My Ideal Travel Camera Kit

Last week, I published a post where I shared a few of my bucket list photos taken in Dubai. In that post, I also shared my thoughts about using my iPhone alongside a regular camera. This week, I’ll continue the theme of travel photography with some images from Japan.

Whilst I would love to tell you that my iPhone was the perfect travel camera, it isn’t (at least my current iPhone isn’t because it’s a basic model). Instead, I found myself shooting with my little Olympus EM5 Mark 3.

I bought the EM5 for exactly this situation. I wanted a camera that was small but captured high-quality RAW files. And this camera certainly lived up to my expectations.

To give a little more information about my set-up, I had a Peak Design base plate attached to the camera. If you are not familiar with this, it’s an Arca-style plate that can attach to a Peak Design clip. The clip then attaches to the strap of my backpack, allowing the camera to be clipped into position on my shoulder. It keeps the camera easily accessible but secure.

In addition, I have a Peak Design wrist strap, which clips onto the camera using a couple of lugs. This was an excellent set-up for trekking and walking around cities. When I wasn’t using my backpack, the camera base plate was small enough to allow the camera to fit in a small shoulder bag.

In terms of lenses, I used my Leica 12-60 most of the time. This may have been a mistake, as I had previously purchased a Panasonic 14-140 lens for the trip. I have no idea why I decided not to take that lens, as it’s extremely good. It’s also smaller than the Leica lens I took, and not taking it meant I needed to pack the Panasonic 45-150. In addition, I took a Leica 8-18 wide-angle lens for those inevitable wide-angle shots that never materialise. This lens is superb, but my tiny Olympus 9-18 would have been equally good and is about half the size/weight.

Now, let’s look at a couple of shots.

This first image was taken while hiking the Kumano Kodo trail in Japan. It was an early morning start; I think we headed out at around 6:30 am. As we started to climb, the mist came in, and I managed a few handheld shots with the Olympus. This one was using the Leica 8-18 at 12mm. The exposure was 1/25 second at f/6.3 and ISO800. Interestingly, I shot a few in the mist using my iPhone, and many of them came out blurry.

This was a bamboo forest in Kyoto. Whilst these forests are popular and packed with people, I found this one on the edge of a Moss Garden I was visiting. This time, I used the Leica 12-60 lens at 12mm. It’s also a handheld exposure at f/6.3 for 1/50 second and ISO800.

Whilst I have some great photos to look back on, I could have taken most using only the Olympus EM5 Mark 3 with a Panasonic 14-140 lens and an Olympus 9-18. That would be my ideal travel photography kit.

I hope you like the photos and have a great weekend.