Daily Archives: March 11, 2023

 

A friend ask me the other day why I keep buying more camera bags/packs/cases when I’m trying to downsize what I already have.  The answer is simple and not so simple, please let me explain. First I’m what is called a photo generalist, I have many areas of photographic interests; Travel, Nature, Landscape, Aviation, Close-up, Abstract, People and Americana.  So when I go out to shoot in any one of these different fields I need different gear.  For example the top photo is what I feel is a complete package of gear for nature, landscape and americana and aviation, but it is too much for people, travel and not the best gear for close-up and abstract work.  *(The other reason is I’m the President of the Bag of the Month Club, so there you have it)  What is in the kit above?

 

Nature, Landscape, Aviation & American Kit:

The Bag:  the Wotancraft Pilot 10L

Body:  Fujifilm X-T5

Lenses:  10-24 f 4, 16-80 f 4, 56mm f 1.2, 70-300 f 4.5-5.6

Accessories:  Small Rig Mini Tripod and head, Shinewee PC90S /Cell phone holder, Victorinox Huntsman Swiss Army Knife, Streamtlight flashlight,  Lensgo Model D850 battery and card case, Electronic Release Vello brand, Small LED Light panel, Canon 500 D Diopter and Breakthrough 5 and 10 Stop N,D, filters with step up ring to fit them to the  the 16-80 & 10-24 *(not shown, but packed, lens cleaning alcohol wipes, micro fiber cloths, bluetooth remote for iPhone)

 

With all of this I feel I can handle anything that I generally shoot on nature, landscape and Americana outings.  The bag weighs 15 pounds, which since I will mostly carry to to and from the car it works great! It’s whatI like to call my: Keep-it-Close-by-Bag!

 

 

What about Travel & People Photography?  This kit is completely different, in this case I want everything to fit in one small sling bag and weigh no more than 5 lbs!  This kit weighs in at 5 lbs. on the nose!  I also prefer a rangefinder style cameras for this kind of work.

 

The Bag:  Peak Design’s 6 L Sling   *One advantage of this bag is it does not scream camera gear!  It’s well designed and is perfect for a light kit lack this one!

Body:  Fujifilm X-Pro2

Lenses: 16mm f 2.8, 23mm f 2 and the 50mm f 2 ( that is the classic equiv. of 24mm – 35mm-75mm) near perfect for these subjects and all small, and light, plus extremely sharp lenses.

Accessories: Cleaning wipes, microfiber cloth, two spare batteries.

*Note: in my car there is always a large tripod and a small mini tripod available should I need them,  and I drive everywhere!

 

Close-up work is a whole new ball of wax and I will show my kit for that in a future blog entry.

 

Final thoughts:  I love the Wotancraft Pilot bags both the 7L and 10L they are identical accept for capacity, I pick the one that fits the equipment needs. I bought the Peak Design 6L Sling bag and was about to send it back whenI decided it was perfect for this small Travel/People kit.  It is little modern/contemporary for an old guy like me, but it is functional, and works well, so I will use it for this, for now.  Think Tank has a new Small bag that may work great for this system and I will talk about it when it arrives and I get a chance to try it. it has a cool magnetic opening and closing lid and looks interesting.  I’ve always loved the quality of Think Tank gear.

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim