Camera Gear Lessons From My Iceland Trip
This Iceland trip is about to become the longest trip of my life. But even at this stage of the trip, I have already learned a few camera-gear lessons. Thought I would share them. Maybe it will help someone, or maybe I will get some advice back.
For this trip, I spent two years building what I thought was the perfect setup.
- Sony ZV-E1: for 4K 120p, because I knew I would shoot a lot of slow motion in Iceland.
- Sony A7C II: sharper-looking 4K than my ZV-E1, plus APS-C crop mode for extra reach.
- Fuji X100VI: my favorite camera. In places where cameras are not allowed, this one usually gets a pass. People see it and think it is a toy camera, even though it can record 6.2K video.
Lenses:
- Sony 16-35 GM II for vlogging.
- Sony 24-70 GM II for general-purpose shooting.
- Sony 70-200 GM II for wildlife.
- Sony 35mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4 for throwing the background into oblivion.
Before I talk about the mistakes, let me explain my use case. I use cameras 100% as a hobby. My only goal is to document my own life. My target audience is me, and because I am a very picky audience, I want the highest possible image quality. Most of my videos are private or unlisted. So I always have to balance enjoying the trip with documenting the trip.
The camera-selection mistake:
I struggled with the A7C II because I wanted to keep the 70-200 on it to get 300mm reach in crop mode. But that meant I was not getting full-frame 4K 60. When I was shooting puffins far away, I needed slow motion, so I had to take a lot of 1080p shots. I should probably have taken another ZV-E1 as the second camera. On this trip, I did not take a single photo. I just shot video.
The lens-selection mistakes:
Sony 16-35 GM II: people who shoot video probably know how much extra gear you have to carry besides the camera and lens. With all that weight on my shoulder, I simply did not feel like vlogging with a lens as big as the 16-35 GM II.
Lesson: I should have taken something smaller. Maybe the Tamron 20-40, or the Sony 11mm, or just accepted the image quality of the DJI Pocket 3.
Sony 24-70 GM II: this was the lens I used the most on the trip. But I kept missing the 100-135mm range, and taking a second lens out of the bag is not always convenient. I came here mainly to enjoy the trip, not to create content.
Lesson: for travel, the Tamron 35-150 is probably a better choice.
Sony 70-200 GM II: unfortunately, I have never really matched the vibe of this lens. 70mm is too tight, and 200mm is never enough.
I brought a teleconverter at the last minute, but forgot that with it, 70mm starts from 105mm, which is even tighter.
And 200mm sounds like a lot, but in real life, it really is not that much.
Lesson: maybe I should get the Tamron 50-400mm? I do not know.
Sony 35mm 1.4: I brought it for no reason. I am never taking a prime lens on a trip again. This is not a lesson; this is a decision.
The overall lesson is this: the perfect setup is not perfect for everyone. For travel, it is better to look for convenience than perfection.