My first venture into lighter camera gear turned into a full-fledged adventure.

I wanted to test a digital pocket camera, so I left behind my array of DSLR bodies, lenses, filters and tripod and set off into the desert on foot. No falling back on the bigger gear for special images, and no excuses. If the little camera didn’t measure up, so be it.

The adventure came later.

Why Travel Light?

Reducing your load of camera gear for travel is more than an academic concept. Airline baggage restrictions continue to mount in the US, and it’s a good bet that constraints will soon be placed on your carry-on baggage. They’re already in effect overseas and airlines in the US see baggage as a revenue source.

You certainly could carry gear in your checked baggage, but most of us are hesitant to put valuables in suitcases in spite of the security measures and assurances. All it takes is one ham-handed baggage handler to demonstrate the disclaimers against damages to cameras in baggage. Even if you manage to pass a heavy load through airports, more challenges await once you arrive. In many circumstances security dictates you keep it within reach at all times. If you lay it down or leave it behind, it’s likely to disappear.

My wife and I hike a lot, parking our truck for hours or days at remote trail heads. That’s simply not the place for expensive camera gear in a vehicle. If you brought it from home, you’ll be carrying it in your pack rather than leaving it behind. We have lost gear on commercial location shoots, outdoor portrait sessions and even at weddings. If we don’t keep all gear on our bodies, it can disappear. Travelers encounter the same challenges on city streets and in hotels all over the world.

And frankly, I’m getting older. Burdens that were reasonable in my youth are more of a hindrance with each passing year. Heavy loads won’t let me walk as far or as often. Lugging extra pounds from before sunrise till after sunset can leave me sore and limit my activities the next day.

Do you see yourself in my examples? Whether you need to reduce the load for tomorrow’s trip or a year from now, it pays to think about how you can manage it before the need arises.

Sizing Up Your Needs

The starting point is taking a frank look at the shooting you hope to do. Some choices are made for you. If it’s a trip dedicated to wildlife you’ll be carrying your longest and fastest lenses, and there’s no way around it. But what if wildlife is a sidelight, even a maybe?

You can cut weight dramatically by packing a slower lens, and even a shorter lens with an extender. You can also use a long zoom that will give you the extra reach for wildlife while serving for other subjects at shorter focal lengths.

City shooting and landscapes demand wide angle lenses. But do you really need to pack several fast primes? Can a lighter wide angle zoom that replace several prime lenses with credible performance? In my hands city and landscape shooting is a reach for depth of field, and the wide angle zooms do just fine at smaller apertures.

Will you be hiking into the backcountry or walking city streets rather than riding? A longer consumer-grade zoom on the order of an 18-200mm can replace several pro zoom lenses while giving credible performance at middle- and smaller-apertures.

And what about close-ups? If you’re dedicating your trip to wildflower photography you’ll certainly take your best macro lens. But will close-ups be a casual consideration?

Many zooms have very reasonable “macro” settings, and even those without can be augmented with diopters or “close-up” filters. Neither approach may satisfying quite like a dedicated macro lens, but results can be credible even you leave one more lens at home.

And what about that tripod? I’m 6’4” and spending a day shooting wildlife with a too-short tripod is a killer for my back. I certainly need a tripod for low light shooting or any other situation that calls for careful compositions or slow shutter speeds, but do I really need a 10-pound model?

Hard Choices and Tradeoffs

In truth, credible travel photography can be accomplished with high-end pocket cameras while producing images that truly rival a DSLR. They’re the lightest possible solution and most models cost less than a single DSLR lens.

Over and above the weight and cost advantages, they’re also less conspicuous and less likely to attract unwanted attention in difficult venues. You’re “just another tourist” with a pocket camera, while you identify yourself as potentially rich target when lugging a large camera bag full of expensive gear.

But frankly, as good as the pocket cameras may be, they often don’t meet my needs. For professional use and consistently producing images that may be sold, I really do need the extra capabilities of interchangeable lenses and a 35mm DSLR with its larger sensor on most trips. I have to carry larger gear whether I like to or not.

My Solutions

If you can get by with a pocket camera, by all means use it. I can’t recommend one over another because I’m not well versed in the options available today. But if you really do need a DSLR or simply prefer to use one, we’re on common ground.

Over several years I’ve been buying and testing lenses, tripods and camera bags against my heavy pro gear, and I’ve found alternatives that work well for me. They may not provide the little extra quality I get from my array of pro lenses, but in fact I get more sellable shots because I carry them where I might not go with my pro gear.

I won’t tell you my choices are better than another brand, rather I’ll stand by my point that results are good enough for steady sales while my load of gear is dramatically reduced. I’m a life-long Nikon user, but I bet you can find comparable gear in other brands. Consider the capabilities and weights of my gear, and I bet you can find similar gear alternatives.

Wanna look in my camera bag?

In The Bag

If there’s one inviolable rule about camera bags, it’s that you will fill all available space. The best thing to do in my experience is to use a bag or pack that holds your minimum kit and no more.

I whittled the size of my camera bags year after year until I arrived at the Tamrac #604 Zoom Traveler 4. It’s tiny at 11W x 6.5D x 7.5H, yet smaller than a couple of kids’ lunch boxes standing side by side. But it’s so well laid out that it carries a full-sized DSLR, several lenses and a pro strobe along with all the necessary accessories while weighing only 23 ounces! It’s too small for a laptop, but I carry that separately when I opt for this bag.

My choice of camera packs is the Tamrac #5549 Adventure 9. It has very similar gear capacity, along with a top pouch for personal gear and a padded slot for a laptop while weighing 67 ounces or slightly over 4 pounds. It’s not as handy as the little Zoom Traveler 4 bag, but it incorporates the daypack I often have to carry as well for personal supplies when walking.

Along with either of those I usually carry a couple of belt pouches for ease of access to lenses and camera accessories when I need them in a hurry.

My usual pro tripod is an older Gitzo carbon fiber model that extends plenty tall for my long frame while supporting heavy loads. It’s a joy to use, but along with a substantial head it weighs 10 pounds.

My alternative for travel without long lenses is a tiny wonder. It’s a Gitzo 1541T Traveler 1 mounted with a Really Right Stuff BH-30 ballhead. Together they weigh only 49 ounces or an ounce over 3 pounds. Heck, that’s less than my pro ballhead by itself! Yet it supports up to 17 pounds of camera and lens. I don’t stoop over it or hours, so the weight reduction is a real back saver in spite of its shorter height.

My principal lenses for travel are the Nikon 12-24mm and 18-200mm zooms weighing 18 ounces and 20 ounces respectively. They give stellar performance over a long zoom range while weighing two thirds less than the three pro zooms I have to carry to cover the same focal lengths. And together they don’t cost as much as any one of my pro zooms!

I’m slow to buy new camera bodies, so I have to “make do” with Nikon D2X and D300s models. But in truth the technology of the D300 is enough newer that it gives better low light performance than the older D2X. And all that performance comes in a package weighing 30 ounces or roughly half as much.

The one place I won’t scrimp for travel is electing to carry a strobe. I use a Nikon SB-800 for fill light day and night, yet it weighs only 15 ounces. I’d sooner leave a lens home than the strobe.

Have you been tabulating weights as I rolled along?

The grand total is only 8.5 pounds, yet I get professional results! Put it all in the Zoom Traveler 4 bag and the weight rises to an even 10 pounds plus accessories. Put it in the Adventure 9 pack instead and the weight rises to 12.5 pounds. My comparable pro setup easily tops 30 pounds!

I can add extra lenses, a backup body and more strobes if really needed, but for most venues the 10-pound package meets all my diverse photo needs.

Venture Becomes Adventure

Do you recall that my first hike without heavy pro gear turned from venture to adventure? Here’s the backstory:

I was so unburdened that I walked further than I’ve ever walked before in Arches National Park, where this story began. I walked well beyond the places visitors usually go, discovering new and wondrous scenes around every twist and fold of red rock.

And the light began to get really good. The reds and golds in the rocks exploded into a riot of color as the light turned red.

Wait a minute…. Red light?

The sun was setting and I was hours from my truck! My headlamp would be little more than entertainment while walking in circles in the desert.

I managed to navigate safely using the stars, but in the process I learned to add one more thing to my lightweight camera outfit.

I always carry a handheld GPS when traveling light!

The lighter burden means you’re going to walk further and faster than ever before, whether on city streets or wilderness trails.

And you’ll need the GPS after dark!

About the Author

Alaskan Hank Pennington has been a photographer for over 40 years, and with his wife Jan has run a successful photography business for the last 20 years. In spite of busy schedules they manage frequent travels to other locations with an emphasis on photography. Visit their photography studio website at www.kodiakfoto.com.