What’s in my bag?

One thing I always wish is that I had a Mary Poppins Camera Bag, anyone else on the same page? A bag that fits endless amount of gear, is super light to carry no matter what you have inside and you can just throw it all in without a worry in the world about airline carry-on limits. Ah, wouldn’t that be just perfection!

Well, it unfortunately doesn’t exist and is the reason why I get so many questions about what’s in my bag when photographing on the road.

We’ve all been there before, you arrive at the check-in desk thinking you’ve totally got it sorted this time, your luggage will meet all the requirements and your camera gear is nice and snug, safe for the journey ahead. Then they weigh it and it’s been eating a little too much cake. You have to either pay for extra luggage allowance or shuffle the gear around in front of everyone wrapping lenses into your underpants to ensure they are safely packed now they can’t travel with you on board.

I’ve just made the switch to mirrorless which means less weight and more gear! I took my first trip to Iceland with the Olympus gear listed below and am so amazed at what a difference lighter equipment makes. Not only did I not have one back ache the entire trip (usually something that happens without fail after an hour of taking photos), but it all fits in my bag and I can take every lens with me for a hike!

When travelling overseas for a week or two I like to plan ahead and think of what I’ll be doing during the trip to decide upon which gear I take with me. More often than not for a city trip or if you’re planning to document something cultural with monuments and people I’ll pack my 25mm or standard zoom lens. I find for exploring cities this is the perfect amount of gear. For landscape shots I like to have my wide angle lens along with a zoom in my bag, especially if I’m doing a hike or visiting scenery for the specific purpose of shooting large vistas.

Getting back to packing for a flight, I’ve had a snazzy little Lowepro Flipside 400 AW II  for the past three years. It fits all of my essentials, weighs around 7-10kg when full to meet carry-on restrictions and everything is super safe and snug inside the bag. It fits 3 x Olympus camera bodies, 4 lenses + my Microsoft Surfacebook Pro 13″ laptop.

Any extra items I want to take with me I just wrap up and pop into my main luggage. I usually always pack my underwater housing as I’m a bit obsessed with shooting split-level landscape shots in lakes, rivers and the ocean. The housing is too large for the backpack and to take onboard flights but it’s super sturdy so I just ensure it’s wrapped all snug and pop it in my suitcase. I shoot with the Olympus PT-EP14 underwater housing which fits the E-M1 MKII + E-M1 MKIII.

Here’s a little list of what’s in my bag for a trip…

Camera Bodies:

Olympus OM-D E-M1X

Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKIII

Olympus OM-D E-M1 MKII

Lenses:

25mm f1.8 Lens
14-150mm II Lens
7-14mm f2.8 PRO Black
12-40mm f2.8 PRO Black
40-150mm f2.8 PRO Black

MC20 2x teleconverter

PT-EP14 Underwater Housing for E-M1 Mark II

Action Camera: Olympus TG6

Two external portable hard drives (always back up your images in at least two places!)

Power plug adapters (relevant to destination)

Microsoft Surfacebook Pro 13″ laptop

I would love to hear what you take with you in your bag abroad or on photography day trips! If you have any questions or would love to share what’s in your bag let me know below in the comments section…

Happy travels!