Always my biggest dilemma when travelling is figuring out which cameras to take…or more correctly, how many I can fit in my bag. Before the Canadian and I went on our Canadian Rockies road trip, I wrote about said dilemma.
In the comments, one of you lovely readers asked about what photographers take with them whilst travelling. I think that’s such a great idea for a series of interviews. In running with the theme, I thought I’d share what I took with me on this last trip.
I am clearly not one to take pointers from as I take FAR too many cameras with me. I would love to condense it down but I get sad when thinking about leaving them behind. I do use them all, if that helps any. Here we go:
Top row:
Yashica FX 3 with 50mm lens for 35mm film- every day photographs on film. I usually choose between this or the Nikon.
Holga- I don’t always take this with me but thought it would be great for mountain shots.
Nikon FM3A- my main travel camera. It has a 28mm lens which is great for travel photography. It’s trust worthy and I know I won’t miss any shots with this camera.
Second row:
Polaroid SX70 – I don’t really need to say why, do I?
Canon 40D – I really don’t use this camera personally anymore. The Canadian made me bring it.
Polaroid Spectra- I wouldn’t ordinarily bring this for travel but I needed to shoot for our Polaroid book.
Third row: 120 film for the Holga, 35mm film for the Yashica and Nikon, Polaroid film for the SX70.
Bottom row:
iPod touch- for checking my notes app which I store photo ideas.
External hard drive- I recommend bringing one on a long trip, you never know what might happen to your digital pics.
Photograph holder- I bought this at Urban Outfitters about 3 years ago and I use it anytime I leave the house with my Polaroid camera. It’s great for slipping Polaroids in to keep them safe and protected.
Canon IXUS Point and Shoot- crappy little P&S we use for all our family and friend snapshots.
Polaroid Spectra film- for my Polaroid Spectra camera.
To carry all these items, I use a Lowepro slingshot backpack and my handbag for the day to day touring. To transport them around, I use the Lowepro and a leather weekender bag I bought in Sydney. I also have some individual Crumpler camera bags which work well but I’m not a fan of ‘Look at my bag, it’s got expensive camera equipment in it’ type bags. I will get around to getting one of these beautiful babies eventually.
As I said, I don’t usually take all of these cameras with me. I would usually only take one Polaroid, instead of 3 ( I also took the SLR680) but I was shooting for the book on this trip. While travelling around on individual days, I wouldn’t obviously take them all with me either. I usually only have one film, one Pola and one digital at a time.
Do you have any camera travelling/packing tips?
