Everyday "carryability" -- is it about weight, size, convenience?? What matters to you?

Jock Elliott

Hall of Famer
Location
Troy, NY
Reading the review of the D5300 this am, I was struck by the following: "we no longer live in a world where a photographer's only 'serious' choice is a DSLR. It's no fault of the D5300's that it's heavier than an Olympus E-M10 or Fujifilm X-M1, but I was constantly reminded of the difference as I carried it (and often a spare lens) on my bus commute for weeks."

That got me thinking about everyday carryability -- what are the characteristics of a camera that I am willing to carry virtually all the time?

My G12 weighs just a touch over 14 ounces and can be concealed, hanging on its neck strap, under my jacket while running errands. My FZ150 or FZ200, which weigh 1.1 lbs and 1.3 lbs respectively, are my choice for longer walks and outings where I think I will need longer reach but they are a bit too bulky for "concealed carry."

I trolled some specifications and came up with the following:

D3300 (no lens) -- 15.1 oz
18-55 VR -- .5 lb.
55-300 VR - 1.17 lb

OMD- M1 -- 1.1 lb
OMD- M5 -- .94 lb.
14-42 -- 4 oz.
75-300 -- 14.9 oz.

So what matters most to you for everyday carryability . . . or am I asking the wrong question?

Cheers, Jock
 
I prefer DSLR's and use them when I go out with the intention of taking lots of images ……...or the M8 depending on where I am going
It's also to do with lenses with the above

What matters for everyday "carry-ability" as far as the rest of the time is concerned, is "will it fit in my pocket or my wife's (small) handbag" - so for me it's the Canon S95 as an SC
 
I originally bought into micro 4/3 because although I thought at the time a dSLR would be best for what I wanted, I also knew I would probably end up with an expensive ornament for a shelf if I bought one.
And I was right ... at the time.

But interests and priorities change. Some days now I think nothing of packing a proper tripod, 2 metal slrs in my jacket, a p&S in my trouser pocket, and a rucsac with a MF and a LF camera in ... occasionally I even take a digital camera
 
For me the idea of everyday carry-ability is meaningless. I don't carry a camera with me all the time - except my iphone which I use between rarely and never as a camera. When I'm going out shooting, I'm carrying a camera and usually s small bag with another camera and/or an extra lens or two. There are rare times when I'm going out to do mostly other stuff, but I want a camera to do some shooting (like going to dinner or a play when in New York City - I want to be street shooting during any spare moment), in which case I'll stick the Nikon Coolpix "A" in a pocket. And it's up for the job. But I don't carry it all the time - only when I have some level of intention to do some shooting.

When I actually go out to shoot, I've found, MUCH to my surprise, that a DSLR doesn't bother me in the least. I've been carrying my non-tiny cameras on an A&A adjustable sling strap lately and the camera rides on my right side with the lens tucked into my right elbow and the back against my side. I carried the RX1 that way, I carry the Nikon Df that way, and when I'm not using a longer lens that makes the camera too front-heavy, I carry the EM1 that way as well. And although it's measurably larger and heavier, I don't actually feel any degree of uncomfortable weight or heft with the Df that I didn't with the RX1. It's a very comfortable way to carry a camera all day, with a small bag with a few extra primes over my shoulder and riding on my back. For sure, if I was carrying a bunch of BIG DSLR glass, zooms and telephotos a and ultra-wides and stuff, the equation would change radically. But that's why I've kept my m43 system for longer and wider and zoomy lenses. And even THEY are bigger and heavier than I want to carry all the time, but no problem in a slightly larger bag when I do want to take them out.

So IF you really want to carry a camera at all times, I guess you'd want the smallest possible. I actively DON'T want to have a camera with me all the time - then I'm always trying to "see" photographically and that's too intensive an activity to try to keep up constantly for me. So I take out a camera when I mean to use it and I often decide not to specifically to remove the option...

-Ray
 
I always carry a camera, when I step out of the front door. Depending upon the "balance" and "purpose" of the journey, I will carry "more" or "less". My X-F1 lives in my briefcase and is regularly accompanied by a Minox GT-E or my GR. If I am going out to take photos, that is an entirely different thing and I will carry what I think I need to cover what I expect to find on my travels. I am, for instance, going to Moscow at the end of the month and will take my X-E1 with no more than 2 or 3 lenses and my X-M1 as backup. I will also take my GR because I can take it out with me in the evenings without even knowing it is there.
 
Ray,

I take your point.

I recognize that I am an opportunistic photographer. I rarely set out to "do" photography per se; I generally set out to do errands, take a walk, etc., and then I shoot the scenes that move me.

Of late, I have been trying to provide myself with more opportunities to "shoot with my eyes and my heart."

Cheers, Jock
 
Ray,

I take your point.

I recognize that I am an opportunistic photographer. I rarely set out to "do" photography per se; I generally set out to do errands, take a walk, etc., and then I shoot the scenes that move me.

Of late, I have been trying to provide myself with more opportunities to "shoot with my eyes and my heart."

Cheers, Jock

Yeah, I get that approach too. Different strokes. For me, having the camera with me all the time results in diluted effort all the time rather than really focussing for a more limited period of time. It's not like I haven't tried it, but it just doesn't work well for me. At all. Even exercises like PAD projects for as little as a month wear me out and result in more crap than good photos. So, for me, I'm either out shooting or I'm not. When I am, I'm all-in and when I'm not, I'm totally out.

But I admire folks who can keep a camera available at all times, see the occasional opportunity, and be able to switch focus that well and fully and make great images that way. Just doesn't work for me. But I'm not trying to convince anyone else to do anything other than what they've determined works for them... So, more power to you and those who take that same approach - I'm an admirer...

-Ray
 
I have to say, for me at least, it is rarely a case of "oo there's a photo-opp...". It's more one of "I'm in [insert town of choice], I have an hour until my next meeting and it will only take me 15 minutes to get there, so I'll walk more slowly and get out the camera..."
 
I'm with Jock, carrying my camera always with me and using it when I feel like it or the occasion arise. I do not have enough spare time to go on photo-sessions purposely, but I profit from shooting scenes that move me when I occasionally stumble upon them or from little "gaps" I get from time to time, like waiting to pick my daughter from piano lessons.

I used to carry my Nikon D70 and 18-105 lens everywhere, but it got bothersome along with laptop, spare battery and drawing tools. So I went via Nex 3 and manual Minolta prime to Sony RX100 which is now always in my pocket or bag.
 
Ray,

On the flip side, I greatly admire the guys (and gals) who are very intentional about their photography. They set out to shoot something, know what they are doing, and have a clear idea of the result they are trying to create.

I tend to think of them as "real" photographers while I am flippin' clueless.

Once I saw an interview with Ansel Adams. He said that he knew, when he clicked the shutter, what he would be doing to that print in the darkroom. I was astonished and realized that's what mastery is all about.

Me? I don't create photographs, I find them. And sometimes I get lucky . . .

Cheers, Jock
 
Ray,

On the flip side, I greatly admire the guys (and gals) who are very intentional about their photography. They set out to shoot something, know what they are doing, and have a clear idea of the result they are trying to create.

I tend to think of them as "real" photographers while I am flippin' clueless.

Once I saw an interview with Ansel Adams. He said that he knew, when he clicked the shutter, what he would be doing to that print in the darkroom. I was astonished and realized that's what mastery is all about.

Me? I don't create photographs, I find them. And sometimes I get lucky . . .

Cheers, Jock

I think there are about as many ways to do it as there are people doing it. Ansel was another breed - he consulted with meteorologists as to likely cloud patterns and sun timing before he even headed out into the field. He took the word "deliberate" to heights I don't even understand. For me, I'm still FINDING photographs, even though I do consider that part of a creative process. But in my own experience, I have to really be zoned in on the activity to wrap my brain around a way of looking at thing, looking for images in the things I see around me, rather than just interacting with the world as a participant and only noticing my surroundings to the extent necessary to participate in life. For any kind of photography, I need to develop a heightened awareness of what's happening around me visually, almost to the exclusion of other senses. And for street photography in particular, where everything (usually including me) is in constant movement, it almost becomes a level of hyper-awareness to anticipate how the moments and images are coming together. And I still miss far more often than I hit. And, when I hit one, I usually feel like it was pure luck and despite all of the effort, rather than because of it. But I know from experience that if I wasn't out there putting the effort into it, I'd almost never have those lucky moments. So I just consider all of it part of the creative process of finding photographs... ;)

-Ray
 
I carry a small Domke bag with me most of the time. ( I tend to use it as my carry all - wallet, iPhone, glasses, etc.) Usually my FX1 is in it unless I plan on shooting something at work or am thinking about a "special" subject to try on the way home. In the later cases its now either my XE1 or X Pro1. Lens selection depends on my "mood of the moment".
. . . David
 
I think that I've always just carried the camera/s that I've wanted to use, rather than used the cameras that were easiest to carry. In the last five or so years the cameras that I've wanted to use have mercifully gotten smaller although a lot of times this now results in me carrying multiples of them. If I felt that a DSLR was still the best camera for me I'd likely still carry one (but just one!). We're all different. Bags rule! :)
 
In my first few months of digital camera ownership, I realized that the best thing was for me to carry a camera all the time, wherever I went. This allowed me to capture anything interesting that I saw, and not regret the missing of something.

At first, my cameras sat in a belt pouch. As time went by, I accumulated more cameras, and on at least one trip, took four compact cameras with me in a small shoulder bag. Then I got into larger cameras, like mid size and full size DSLR's, then I moved back down in size to rangefinders, then m43 cameras, and now I've come full circle with a Ricoh GR in a belt pouch.

If I have a sufficiently large and padded shoulder bag, I'll usually carry whatever I can comfortably lug about for the day's activities. These days, this may mean a m43 camera and a zoom lens, or a rangefinder and extra compact camera.

For the last three years, I carried a Thinktank Urban Disguise every day, as it was large enough to hold most cameras, and had many pockets, zips and flaps to store other things. But I've grown weary of carrying a fair chunk of gear in the last year, and I'm now using the very light and excellently designed Lowepro Streamline 100. It has two padded pockets for cameras in the front, and the Ricoh GR and Panasonic LX7 fit in there perfectly. I use it as a lightweight and slimline man-purse which just happens to have padded pockets for cameras.

Carryability is one thing, but image quality and useability are others. From 2009-2013, I carried the Ricoh GRD III everywhere as a backup camera, regardless of what other camera I had. The GRD III provided good image quality, speed and stealth. It had the absolute minimum image quality that I found acceptable in an everyday camera, too. No mobile phone came close in those days, and I really dislike using my phone for any kind of photography.

The Panasonic LX7 is perhaps the best balance I've found of carryability, versatility, useability and image quality in a small camera. Some love the Sony RX100, but I just can't get along with the slow long end of the zoom and slipperiness of the body. And the LX7 has that magical 21.5mm eq field of view at 16:9 that it unique in a pocketable camera. With it, I can grab entire rooms of activity, or pick out portraits or details with the zoom.
 
I am in the habit (a poor one at that) of carrying my camera everywhere, but you know what? I usually come back with nothing, not for lack of subject matter, I think I just liked holding it and having it with me, security blanket stuff. Now that was more when I had the little Leica x cams, now that I'm breaking in the RX10, I will revert to my more fruitful approach which is not unlike fishing, you get up for the good light, mist and fog in the morning and out again for the good light and sunsets in the evening. I have lots of pics of fog and sunsets. (maybe I need to rethink this approach...:doh:)
 
I have two main bags for my cameras (and one stray one for the FZ100 as well as a selection of small cases for compacts). In one, the Crumpler 6MDH, I have all my DSLR gear. I also have three tripods and two of those live in the back of my car. Its a simple matter to throw the Crumpler into the back with the tripods if I am going out with the express intent of shooting something special that I cannot get with my other cameras. Increasingly, that is less and less because the other cameras are also up to that task. I tend to look for seascapes and landscapes. I don't shoot people very often (though as I get older, I find I want to have photos of family and friends, after all) but I dont feel inclined to use a DSLR for that.

I have a voluminous shoulder bag which is my day to day carry everything (keys, wallet, phone, tissues, meds, whatever) and I can throw my GRD, X100 and XZ-1 into that and nobody would even realise I was carrying a camera. Likewise if I want to have a nikon 1 of a day, the Lowepro Passport sling is the bag I take, the Nikon 1 gear lives in that, and my compacts can fit in there alongside keys, wallet etc. Tendency is the voluminous every day bag if I am doing things other than photography, with either the GRD or X100 and sometimes the XZ.

Basically it comes down to mood. And then I just pick up the relevant bag. Makes life easy.
 
IT's interesting to read of people's differing requirements. I almost always have a camera with me when I leave the house. Sometime I don't use it, but sometimes waiting for someone I'm out with (I seem always to be done in a store before anyone else -- unless, of course, it's a camera store) gives me an opportunity to look around and see what is interesting. I've got some good shots that way outside of various Goodwill stores, waiting for a friend. For those sorts of outings, one camera that can wear on my hip or slip into a pocket -- the DP2 Merril, Olympus XA, or even the E-M5 with a small lens - will do nicely.

What I cannot do any longer is carry a bag that hangs on a shoulder. It seems to set off arthritis in my neck and cause the bones up there to snap crackle and pop. But I can carry a backpack -- from small to rather large at times, if I'm carrying the Hasselblad, for instance. I often leave the house with a small backpack with a couple of cameras and a lens or two more to go with them. As long as it is not hanging from one shoulder it is "everyday carryable" .

So it's a backpack or a hip pouch, but no shoulder bag.
 
I have a self imposed rule, I can't take more than will fit in my bag which is a Domke F5XB. I had a 5D3 and 24-105 that I commonly took last summer. That combination was heavy enough for me that I didn't like it after a few hours. It was much more fun to take it out with my 28 and 40mm primes and leave the zoom at home.

I'm thinking my upper limit for a camera/lens combo I'm willing to carry frequently is 2 lbs, with less being even better.
 
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