Carrying Canon 5dmk3, 70-200 2,8, 16-35 f4, 50mm 1.4, Hard case, Carbon Tripod...

[the voyager]

A lot of weight!
I am fit and healthy and even myself could not be bothered carrying all this gear.

When travelling (back packing, hitch hiking etc) I have always loved just one prime lens, either 50mm or sometimes something like a 35mm ONLY. The images as a set tell more of a story and the focal lengths are closer to what the eye sees, telling a much more convincing story.

I am currently living in Cyprus, and would like to get out with moe gear, but the weight of all this and a 14km hike is a sod that!

What do most people do? Choose one lens and tripod, or leave tripod altogether for longer hikes?

I have taken perfectly good landscapes without tripods, but now i have one (carbon at that) I want to be using it!

The 70-200 2.8 is not long hike friendly is it?! I think it weighs over 1kg.

Also might actually like the ball head now, it's still not precise but better than a traditional X/Y pan. I couldn't imagine using the Benro in these situations.I do like the feature which acts like a small gear on this ball head though.

 

[SFTphotography]

I just carry it tbh in a Lowepro whistler. I use a Manfrotto 190 for my tripod.

In the Pyrenees and Alps sadly hardly anything is the near road and it is my favourite place to photograph so you cannot just drive and arrive and get the shots.

I carry quite often 2x D810's with a 70-200 attached to one and the bag filled with Sigma ART 24,35,50 and second body. It is heavy but with a bag configured and set up properly you don't really feel it once it is on,

I tend to go places with an idea in mind and I do go over and over again to the same places.

Once I've been once to a spot I know the shot I want to take so carry just the gear for that. If I want to do Gavarnie I just need the 70-200 and one body. For the Ossau valley lakes I can do the whole thing on the Sigma ART 35 etc.

My advice, invest in a big, comfortable bag and just be arsed and carry it on your travels.

 

[Minor Problem]

When walking about on a photography wander I tend to carry a lot of weight in my F-Stop Tilopa. It spreads the weight well to the hips and is very comfortable. I carry a D850, 14-24 2.8, 24-70 2.8, normally at least one prime & 70-200 2.8, sometimes the 200-500 comes along too. I strap my monstrous tripod on the side (4kg on its own). After a while you don't really notice it too much until you have to lower it to the ground or pick it back up, the problem comes when hiking as 15kg feels like 30 the minute you start heading on a long uphill drag.

In those situations I either reduce weight by leaving out lenses, for a hill hike I may just take the 35mm and the 70-200 or even just the 24-70. If it isn't a serious photography trek or the conditions aren't likely to make serious images then I switch bags and use my lightweight kit, Fuji XT-2, 10-24, 18-55 & 55-200 and small light travel tripod which only weighs about 5kg all up. That way I don't really notice that I'm carrying a bag at all.

 

[Minor Problem]

I just carry it tbh in a Lowepro whistler. I use a Manfrotto 190 for my tripod.

In the Pyrenees and Alps sadly hardly anything is the near road and it is my favourite place to photograph so you cannot just drive and arrive and get the shots.

I carry quite often 2x D810's with a 70-200 attached to one and the bag filled with Sigma ART 24,35,50 and second body. It is heavy but with a bag configured and set up properly you don't really feel it once it is on,

I tend to go places with an idea in mind and I do go over and over again to the same places.

Once I've been once to a spot I know the shot I want to take so carry just the gear for that. If I want to do Gavarnie I just need the 70-200 and one body. For the Ossau valley lakes I can do the whole thing on the Sigma ART 35 etc.

My advice, invest in a big, comfortable bag and just be arsed and carry it on your travels.

I've also got the Whistler 450 and if I dont need the extra storage the Tilopa offers it's my bag of choice. It's built beautifully. My Fuji kit resides in it currently which is lost inside it but leaves plenty of room for my drone, drink and sarnies!

 

[SFTphotography]

I've also got the Whistler 450 and if I dont need the extra storage the Tilopa offers it's my bag of choice. It's built beautifully. My Fuji kit resides in it currently which is lost inside it but leaves plenty of room for my drone, drink and sarnies!

Man you are even more better equipped than me. The Tilopa looks lush. I have a variety of smaller bags for smaller things. When I do Glencoe I have flipside 400 which takes 1 body, and just the primes or just one body and the 24-70 which I've kinda gonna off since using the Sigma ART's.

 

[Minor Problem]

Man you are even more better equipped than me. The Tilopa looks lush. I have a variety of smaller bags for smaller things. When I do Glencoe I have flipside 400 which takes 1 body, and just the primes or just one body and the 24-70 which I've kinda gonna off since using the Sigma ART's.

I've got one those too! Ideal for smaller equipped outings.

 

[nma]

A lot of weight!
I am fit and healthy and even myself could not be bothered carrying all this gear.

When travelling (back packing, hitch hiking etc) I have always loved just one prime lens, either 50mm or sometimes something like a 35mm ONLY. The images as a set tell more of a story and the focal lengths are closer to what the eye sees, telling a much more convincing story.

I am currently living in Cyprus, and would like to get out with moe gear, but the weight of all this and a 14km hike is a sod that!

What do most people do? Choose one lens and tripod, or leave tripod altogether for longer hikes?

I have taken perfectly good landscapes without tripods, but now i have one (carbon at that) I want to be using it!

The 70-200 2.8 is not long hike friendly is it?! I think it weighs over 1kg.

Also might actually like the ball head now, it's still not precise but better than a traditional X/Y pan. I couldn't imagine using the Benro in these situations.I do like the feature which acts like a small gear on this ball head though.

View attachment 317371

Have you considered M43? Just the ticket for your walks and travels. M43 offers many excellent lenses and bodies. Several years ago I was in exactly the same quandary. My Canon 5d2, L-zooms, tripod and "stuff" became just too heavy for me to tote. After some study I bought an Olympus OM1.1 with a 12-40 and a 35-100 zoom f2.8 lenses The Oly sensor is small, leading to 2x crop factor. That means that the 35-100 Zoom is equivalent to your FF 70-200 zoom, but a fraction of the weight. Many M43 lenses are world class and many are weather sealed. Suspend your disbelief. I found as have others, that I could make excellent 16x20 inch prints that were actually better than I made with my faithful Canon 5D2. There are many features on the Oly EM1 series that do not exist on the Canon. For your work, today's Oly EM1.3 would be ideal because of its excellent image stabilization. Long exposures, yielding very sharp images, with exposures in the range of 2-4 seconds are pretty routine. Accordingly, the tripod has become optional for excellent landscape photos. There are trade offs with M43 vs FF, but these are important only to those who are making prints larger than 30x40 inches.