What Do You Bring And How Much Does It Weigh?

[Drew Bedo]

What do you bring to shoot with when you are away from home? Assume you will walk less than two miles from the car. (In my case, MUCH less)

My Kit:
Total weight is 21 pounds.
• Camera 4x5 Zone VI (Wista made single extension model)
• Lenses 90mm, 150mm, 210mm
• Tripod Velbon CF with a magnesium alloy BH
• Meters Minolta Autometer IV F, Minolta Spotmeter F
• Film 12 4x5 film holders
• Gear BTZS hood, loupe, measuring tape, filters, etc.
It all goes in an older model LowePro bag designed in the ‘70s for 35mm photojournalism—with the dividers removed.
What do you bring along and what does it weigh?

[engl]

I'm without a large format camera at the moment, I just sold my MPP 4x5 to move to a lighter and more capable setup.

The kit I'm going for is:
Chamonix 4x5 camera
Fujinon 75/5.6, 125/5.6 and 240/9 lenses
Feisol CT-3442 CF tripod with Arca Swiss P0 (inverted ballhead)
Compact digital camera with extra battery as meter
Compact strong umbrella (for shielding camera, mostly from wind, also works for sun and rain)
Dark cloth, cable release, loupe etc.
All packed in a LowePro Mini-Trekker

With 5 holders, the list above ends up at around 14-15 pounds, but number of holders I bring varies.

[eric black]

I prefer to be a bit more of a pack-mule- Im a big guy so it doesnt tax me too much. Ill typically carry an Arca 4x5, compendium, 10 film holders, 4-5 lenses (unless I know exactly what Im after where it could be as few as 1 lens). Gitzo, 1325 tripod, Arca B1 head and other misc backpacking items Lowepro Super Trekker backpack) usually has my pack at around 40-45 lbs. Ill carry this weight for up to about 10-12 miles. Anything further or with lots of elevation gain, Ill strip down to a lower limit of about 25 llbs with a single lens guessing or knowing exactly what I want.

[ic-racer]

Not a strong as you guys:

Shen Hao 8x10
one lens on Technica board
cable release
meter
2 or 3 film holders
darkcloth
tripod

The above weighs me down pretty good.

[Leigh]

My 23-pound 4x5 kit is in an f.64 BPX backpack and includes:
Toko field camera
eleven lenses
two exposure meters (incident & spot)
lens accessories (filters, hoods, etc.)
misc stuff (focusing loupe, cable release, etc.)

The 36 filmholders are in separate packs (3 pounds per pack of 6), not included in the above weight.
The two tripods are also not included.

I'm seldom far from the van due to mobility problems.

- Leigh

[NicolasArg]

I have all my equipment in an excel spreadsheet along with the individual weights.
Al the recent multi day journeys were done with (grams):
Toyo 45A-2528
Schneider SA 90f8 mounted on a homemade carbon fiber board-402
Schneider 210mm f5.6 mounted on an aluminum board-580
5 holders-920
Graflex 6x9 back-534
Large plastic container for the camera and the lenses-536
Small container for the holders and filters-130
SUBTOTAL=5630
Canon 5Dmk1-936
Zuiko 28mm-178
Zuiko 200mm+TC2x-674
SUBTOTAL=1788
Filters and holders-100
Manfrotto 190xprob+head-2352
TOTAL-9870
This is the photo kit I carried during the last months for up to 6-10 days on trek.
The camping gear equipment varies a lot, but the main items are pretty much the same:
Tent- 1500
Down sleeping bag-2000
The cooking system, the cloth, etc all depend on the season and route but go from an ultralight tuna can stove and just some simple clothing to a full size MSR stove and full winter gear, the same goes for the food. Usually it sums about 10 to 13 additional kilos.
I pack all this in a 70 lt tubular mountain backpack
Almost forgot, I'm using a series 3 Gitzo now instead of the Xprob.
P.S. I didn't include film and minor stuff like flashlight, knife, etc for the same reason- the volume and weight of all that equipment depend on the route I'm doing.

[Michael Kadillak]

My hiking field camera is a Canham wooden 8x10, five holders, a tripod and head and a Gnass lens case with six lenses along with accessories tips the scale at about 45-50#.

With the hip support strap I am good for a five to six mile round trip at a leisurely pace in the mountains.

On the other end of the spectrum my 28# Deardorff V11 stays within 300 yards of my truck for obvious reasons.

[Two23]

My 4x5 stuff fits into a medium sized backpack fairly well--Shen Hao, three lenses, meter, holders. When I shoot at night, I use either up to 8 Nikon SB-28 flash or up to seven high powered monolights with a battery pack for each. To haul all that, I use a plastic toboggan and pull it across the snow.


Kent in SD

[msk2193]

Just looked.... two large back-packs each weighing over 50 pounds and the whole rest of the truck's back compartment!

Yikes; a 4X5, an 8X10, the Mamiya 7ii, three tripods, more film than I know what to do with, changing tent, vacuum cleaner, 9 lenses and 20 holders for the 4X5 and 5 lenses and 5 holders for the 8X10.

That litle Leica on the console sure looks miniscule now!

Now leaving Grand Teton for Arches, then meeting up with others from the Dallas gang in Palo Duro.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Found a really neat Black's Creek internal frame pack last year, a "Little Bone Collector 1.5", while in Whitefish, MT last summer. Bought it because it fits my Nikkor 200-400VR inside the main compartment. But mostly I use it for my Meridian 45CE as it has an outside pocket that perfectly fits a box on Quickloads. Almost always have the 90mm, 135mm and 210mm all with me, an old knockabout Manfrotto 3221/Novoflex Classic V ballhead and various and sundry other gear... about 30-35 lbs, I'm guessing.