 seems to not annoy them as much.

Here's some pictures from one of our stops at Waikiki beach... all with HD DA 21 Limited on K200D.

Partial view of Waikiki beach


The board stands are common as it's the place for tourists to learn to surf...


A boat picks up passengers


Someone forgot their sandals...


The nice sight of palm trees in the sunset sun...


So what is your travel photography setup?
Full frame kit is to heavy for travel so it stays home, K3, DA15, DA20-40, and DA 55-300 PLM, no flash using built in if required for snapshots.
08-19-2021, 11:48 AM   #10
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Last time I went overseas my primary system was Nikon, so I went with my DX kit: Nikon D7200, Nikkor 10mm fish-eye, Tamron 10-24VC, Nikkor 16-80, Nikkor 55-200, and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX.
Nowadays my kit would be the KP, plus the 11-18, 16-85, 55-300PLM, and the Sigma 30 f/1.4
08-19-2021, 12:24 PM   #11
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I take a super wide (either the Sigma 8-16 or Sigma 10-20/3.5), usually the 16-85, and the 55-300. I add in a fast prime (Sigma 30, FA31 or FA43), and sometimes the FA77.
If I think I'm going to be running around after dark, I will sometimes pack the Sigma 18-35 and leave the 16-85 and the fast primes home.
Sometimes if the mood strikes, I'll take an all-prime setup and go with the 15/21/31/43/77.
And if it's going to involve any truly epic vistas, I'll leave the wide angles home and take the 10-17.

Mostly I just grab whatever, and take shots that work with that kit, and don't fret about whatever lenses I didn't take. Just go, do, have fun.
08-19-2021, 02:06 PM   #12
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When on holiday I just take one camera and one lens. In the film era days it was the F 50mm 1.4 with the SFX and with the MZ-5 the F 28-70 f4. In this digital age one body and the 18-135. But I think that just one prime gives you more fun than lugging your whole or part of your arsenal in lenses. I like the challenge of adapting to the combo I have with me and never regretted it in doing so.
08-19-2021, 02:26 PM   #13
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You’re right about travel kits evolving. Mine certainly has, over many years of international travel.

The first few times I just took my K2DMD with the M40-80, which satisfied most of my needs at the time – the greater bulk of my kit consisted of an x-ray shield pack of colour reversal films.

More recently, I’ve been travelling with my K-5 and then K-3 with either the DA*16-50 plus DA*50-135 or the DA18-135, sometimes with the DA15.

On my last trip, I took my K-1 with my 3 FA Limiteds, the FA20 and my old Tamron 28-200. The Tamron needed a lot of work in post to bring many of the photos up to scratch, but that’s what experience and using better lenses does for your level of appreciation. I’ve since bought the DFA28-105 and DFA70-210, thinking they’d be my light K-1 travel kit, but all our plans have been interrupted lately, and mine’s no different. I have used that combo on day trips, though, and find it quite useful and easy to carry, hiking.

However, I’ve lately taken to sometimes just using the DFA*50 and stitching wider views in post. The resulting files are huge but the detail is frankly amazing. I haven’t tried that in the interior of a European cathedral, though, and that might be more of a challenge.

Just to complicate things, and possibly because of being kept at home more, recently, I bought a K-3iii with the vague notion that it might be a better option for travel with the 16-50 and 50-135. Well, I couldn’t spend my money on travel, so…

I won’t be travelling internationally until next year, so who knows what my thinking might be by then, especially with the DFA21 Limited possibly appearing before then.
08-19-2021, 03:35 PM   #14
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My travel kit:
Pentax K-3 iii
Pentax DA 18-135
Pentax DA 21
Pentax DA 55-300
Pentax DA 10-17
Metz 26 AF-2 Flash

If I need cut it down more, I go with the K-3, 18-135 and DA 21 or DA 10-17.
08-19-2021, 05:54 PM - 1 Like   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pentax Syntax Quote
Going to the beach next week with K-3iii, DA 16-85 and DA 55-300 PLM.
Add in a travel tripod, and it's the best travel kit there is. It works great in the mountains too. I use that lens combo with a K70, covers everything I need. It makes no sense to me to lug a bunch of equipment around when traveling unless the purpose of the travel is to get very specific, pre planned photographs that would require its use.
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