My Ideal Travel Camera

In our younger days, we were all guilty of NOT travelling light. In my younger days, travel usually meant work; as a photographer for a newspaper. I recall fondly the time I was with a fashion team to India, shooting for a Singapore paper; travelling with me were the following photo gear...

2 units Canon EOS1 camera bodies, only one with a drive to save weight.
1 unit Leica M6 camera body with winder.
1 unit Canon 580 Speedlight.

Canon 14/2.8 L
Canon 17-35 2.8L
Canon 28-80 2.8L
Canon 85/1.2 L
Canon 200/1.8L
Canon 1.4 extender
Canon 2x extender

Leica Elmarit-M 21/2.8
Leica Summicron-M 50/2
Leica Summicron-M 90/2
Leica Summilux-M 35/1.4
Leica Elmarit-M 28/2.8

Chargers, batteries; 60 rolls of Kodak Ektapress colour negative film. A Monopod. And a Tenba Pro Pak camera bag.

I was amazed how I managed to lug all those gears around! But then I was much younger...


Now into my senior years, my travel are just for pleasure and holiday. Lugging around a heavy DSLR and lenses is not holidaying! Physically, I cannot do it either :(

Therefore, way back in 2010, before we went off to visit our eldest daughter in London; I have decided a good travel camera will have the following quality:

1) It must be relatively light weight.
2) Take interchangeable lens.
3) Digital, with video.
4) Larger sensor than a point-n- shoot.
5) Able to shoot RAW.

This was what I took with me to our 2010 London and Europe trip...

The Olympus E-P2 with 14-42mm (28-84mm eqv.) "kit" zoom and their excellent EVF (electronic view finder).The lens on the left is the incredible Panasonic 7-14mm (14-28mm eqv.) ultra wide zoom lens. On the right, my favorite point n shoot, the Canon G9.

Total weight of the three item, 1.2 Kg, which is not bad considering I have coverage all the way from 14 mm ultra-wide to the longish digital zoom of the G9!

That was then, this is now... on our recent trip to Melbourne, I took with me the following...

My Olympus OM-D E-M5 with HLD-6 grip (with an extra battery), the retractable 14-42 (28-84 eqv) f3.5/5.6 "kit zoom" and the feather weight Lumix 45-175 (90-350 eqv) zoom.

The one camera and three lenses combo hit 1.4 kg (3 lb). All these were stuffed into a Lowepro Passport Sling II bag.

Apart from the gear, I can also put some small item in this versatile sling bag

After my first day of shooting in Melbourne, I realised all my shots were done with the 7-14; a few were shot using the 45-175 zoom but none with the kit lens!

I also feel, after hours of walking; the 1.4 kg across my shoulder felt like 14!! I decided to remove two item from my arsenal.

I decided not to take the kit lens, and the HLD-6 grip with me, I kept the spare battery in my bag though. The OM-D is notorious in heavy battery usage!

Without the two items, the total weight drop to 1 kg! That was much more manageable after a full day trot!

What about coverage?  The two lenses combo cover seamlessly, from 17 to 28 mm eqv and from 90 to 350 mm. As you can see, there is a huge gap from 28mm to 90 mm! Personally, I am not borther  by that "gap"; during our travel, my photography is mainly "shoot and run"... I was always trying to catch up with my general in front ;) the Panasonic 7-14 is ideal for this type of photography! This incredible ultra wide zoom is versatile enough to capture expansive city scape to close-up of local cuisine!

While waiting for the "walk" signal, a grab shot of the iconic Flinders Street Station. A shot that includes all the distortion inherit of all ultra-wide lenses, the classical "falling building" symptom.

A quick fix using DXO ViewPoint to straighten the building. I hope you can see the importance of having a wide enough lens when you are travelling, instead of wasting time composing and setting up the perfect shot; I grab a shoot and move on to another location. Don't worry about distortion, you can fix it when you are home ;)

Only an ultra-wide lens can give you the coverage and depth of focus in a shot like this!

So to recap...

At the moment, my "perfect travel camera" is the Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 2 Panasonic lenses, the 7-14 (300g / 10.58 oz) and the 45-175 (210g / 7.4 oz).

If you are worry about missing certain shots because of the "gap", I suggest may be you should also buy and bring along a Lumix 12-35 f2.8 (24-70 mm eqv). 

That was my intention before we left for our Melbourne trip, but the high cost of the lens (NZD 1,600) and the extra weight (305g / 10.8 oz) stopped me doing that.

Happy journey!