Now that it's too late to add or subtract gear, what did I end up packing?

from "Hairspray" at Zach Theatre.

Unless you are much, much more brilliant than I'll ever be the process of packing seems always to be fraught with regrets and misgivings. I wish I could be a modern photographer (equipment wise) but have the travel services of the golden age of travel, when people could travel with giant "steamer" trunks and be followed through train stations and airports by legions of baggage handlers. If that were the case I'd take along everything photographic that I own in case I had a passing whim to pull some esoteric lens out of its velvet lined case and use it once or twice. Sadly, this is a possibility only for those with deeper pockets than mines, in current times.

After using the G9s for the past two weeks, on a daily basis, over and over again, it was a foregone conclusion that I would be taking them as my primary shooting cameras. There was a bit of hesitation last night as I looked fondly at the GH5S and it's lovely color palette but my newly acquired, intimate knowledge of the G9s pushed them to the front of the line. And, of course, batteries....

Now, here is where you'll probably disagree with me but I decided to leave the Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 at home. It was a tradeoff between how much I could carry and how much use I thought I might get out of the longer selection of focal lengths. I know, I know, it's an exquisite lens and I'll regret not having it at some point but there are times I also regret not having a 100 megapixel Phase One system as well.  I'm sure I'll get over it....

Since I forfeited the longer focal lengths that helped me get off the fence on my primary zoom lens. I decided on the Olympus 12-100mm f4.0 Pro over the Panasonic/Leica 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 because the Olympus lens gives me an extra 40mm of reach, is a known super star and has proven itself to me in many more situations than I've been able to cover with the Panasonic/Leica. The new guy gets left behind until it shows me some aspect where it's the better choice. The one thing that kept the new lens in the running was the lower weight...

Once those decisions were made everything else fell into place. I needed the Panasonic 8-18mm because wide is good for landscape stuff and near/far effects. 

After I pulled in the heavy hitters I added a few lenses for play. My choices for this adventure? The Sigma 30mm f1.4 and the Panasonic 42.5mm f1.7 (small, light and dual I.S.+ sharp) and finally, the Sigma 60mm f2.8 DN. 

So, there you have it. Lenses for personal work that fit in a small bag and won't tweak my back. When you get tired and haven't slept in a while every pound makes a difference. Go lighter to go further.

I'm happy with my choices and writing about them allowed me to while away the waiting time. Now it's time to check a bag. Happy days!