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Ideal MFD travel kit

satybhat

Member
Wise elders,
I currently shoot with the IQ280, sometimes with the DF, 120m, 75-150 and sometimes with the Alpa, 40HR, 70HR.

Over the last few trips in and around Australia (where I reside), I have had some serious issues with the rest of the family objecting with the following various taunts:

1. Wife: you love your cameras more than your family.
2. Wife: if I leave, you will just cuddle your camera (this one's probably true)
3. Son: Just get on with it, man. I'll grow up by the time you finish your photograph (he's technically correct).
4. Son: Do you really have to use an old man's camera (re. the Alpa kit).
5. Son: There's no time for your tripod and stuff now. Chop chop...
6. Daughter: Help, I'm stuck (she's two)..

So I have finally made up my mind about the situation. The Phase/Alpa kit will go only on 2-3 dedicated shoots a year. The rest of the time, I will have to "make do" with a more family friendly, travel friendly kit.

For a while, I thought I am not going to jump on the sony-nikon-canon bandwagon of recurrent upgrades and dealer enrichment. I have a Leica M kit that does not satisfy me with my landscape requirements. ( I would like the ability to print large at some point, and occasionally I do ). So I would really appreciate what MFD travel kit people thought highly of in this forum...

The few brainwaves I had were:

1. Sell the M kit and consider a Leica S. (Should I get the typ 006, or wait for the 007 ?? ). Not sure how the CMOS would hold up, but I have no idea how the 006 performs at iso 640 and above which would mostly be needed for evening and dinner family shots.

2. Consider the 645z. again, unsure on the system as a whole. The whole Leica gestalt is too much to neglect.

3. wait for the Canon high MP issues.

4. Do nothing and save the money ....

As my daughter would put it, Help, please help, I'm stuck !!!
 

jagsiva

Active member
My hard learned lessons that I will share with you. I have far too many hobbies that are best done solo - photography, golf, race track, kayaking. We have 3 kids 6,4,2. I travel for work likely 3 weeks out of 4 and go all over the place and often to pretty cool places like South Africa, Argentina, Thailand, Israel......and Australia...

What I have learnt is to focus on one purpose for each trip. When I am working, I don't take any camera kit. I go on golf trips, and cameras are not allowed. I am currently on a family trip to Antigua, no camera. I went to Death Valley last month, and took all my gear, but no kids, no clubs. Next month I have a trip planned to Yosemite, again, only camera stuff.

My lesson was that I muled all this kit on family trips, fought to get things in carry on, competing for space with diaper bags and formula, and when we got to whereever it was we were going, there was no time for Photography.

So now, I commit to one thing, and do it well. Kids are happy, wife is happy. I do carry the A7R around, but only for family stuff. I try and make it interesting, like on this trip in Antigua, I brought just a Nikkor AIS 50mm 1.2 that I have not used much. I am hoping it will give me some interesting shots over dinner.

As for anything focused on Photography, I don't think anything can touch your IQ280/Alpa. It just takes more time and focus to get things to line up well with a kit like this.

PS. a great outcome of this has been that everyone is happy to send me off on a 3-4 day photography trip every 2-3 months. No complaining, no judging, and I get to focus on just photography for that time.
 
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BANKER1

Member
The Leica S with lens attached and two other lenses would fit in a backpack with a carbon fiber tripod attached to the outside. The other bits and pieces would fit as well. And, I guess your Alpa would fit too, but the Leica system would be much faster to set up and can even be used handheld. Waiting on the next best system seems to me to be a waste of valuable time, but I am an old man! My first Airline trip with my H4D60 system in a backpack terrified me, not knowing whether they would let me carry it on the plane. I had made my mind up that I would cancel my trip rather than let them put it in the luggage compartment. I have no idea what my wife would have thought about that. The Canon is a totally different animal. I have considered buying one, but would never consider giving up on MFD.

Greg
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Take the Alpa, leave the wife and kids at home...

You gotta a have priorities, man.

A Pentax 645Z with the FA 45-85mm zoom. Or if you prefer primes, the 645Z with the A 35mm, DFA 55mm, and FA 120mm Macro or FA 150mm. I think a Leica S system would be great too. I believe there is a nice wide to short tele zoom. Personally, I would probably be happy with your IQ280 on an Alpa TC and a 40mm lens--zone focus and be happy.

I travel with my 645D and three or four lenses plus a Sony RX-1. I find that a great combination. Maybe the IQ280, Alpa TC, a simple compact wide and then something like an a7 with a good zoom would be good to travel with.
 

Geoff

Well-known member
Before this gets out of control, here's one person's view of the "fork in the road". For some folks, there are workable non-MFDB answers that give flexibility AND quality, and can meet your needs.

Then there are the rest of us, stuck with having to make tough choices. I don't think there is a "can-do-it-all" answer, so the question then becomes what are you willing to give up? Having been through the issues of family trips, the following suggestions are offered:

- find some way to keep the family happy. They (and you) only go through this once, and you want it to be good, for them and you.
- make sure you have a camera to get family and travel shots you all like. Else what you missed sticks in the gut, full of regret.
- if you can't resist doing fine art photog, find (or sneak) time while everyone else is sleeping and go out for a while and shoot. Limit the incursion on their time to one day a trip, preferably just ½ day.

Can gear help? Two suggestions as to something that can slip in and ease some of the gap between family/travel and hi-end photog. First, the RX1 does very well, has a full size sensor with plenty of resolution and character, is very flexible and will take credible shots. I suppose the A7 is in this same category but there is something very good about the RX1 and that Zeiss lens that doesn't come off! Its not quite art-making for me, but its close, and can do in a pinch.

Another option is the Monochrome - which will take MFDB equivalent shots, is small, travels well, and works in poor light. Color rendition is…. well, interpretive. If you like that, its great. If not, back to the RX1.

I've hauled MFDB gear all over the place with family, and managed to work it out. But only in doses…else unhappy faces add up. Best to have something to keep them (and you too!) happy.
 

Dogs857

New member
Dan Lindberg seems to be able to take his MF gear everywhere and has no worries at all.

My wife encourages me to take my camera, then complains that I am taking far too long to set up my shots, walks over, rips out her iPhone, loudly declares "nailed it" and walks away deriding my photographic abilities.

If I am going on holidays, I take an X100 and leave the MF gear behind. If I am travelling with the intention of taking photographs then everything comes with me. I find this keeps everyone happy.
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
Shooting exclusively with Alpa does work for me perfect. Yes, I do have a Sony A7R but it does not thrill nor inspire so that is parked 97% of shooting time in the safe.
Alpa Max outfit for complete photographic freedom, somewhat heavy bag but it can do everything I need it to do.

For hiking and travelling I use Alpa TC with one or at the most two lenses. I do use tripod almost always, but do not hesitate to shoot handheld if that is what it takes! Neckstrap supporting waistlevel shooting, composing blindly but level cam by big circular bubble on top. TC, SK72 and down to 1/60 I get pinsharp results. I am very steady though....
The ultralight Gitzo 2 series is sturdy enough for longer exposures with a TC setup so my travelkit is most of the time smaller and lighter than many dslr shooters....and I would not swop, no matter what...:)
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Hi,
I also have 2 kids and kind of know what you are talking about.
Can you imagine I bough a used Alpa4 weeks ago and have found the time only once to use it.
I also own some mirrorless cameras, and Leica M and Leica S.
Here is my take:
1) The Leica S is a clear step ahead in IQ over the mirrorless and M. Probably a combination of sensor and lenses. I love the bokeh and look of the S images. The S system is pretty fast and works very well handheld, as long as you have enough light. I have a medium size daypack/backpack where I can fit the S + 1 lens attached + 1-2 additional lenses. Its a backpack which I can access without having to put it on the floor- so I can access camera and lens quite fast during a hike. Also the camera is weatherproof, so I dont have to handle it like a "raw egg".
I bring this camera quite often to holydays, vacation, sunday trip to the zoo or whatever we do with the kids.

I have the S006 and I am happy with it. However the CMOS of the 007 with better high ISO would extend the situations where you can use the S to low light situations. I dont know yet if I would be ready to pay so much cash, plus at the moment the 007 isnt available anyways.


2) Still there are occasions where the S is too big and heavy (I usually dont bring it when we go on bike rides for example) - here I think a mirrorless like the EM1 or a Leica T (my favorite mirrorless at the moment) or a Sony A7 series is a good system. It also serves you when there is not enough light for the Leica S system.
However - in my case I take clearly better images with the S. Might be the viewfinder, or the lenses, or that I have a better "connection" to the camera, but I dont feel 100% connected with those mirrorless cameras, as good as they might be in theory.

3) Pentax vs S....I thought about this several times. The S has the advantage of having a smaller and less obstrusive body. Also the S is more reduced regarding the user interface. I love this but others might prefer to have more buttons like the Pentax.
The S also gives you the freedom of (near) "perfect" lenses, at all kinds of f-stops. You just dont have to worry, just shoot each lens even wide open if necessary. Beautiful!
The Pentax seems attractive because it offers you a lot for much less money, has multiple AF points, and a different side-ratio. It also offers you the CMOS sensor with 50MP.
I handled one at Photokina and must say, I much prefer the S body and lenses, but if the S didnt exist my choice would be the Pentax.

4) If you really enjoy shooting the Alpa: Dont sell it. Just dont try to do everything at the same time. Rather shoot the Alpa not so often but if you do tell your family you need 3 hours alone because you want to take some images with the Alpa.

Good luck with your decision.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Oh, I understand completely.

It's dangerous (for us) to spread Leica S images around, too. ;)

--Matt
 

satybhat

Member
Thanks for the august replies.
It may have appeared to some that I was asking for some relationship advice !!, so apologies for that. I am not trying to decide between my family and my camera, rather between the available options for camera systems !!
Let me therefore frame my dilemma very specifically.
I am presently torn asunder between deciding for the Leica S (006) and the Pentax 645z. I am not quite sure for the S (007), since I have not much use for video (the iPhone suffices) and in that case, I might as well go for the 645z if I am opting for the CMOS sensor. Personally, I feel that the micro-contrast and rendering of the S (006) is better of the two, in that the 645z would require a bit of processing to please me, while the S (006) files are already ‘there’.
Any opinions on the weather sealing differences between the two?
Any opinions on the higher ISO renderings of the S(006) ?
Thanks again !
 

mmbma

Active member
Don't agree on the Leica S. It costs more than your Alpa kit AND it's very bulky.
The Canon 5Ds Dyname Range leaves more to be desired.

Depending on what you shoot. If you don't need Shift/Tilt, then I'd get Sigma DP123m as a kit. IQ would rival your Alpa setup (lower resolution)

If you need Shift/Tilt, then grab a Nikon 800e and a 24mm PCE. Very cost effect, enormous DR. Also versatile for the family shoot when you need it
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Thanks for the august replies.
It may have appeared to some that I was asking for some relationship advice !!, so apologies for that. I am not trying to decide between my family and my camera, rather between the available options for camera systems !!
Let me therefore frame my dilemma very specifically.
I am presently torn asunder between deciding for the Leica S (006) and the Pentax 645z. I am not quite sure for the S (007), since I have not much use for video (the iPhone suffices) and in that case, I might as well go for the 645z if I am opting for the CMOS sensor. Personally, I feel that the micro-contrast and rendering of the S (006) is better of the two, in that the 645z would require a bit of processing to please me, while the S (006) files are already ‘there’.
Any opinions on the weather sealing differences between the two?
Any opinions on the higher ISO renderings of the S(006) ?
Thanks again !
I use ISO800 without any hesitation, and 1600 if I have no other choice. ISO1600 does show some clear "destruction" of IQ at pixel level and is a compromise, but it works for smaller prints.
That fact that the Leica lenses are very good wide open also helps when yo do not have that much light.
PM me your e-mail-adress and I can mail you some 800 and 1600 ISO images.
I cant talk about the Pentax weather sealing but I have used the S006 both in heavy rain and also in heavy snow at 0 degrees Celsius - meaning really wet snow and it worked without any problems in these conditions. Also the hoods of most S lenses are pretty long and a good protection for the front glass of the lens.
Loyd Chambers has some extensive testing of Pentax645 and Leica S lenses on his paid site. I am not a big fan of his writing and would rate a big part of it as an opinion, but if you like to read another opinion you can go there.
Maybe you have a chance to check out both systems before you buy.
Also you coud go for a used S2 which you can get for attractive prices at the moment and its technically not much behind the S006. This way you could check the equipment out without the risk of losing much money if it doesnt work for you.
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
With family along, if you intend to bring or use a tripod at any point----forget it. In my experience with family members present, it does not matter what system you use. You will run into issues #1-6 on your list. At this point, any small capture device does well such as the Sony A7r, grab the shot, scout the area, and return later by yourself if the location is worthwhile.

If by chance the family does not mind you setting up a tripod, I'd use your Alpa and one lens (i.e., HR40) and do what I call the "One Lens Wonder." You'd be surprised how well you can do and how much fun it is limiting yourself to a single lens.

Even considering Leica and Pentax options, I bet the family dictates of #1-6 say "No tripod on this trip, honey" and you will still be better off with a single lens approach for speed and ease.

On second thought, we really haven't heard enough from actual Pentax 645z users at GetDPI. Go ahead and get the camera and let us know how it works out for you....:ROTFL:
 
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