The Reality of My "Just in Case" Approach
E-M1, GM-5 , and my 12-40mm with the Lowepro Streamline 250.
It's day #10 of my two-week trip in southern Germany and I'm assessing what I brought with me with regards to camera equipment. As usual for me, I have used my Olympus OM-D E-M1 with the 12-40mm, f/2.8 lens for almost all of my shooting. Day before yesterday was the exception as I decided to pull out my little Panasonic GM-5 camera with the Panasonic 25mm, f/1.4 and put it on the passenger seat as I drove south from Weimar. I wanted to be able to snap some shots of the things I saw from the car.
Yesterday as I walked through the streets of Bamberg I switched my 12-40mm for my Panasonic 35-100mm, f/4-5.6 lens because I needed some reach. However, I left it on the camera to see how it worked as I continued my walk. It was, actually, okay. But I haven't used my Olympus Tough TG-Tracker once! Nor have I felt the need to use the HandlePod or my LolliPod tripod though I've carried both around everywhere. I have used on a few occasions the ShoulderPod S1 with my iPhone to do some vide recording.
As usual, I find I use my iPhone a lot! Especially when I want an HDR shot. The ProCamera app has not yet been totally updated to take advantage of some of the iPhone 7 Plus features, such as the dual lens. Nor has the built-in use of VividHDR been activated so I've turned back to using TrueHDR when I'm faced with a scene that is best captured using HDR. I have used the HDR1 setting on my E-M1 much more than ever before and it appears to do a pretty decent job.
My WD wi-fi hard drive has served me well. I transfer all iPhone images to it every evening. I still have space on my phone so I haven't erased any yet on the phone. I've backed up two SD cards to the drive as well. I then store the card in a special place and insert a new card in the camera. I've not yet used the SanDisk Media Drive.
I've used, as planned, my Lowepro Streamline 250 as my everyday walk around bag and it's been fine. I charge my batteries at night and keep them in the bag's front pockets. My SKITCH-12 bag acts, then, as my 'storage' bag back in my room or the car. In it I have the little bags in which I keep miscellaneous things. I haven't expanded the Streamline but if I did, perhaps I could get away with just it and not need a 'storage' bag. Bottom line, though, I brought more than I need. Seems to be the case most of the time! However, this time I am making special note since I've already left things home on this trip which I usually bring. The Olympus 75-300mm is an example. So, on our next trip, I'm going to bite the bullet and be more realistic about what "need" to bring along!
