[barondla]

Talking just a basic day out shooting. Hiking limited to 1-2 miles or less. With the Pentax 6x7 it is 2 lenses, 75 f4.5 and 165 f2.8. The 6x7 body is supposed to be heavier than the 645Z. So I'm thinking perhaps 3 lenses. Just wondering what others carry. Do you take a K camera along to add a wider range of extreme focal lengths? Just wondering what people take and use.
Thanks,
barondla

[Papa_Joe]

When taking out my DSLR I usually have one lens with me. When I am out with the DSLR, it is for a special purpose, like a fair, a sporting event, family or just a short walk to test some equipment or to catch special light conditions. I then know what to expect and select my lens accordingly.
Most time it is my Tamron 17-50 (indoor, events, street) or my Pentax F 70-210 (sports). If my car is not to far away I might take both. If I expect good lighting conditions I take the 18-135 mm with me. These are my most used lenses.

I like to take out my old lenses for a stroll just to see what they are still able to produce. Then it is one lens, as well.

If I am out the whole day, it is mostly for sightseeing, and I will not take my DSLR with me, instead a compact, that fits into a pocket of my jacket.

[sergysergy]

Hi, very interesting question. My experience is not related to medium format but anyways...for me it depends on the trip. If I don't know what I am going to find or if I know I am going to see a little bit of everything I take:
A wide angle zoom (e.g. Sigma 10-20)
A 50 or 100 mm with macro (e.g. FA 50 2.8 macro)
A longer lens (e.g. F*300)
Although the 6x7 must be heavy I feel if the hike is not too long you can carry three lenses

[Bassat]

I believe I am considered an oddity. I take one lens out with me. I prepare for the shoot I am expecting to have, and getting the photographs I expect to get. To me, the only reason to carry a 2nd, 3rd, or 10th lens is so "I don't miss an opportunity" for any unplanned shots that may come up. Bull puckey! If not missing an opportunity were the goal, I'd take all 10 cameras and a grocery cart of lenses. No thanks. One camera, one lens. Work with that. I honestly believe I see more opportunities for the gear in my hand, if that is all I have with me, than if I try to prepare for everything. If I am working UWA lens, I look for and notice UWA opportunities. Or maybe I just can't think outside the box.

[normhead]

Talking just a basic day out shooting. Hiking limited to 1-2 miles or less. With the Pentax 6x7 it is 2 lenses, 75 f4.5 and 165 f2.8. The 6x7 body is supposed to be heavier than the 645Z. So I'm thinking perhaps 3 lenses. Just wondering what others carry. Do you take a K camera along to add a wider range of extreme focal lengths? Just wondering what people take and use.
Thanks,
barondla

My hiking kit, K-3 plus 18-135, and DA 55-300 with the occasional addition of the DFA 100 macro and /or DA*55 1.4. For shorter hikes the DA*60250 and 1.4 TC may replace the DA 55-300 and the Sigma 8-16 may come as well.

For the K-1... always the DFA 28-105, Possibly the Rokinon 14 2.8. Probably the DA 55-300 or 60-250. But usually for the long glass, I just throw the K-3 in the case. I K-3 with a DA 55-300 PM is smaller than the 60-250 in a camera bag.
K-1 with 28-105 and K-3 with Da 55-300 PLM is a very nice all-purpose camera bag.

For 2 km or less walk, I'll even carry my Tamron 300 2.8 with 1.7 TC. at well over 8 pounds with a camera body, in a shoulder bag bought just to accommodate it. I often carry two bags and a tripod case and sometimes said shoulder case.

Last year on a 19 day canoe trip I brought the DFA 28-105, the DA 55-300 PLM the 100macro and the DA*55 1.4. I had something for everything.

DFA 28-105




DA 55-300 taken with Tess' K-5


K-1 and DA 55-300 PLM


Not a bad base kit.

Taking various lenses requires acceptable packs and bags to carry them in. Once you have that figured out you just take what you might need.

[SylvainB]

For the 645Z, it is 28-45DA + 90 DFA + 150FA if I want to cover a lot of subjects
If I want to be light : just the 35 DFA + 90 DFA.

[biz-engineer]

How many lenses do you take when out photographing?

I take one lens on the camera, and possible an additional lens but not more. I find that more than one lens additional to camera kit becomes complicated. So I liked to have a standard zoom lens on the camera and one small prime, either 100 macro or DA15ltd when I shot apsc. Now with K1, it's DFA28-105 or 24-70 alone, eventually 15-30 on K1 and 28-105 spare. If there would be a 20mm f4, I'd take the K1 DFA28-105 and optional 20mm f4 for architecture shots, or DFA24-70 and DFA100 macro, but never more than 2 lenses.

[photoptimist]

The longer the hike, the more I carry because longer hikes typically go to places I rarely get to and may never return to. I'd hate to get to the top of a mountain and wish I had lens X.

For all-day hikes/walks (10-20 miles) in wilderness and cities, I carry about 15lb-20lb of equipment in the form of one body & lens around my neck and a wide range of lenses in a largish waist pack.

For shorter hikes especially to places I tend to revisit, the kit can be smaller based on what I know about the destination and my photographic intentions for that particular trip. I've got waist packs of various sizes. Social outings often involve less equipment: a mid-range zoom with maybe 1 or 2 primes.

I've got one fast hike to a local mountain top (3 miles round trip from our front door + 1200 feet elevation) that I've done more than 270 times where I almost always only carry a UWA zoom and a telephoto macro lens to document the same set of views as part of a long-term timelapse of the changing seasons/conditions from the top.

[RICHARD L.]

APSC : K3 + DA 12-24 mm f/4 + FA 35 mm f/2 + DA* 60-250 mm f/4

FF : K1 + DFA 28-105 mm (FA 20 mm f/2.8 + FA* 80-200 mm f/2.8 + FA* 300 mm f/4.5 in reserve in my vehicle)

645 : FA 45-85 mm + FA 80-160 mm + FA 150-300 mm + tripod.

[Papa_Joe]

Talking just a basic day out shooting. Hiking limited to 1-2 miles or less. With the Pentax 6x7 it is 2 lenses, 75 f4.5 and 165 f2.8. The 6x7 body is supposed to be heavier than the 645Z. So I'm thinking perhaps 3 lenses. Just wondering what others carry. Do you take a K camera along to add a wider range of extreme focal lengths? Just wondering what people take and use.
Thanks,
barondla

Sorry, I didn't get it you refered to midformat. But it is still one lens (of my three) with my M645J. Probably because I have no telephoto yet.

17 mm on my K-70 is near ultrawide for me, so no need to go beyond the 45 mm of the M645.

[blackcloudbrew]

As one poster put it - 'I'm somewhat the oddity..' yep, I suspect we are all odd in this respect. Personally, I always take too many lenses with me. Weight is always an issue be it 6x7, 645, K-1, or K-3. It's been a while since I shot with my 6x7 but I've mostly used it for indoor studio work. Just had a peek in my 6x7 bag and found the 55, 105, and 75 in the bag, sounds reasonable. For 645z, I'm still evolving my choices there but recalling my week long trip to the eastern Sierra last fall, I used the DFA 28-45 a lot, the DFA 55, some, and the FA 80-160 some as well, even though I did carry more lenses.

Basically, if I'm going out shooting to either a known place or purpose, I'll sit down and consider what gear I might need and then make up a kit for that purpose. Even with that, I'll usually toss in an extra lens or two, like a fisheye for fun, or a macro lens, or a limited lens as they are mostly small and mostly light to carry. Do I use everything I take, usually not, but personally, I'd rather have the lens I need than grumble about not having that lens.

Ultimately, it just depends on what you have to shoot with, where you are going, what you are shooting, and I suppose, what your style is (gear head like me or minimalist).

Edit: Oh, considering all of the above, now I know why I have soooo many camera bags...

[FozzFoster]

I'm on APS-C but I'd like to chip in!

If I'm just hiking around without a specific target, I'd only bring my 18-135mm and my 55-300mm PLM.

I'll bring my 10-20mm on a hike only if I knew it would be useful in a tight space scene along the hike.

I only bring my primes along if I know there is a specific subject that I plan to shoot (ex: portraits? 50mm f/1.4... flowers? 100mm f/2.8... street? 24mm f/1.8)

[ChatMechant]

I've gone through many setups:
67- 45, 105, 200. Not too heavy. The tripod is heavy though.

Edit: just saw this was in the medium format section. Disregard the following for 135.
K1- M20, 28-105, F*300 or
24-70, 80-200 or
FA Ltd trio
Often just the 28-105 or 24-70.
I almost always just take the domke 803 but the 80-200 is really pushing the weight/size limit for a small shouldet bag.
The M20, 28-105, F300 setup was ideal but the FALtds are incredible for landscapes and general nature shots. I've made large prints taken with the 43 in particular and they're just so 3d and vibrant.

[Bertrand3000]

When I'm on a hike I usually travel with people who have never time to wait for a shot, so I don't even imagine to ask time for switching lenses. So I only take one lens, the one that suits most of the planned hike.

[dsmithhfx]

I'm going to weigh in (pun intended) even though my gear is 35mm -- I do own an interchangeable lens Mamiyaflex TLR; I only have one lens for it. But I think the same principle broadly applies: the trade offs between flexibility, weight, bulk and, well, the actual photography.


I used to carry two bodies and upwards of four lenses. Real heavy. Although having all this gear to hand meant (in theory) more flexibility in terms of films, focal lengths and whatnot, and I probably learned something about all those things from it, ultimately it was getting in the way of the main event. Maybe I just took more bad pictures faster, so intent was I on matching the gear to the shot I imagined the gear would facilitate.

Instead of looking at the scene, I was imagining some glorious shot that would 'justify' the PITA of carrying and fiddle-[naughty word] around with all the gear.

Long story short, I have better luck with less gear.

Also, I have arthritis in neck vertebrae. So there's that.