An almost done with trip gear report

Landshark

PhotoDog
Location
SoCal
Name
Bob
Just thought I would give a gear report and review about my trip here to Japan. I will have been here two week when I go home next week. So this is an almost end of the trip update.
First off like too many times in the past I brought too much stuff, but at least this time I did not bring a tripod that I would not be using.
Anyway I brought 2 Fuji XT1 bodies, both with Luigi leather straps, very comfortable and strong, a 10-24zoom, 14, 23, 56 and 55-200 zoom.
Everything worked flawlessly, even had one of the camera take a small fall, it seems fine, no marks no dings, works great, more rugged than I thought, shot one day in the rain, zero issues. Loved all of the lenses but the next trip like this one I will bring less lenses. The vast majority of the time I shot with 10-24 something like 80%, the 55-200 was next with about 15% followed by the other three getting all of about 5% between them. I brought 8 batteries averaged about 4 or 5 a day, 3 chargers used 2, shot about 50 to 60 gb a day, two USB 3.0 readers, dumped than all onto my personal travel lap, a 13” MacAir, then backed that up on a solid state ext. drive.
AF worked very well, quick and precise, exp was right on, and wb had a little struggle sometimes in some multi mixed light source environments
Brought with me both a ThinkTank Turnstyle 10 and 20 sling style bags. Preferred using the 10 but had to use the 20 when I had both zooms mounted on the cameras.
Other wise they were both the best bags I have worn in a long time, easy to carry, easy to work out of, and easy to get through the crowds while on my back. I do not think I will ever use a shoulder bag again, these worked out so well.

I shot the Fujs with color in mind but I also brought my Ricoh GR, along for B&#W and more discreet shooting. The camera worked great like always, allowing me to shoot in ways that I may not have been able to with a larger more distinctive camera. Brought three batteries used 2 per day shot about 9 gb per day.

So again no need for tripods with these cameras, on the next trip, a working one, next week, I think I will only bring the two bodies with the 14, 23 and 56, in the Turnstyle 10.

Been to Japan a few times and I cannot say enough nice things about 99.9% of the people we dealt with along the way, easy time shooting most anything anywhere, people, places and things. We have had amazing time, I will post some more images once I get home.
 
Sounds like a great setup. For more extended travel, I'd probably do something similar with an XT1, XE2, 14, 23, and 60 and probably the 10-24 and 50-230 but I doubt I'd take the zooms out most days. Probably the 14 on one body, the 23 on the other, and the 60 ready to be swapped onto one of them. And the Nikon A filling the same slot as your GR. I'm going to NYC tomorrow for a long weekend with my wife. Travelling solo or for a longer stay I'd take the whole kit, but for this trip I'm just planning to take the Nikon A. That's what I shoot with 90% of the time in NYC anyway and it'll do well enough for 8 of the other 10%. I'll just have to get along without that other 2% of shots on this trip... I was there in October with just the RX1 and Nikon and I used the Nikon about 80% of the time even with the RX1 in the bag and the Nikon COULD have handled that other 20% too...

And, yeah, those Turnstyle bags are the most comfortable bags I've ever used for carrying a load. Although I gotta say, with the small kits I usually walk around with, I still end up taking the Ona Bowery for most day trips. But if I'm carrying more than a little bit of gear, the Turnstyles are what I grab. Oddly, though, I actually find the 20 more comfortable most of the time than the 10. It's bigger, but it just seems to sit perfectly on my shoulder / back. But not much point in taking it unless I'm carrying the whole kit because it holds a LOT and small loads just bounce around in there...

-Ray
 
About to get some R&R, and will be using the EM5 along with a 25/1.4, Nocticron (rented) and 12-40/2.8 (rented). Also bringing an underwater point and shoot. Thought about buying or renting an EM1. But oh well ...
 
Ray I agree the 55-200 is not normally I lens I would take out in the city but with all the gardens and temple it worked out well. I think I will more likely just use the 56 more in my normal stuff, the 10-24 or 14 is a little more confusing, even though the zoom is large one sort get's used to it, the 14 on the other hand is such a great lens, we will see. I like the way the Turnstyle 10 worked with the 2 bodies and the 56, 23 and 14, with either of the zooms it gets pretty tight. Also even though I am certainly not a small man by any means the Turnstyle 10 is slimmer in crowds of people. It took a little thought to find a way to attach one to my carry on rolly, but other wise what a joy to carry
 
Thanks for the trip report, and the comments about the Turnstyle bags. I've been considering them for when I'm on a mobile shoot, to take the place of a backpack, so I can change lenses out of the bag quickly without having to take it off, and wear it around my waist when necessary.

I plan to carry a Panasonic GH3, the 12-35, 35-100, and perhaps two of the m43 Voigtlander primes. I could probably stuff an audio recorder and LED light in the side somewhere. Which size would you recommend for that kind of volume?
 
I also used to get a lot of work out of an ultra-wide angle zoom when I was travelling, although that wasn't so much the case for me when I was overseas last year. Carrying multiple mirrorless bodies rather than a single DSLR has made me more likely to mount a couple of prime lenses than a zoom, and to be honest I probably don't see as well through the ultra-wide FOV any more.
 
Well on my last few days here, I went back to the 14, 27, 56 set up, I found I did not use the 56 that much back here in Tokyo, but did use the 14 in the day and the 23 at night. On my last day I went out with just one camera and 10-24, it was perfect shooting some architectural stuff.
One last piece of gear I forgot to mention before is the Think Tank soft battery pouches, they come in a 2 or 4 battery style, and I thought they were really great. I would put the 4-battery holder in my bag and the 2-battery pouch in my pocket. It is large enough for the two batteries plus four cards, protects the contacts and it just disappears in your pocket. Highly recommended
 
Interesting to me as I'm just leaving for a month's shooting in Ireland.
Here's my kit:
2-X Pro 1 bodies
10-24
18-55
55-200
8mm Roki
XF1
3- Sigma Merrell cameras

and my wife's kit:
2-Xe1 cameras
14mm XF
18-55
55-200
XF1

all of this plus the batteries, chargers and hoods fit in a rolling Tenba case that we use only for transport. It's TSA approved if we hit a nasty GA and have to gate check.
The only filters I'm taking is a 77mm singh ray vari ND, a Nikon 3T diopter for the Sigma cameras and a polarizer and some step rings.
 
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