The "Sail" building. Also known as Google's new office in Austin's downtown.
Photographed with an SL2 and the Nikon 20mm lens.
I have to confess that I like big, heavy cameras and no compromise lenses when I'm working for clients. There is something reassuring about working with a 45+ megapixel, full frame camera that's blessed with great color and a wide dynamic range. And, if I'm photographing products or big buildings that don't move around much it also nice to know I can put the camera on top of a tripod, select a menu item and then shoot images that are 180+ megapixels via the magic of a high resolution mode. But this mostly presupposes that I'm getting paid, I have a cart to drag stuff around with, I'm not putting much mileage on the soles of my shoes and that I might even have an assistant in tow to help carry the heavy stuff.
And sure, if I'm just tooling around downtown making my ultra-famous mannequin photographs for a couple of hours I can easily handle one big camera and even one big lens. But if I'm headed to Enchanted Rock, about 20 miles outside of Fredericksburg, Texas, and getting ready to scramble up to the top of the granite dome, and then spend the rest of the day walking the trails and shooting landscape images, I usually have a different set of equipment preferences. Especially in the Summer when heavy cameras and even heavier lenses compete with the necessity of carrying around several quart bottles of drinking water in my backpack.
In those times I make different decisions about gear. I want stuff that's small and relatively light. Since I'm generally out in good light I don't need super fast glass but and I don't need image stabilization. I want small, light cameras, and a handful of equally small and light camera batteries. But I still want to cover wide, normal and short telephoto lens ranges. And I'd like a small, small zoom for the late afternoons when I am too hot and tired to keep changing out prime lenses every time the scenery changes.
If that's the agenda then I reach for a small Domke shoulder bag filled with some of my absolute favorite gear. It's the Leica CL camera + Sigma Contemporary lens package. The CL is the smallest Leica camera I own and most of that is down to the camera being built as an APS-C instead of full frame. Everything gets smaller and lighter when the format gets downsized. But in good light with reasonable ISO settings the quality of the photographs suffers minimally. If at all.
I pack two identical Leica CL (digital, not film) cameras for two reasons. First, I want to make sure that if I huff and puff and sweat and swear but am somehow able to reach the top of the rock and want to make photographs I would be frustrated and pissed off if I'd only brought along one camera and that camera crapped out of the game. It hasn't happened to me in a long time but an only camera failing just takes the wind out of one's sails. You've invested two hours to get to the Rock, half an hour to climb the big part and you'll fritter away two hours getting back home; and one of your reasons to go in the first place gets....cancelled. Psychologically I just feel better with a back-up camera in the pack.
The second reason to pack two cameras is for the times you want to more or less permanently put a cool wide angle lens on one body and a short telephoto on the other body and use them interchangeably throughout the day. If you never have to change lenses on a windy, dusty day you go a long way toward insuring that you won't have dust spots on your files when you get home.
I love having two bodies that are identical models, identically upgraded to the same firmware, and set to the same menu items. What I'm looking for is that transparent interchangeability between cameras. They should feel the same, shoot the same and make color files in exactly the same way.
Over the last five years, in a variety of APS-C format cameras, I have had nothing but good luck with a trio of Sigma's Contemporary lenses, which are designed for the APS-C formats. I've used them on Sonys and on the smaller format Panasonic m4:3 cameras and found three well spaced lenses that are sharp and have really nice rendering. When I switched to L mount cameras and picked up a couple of CLs I was delighted to find the same lenses available for that system as well.
I considered sticking with Leica lenses for the CL cameras but each time I compared them with the Sigmas the value proposition of the Sigmas won. I think the 18mm f2.8 Leica for the CL is cool because it's so small but I liked the Sigma 16mm's wider angle of view and I especially like the much faster maximum aperture of f1.4. I'm sure the Leica 35mm f1.4 for the CL is a remarkable lens and a very, very high performer but it's big and heavy and is in the nose bleed niche when it comes to price. Since I love "normal" focal lengths I'm pretty sure I would have snapped up the 35mm Summilux if the CLs were my only system or my primary system but the 30mm Sigma f1.4 is a really great lens at about 1/10th of the price (new to new). This is the third different camera mount I've owned the Sigma 30mm in and in each system I have nothing but praise for the way this lens renders images. Sharp but not offensively sharp, and contrasty enough to give you the "bite" that's missing from lesser lenses. Not a top of the line Leica lens but a very competent and useful tool for fun, everyday photography.
The third prime I carry around with in pixie pack of cameras is the Sigma 56mm f1.4. Just shy of the equivalent 85mm in 35mm-speak, this lens is a phenomenal performer. Tack sharp wide open, the smallest of the Sigma f1.4 APS-C trio and the snappiest focusing performance of the three. There was nothing in the Leica CL system of lenses to match it. Makes the Sigma 56mm an easy choice to round out the trio.
There is a fourth lens that I also pack in the bag and if I get to the rock and feel younger than my driver's license admits to I might want to scramble up boulders but without carrying the full load out of CLs and lenses. The all terrain, lightest carrying package is the combination of the Leica CL camera combined with the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8. Two stops faster than the Leica version it's a fairly new product and is universally lauded for its image quality. It's very small and light. With that lens, one body and an extra battery in my pocket I'm set to at least try some vertical theatrics. I almost slipped off an 18 foot rock face the last time I was at the park (watch out for loose gravel) and I would have been very upset to have destroyed multiple cameras and lenses instead of just one camera, one lens and one over-reaching photographer. As it was the adrenaline hit was enough to require a mid-afternoon nap after my much slower descent.
So, with a medium budget, a small footprint and a light load, I tend to travel for fun with the two CLs, the 16mm, 30mm, 56mm and 18-50mm lenses. All from Sigma's APS-C Contemporary line. This gives me a 35mm equiv. selection that is equal to: 24mm, 45mm, 84mm and the back-up zoom range of 27-75mms.
When I need to add flash to the equation I drop a Godox Lux Senior into the bag. It doesn't take up much space, works in the "A" automatic mode (with all cameras!) and it's cheap enough not to provoke tears if inadvertently smashed on hard granite while out climbing and exploring.
I've spent a lot of the last quarter of the 2022 writing about bigger, more expensive cameras and I feel like I've given short shrift to the smaller format cameras. But that doesn't mean my use is proportionate with my writing. I actually find the CL system to be a wonderful wandering companion for all the reasons I've laid out above. And the image quality isn't lesser, It's just different. And it's a look I like.
Since the CL has been discontinued by Leica the market has snapped up most of the cameras that were, just months before, languishing on dealer's shelves. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for one more. Just to have to ensure the overall system's longevity for me. I'm hoping people get bored with them quickly or move onto to shiny, faster focusing, full frame cameras. I'd love it if the prices stabilized around $1500. Or less.
On my next trip out of town the CLs are coming with me. They're perfect travel cameras and I found myself wishing I'd taken that kit to Vancouver with me in early November instead of the full frame camera and lens. I'm thinking of heading up to Santa Fe again after Christmas and when the weather clears. There's writer who lives there who is fun to talk with over coffee. I'd love to hear some more of his stories. But I'm also anxious to go back to NYC and Montreal. Just playing it all by ear.
I like the Leica Q2. It's the minimalist cure for carrying too much stuff. But the engineer in my brain loves the CL stuff because it represents the potential of a full system while being sized just right.
One last thing. If you have a cropped frame L mount camera and you decide you might want to go really long it's fun to toss the Panasonic 70-200mm S-Pro onto the front of the camera and get super sharp 300mm equivalent frames. Makes the system a bit of a chameleon. Nice.
The four lens travel pack.
16 comments:
Ha I use pretty much the same kit. I have the little Leica 18mm elmerit as it came with the camera. I have found I prefer 28 to 24mm, less distortion. Added the sigma 30, 56 and a sigma 90 f2.8 which gives me a nice 135 equivalent in a tiny package, smaller than the 30 although a bit heavier.
I would love for sigma to make a pancake 28 f2.8 or even 3.5. I think 42mm equivelent on the CL would just about live there.
Have a great Christmas. Here in New Zealand it’s summer so time for enjoying the beach with the family and friends.
One camera and one lens, always. I'm not worried about shots I miss because of my single focal length. If my camera or lens craps out I'm happy to use my phone or simply enjoy the fresh air. I use a wide variety of older digital cameras. Years ago when I was still involved with film I went to Niagara Falls with an Olympus OM film camera and a 50mm 1.4...no film in the camera but a couple of rolls in the bag. Anyway, shot my 36 frames and that Olympus body advances the film counter even without film in it, and went to rewind the roll only to discover it empty. I was so furious with myself that I drove home even though I had film in my bag. Couldn't bring myself to shoot another frame that day. I've also gone out, one camera and one lens, with no sd card in the camera. Luckily I don't need to feed myself with my photography.
I have the same kit with one exception. I do have the the Leica zoom instead of Sigma - it came as a kit on my certified pre-owned purchase.
I am curious, have you been able to use and compare the Leica vs Sigma zoom?
Lightweight for me is a Fuji xe-3 with the 15-45 mm zoom Lens, and may be, the 27 mm pancake; a spare battery, a couple of filters, and a small flash for fill in. Fits in a pocket, thus no bag, unless I need one for non-photographic stuff
I'm mostly carrying around an Olympus trip that I refurbished.
For digital days where I'm wanting instant access to the shots, I'm using my EP5 almost always with the Lumix 20 mm
I guess that I'm just a 40mm type of guy.
Mark
I find the Leica D-Lux 7 (aka Panasonic LX100 II) to be the perfect travel/walk-about camera/lens combo. I got it as a brand new "demo" unit from an authorized dealer priced below the LX 100 II, a lucky break. Yes, it is m43, yes it has an f1.7-2.8 24-75 lens, etc etc. But it produces wonderful images with those Leica colors, fits in a capacious jacket pocket and easily in the palm of the hand. It is lightweight, small, capable. For travel and walking around, the perfect tool for the job. I easily print 16x20 on my Epson P900.
Hi Kirk,
all I need for this purpose is a good m43 body and a superb standard zoom lens on a comfortable strap and some spare batteries. Thanks a lot ( once again ) for all your interesting posts.
Regards, Helmut the Austrian.
Panasonic S5 with the Sigma 45/2.8. I keep a Fuji XF10 on my belt for =28mm (or backup) but i don't use it much these days.
Sorta the same idea, different system. 2 Fuji X-Pro2s - 1 bone stock, the other Kolari converted to 665nm Infrared. A set of the small Fuji lenses that produce no hot spots on the IR camera: 16/2.8, 23/2, 35/2, 50/2. Usually with the 23 on the IR camera and the 35 on the other. I’m also able to find room for a Kipon Iberit 75/2.4 in my decidedly uncool Billingham for an occasional portrait. Surprisingly good wide open and holds enough sharpness & dof to not hipster render. Easy to lug around package. I love using the setup and making 12X18 prints (mostly BW) from the frames that really please me.
Best of Holidays to all.
Really small kit: Olympus Pen-F with Panasonic 20/1.7, Sigma 56/1.4 or both. The Sigma 56 is my favorite lens ever.
A little bigger kit with more versatility: Oly E-M1 Mk3 with 12-40/2.8 or 12-100/4.0.
Bigger than that I start adding film cameras, usually a Nikonos V or Nikon F3 + 55/1.2.
They all do wonderful things in different ways, I often wish I didn't have to choose between them and could take 5 or 6 cameras along.
I suppose it all depends on the final use of the pictures but taking two bodies and 3-4 lenses seems like overkill for a day hike. Are you sure your not letting your professional backup-body disaster avoidance mantra make you over think this? Also, you have 24 mp to work with so you could probably drop the 50 since the 16mm shots could be cropped to 29mm equivalent and the 30mm shots cropped to 56mm equivalent (or even longer if not printing). That would probably be lighter than even the 18-50 zoom alone. You could still comfortably print 11x14's if need be.
I struggled the same way you are for a light-weight hiking setup. I settled on 12-24 and 17-50 zooms for my (Nikon) aps-c needs. One lens on the camera and one in the pouch with 2 filters, spare battery, and lens cleaning stuff. Not the lightest but the two lenses can take care of 90% of my pictures anyway. If I really want to go light I'll drop the 17-50 for a 35mm and crop as needed - that would be about 30% of the shots on average and maybe less for landscapes. Carbon fiber travel tripod optional.
For a real challenge your phone could be your backup.
Just a thought (or two or three).
I really enjoy reading your blog.
What James said :-) #ymmv but if i was retired and fiscally secure, the latest pixel or iPhone plus 1 camera 1 lens would be all i'd ever carry :-) ! but who cares what i thinks, as long you are having fun and blogging i am happy :-) and i guess i'd be a wee bit less happy if you stopped blogging but that's your choice not mine :-) i'm just selfish :-) i love great blog posts and photos like the ones you post!
Ah. James and Roland, In my defense, I do want to remind y'all (Texan for 'Youse Guys') that I did my whole Vancouver vacation with only one camera (no back-ups) and one lens (also no back-ups) and didn't break a sweat. I'm more thinking about times when I might drive to someplace cool and spend a full day doing nothing but photographing. Then a small package of stuff seems more rational. But yeah. I think I can handle that one/one kit idea. And if I can ever get my hands on an iPhone 14 Pro I'll probably give that one a solo run on a family vacation....
But sometimes, with me, I leave the family at home and go out with the sole intention of making photographs and that's when I like to bring along alternate choices and back-up stuff. You can always leave stuff in your hotel room if you don't see needing it on a particular day....
Thanks for the great perspectives! Much appreciated.
Makes total sense... BTW, I’ve long suspected that the Leica CL/TL zoom lens trio is designed by Leica but actually manufactured by Sigma, the L-mount alliance with Sigma originated at the same time those lenses were introduced. I also share your complaint about the Q2 not having multiple aspect ratios and even odder that the CL doesn’t like the SL given that they are such related products, I kept hoping that the CL was just a firmware update away from gaining this feature, but alas now that Leica has discontinued them there’s likely no further updates... I sold off my CL before they were discontinued but kept my lenses (4) thinking that eventually a CL2 would appear - oops! I suspect that I’ll acquire a used CL as I really liked the experience,
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