chiron wrote:
The pictures are great in giving a well-composed feel for the area, as Steve says, and you have a very lovely family with young men who are still willing to travel with you! I'm sort of stunned by the detail in your verbal account. I hardly ever know so clearly the last ten or twelve places I have been on a vacation, especially if I am not the one driving!
It was a little bit of a whirlwind....I should bookmark my post so I can remember it a year from now. We had a pretty crazy trip back in 2023 as well.
Thank you for your responses, members like you make this forum so much more enjoyable and meaningful, so thank you for that too. I realised my annual paid membership of the forum has expired, so will renew that coming week and start posting a few photos from the trip.
tsdevine wrote:
Thank you, and I didn't mean to highjack your thread. Looking forward to seeing your shots from Hawaii. That is definitely a bucket list spot for me.
I always struggle with these special trips in terms of the gear I want to bring. Last year, we were in Europe for 3 weeks. I only brought Q3 with me. Last week, we just came back from Istanbul, and I bought my M10R with 21mm, 35mm, 50mm and Q3. Q3 would’ve been fine if it’s all I brought. Changing lens just sucks on trips like that especially if you have kids with you. We also go to Hawaii almost every year, actually we are going to Kauai in late July. Trust me it’s going to be hot and humid. I would bring 1 body, 2 lenses at most. Probably just A1, 16-35, and 85. That would cover everything and have the 85 to do some portraits and landscape.
I think 16-35 and 85 with the A1, in Peak Design shoulder bag is what I’ll end up using the most. As for the 50-150, it’s already traveling with me on this flight somewhere over China currently, so when not in use, will just sit in the hotel room. I do want to see if I can get by with just the 50-150 most days, in which case it would be useful discovery for future trips, notwithstanding the weight and size of that lens. I just need to get over the indiscreet footprint of it!
gordec wrote:
I always struggle with these special trips in terms of the gear I want to bring. Last year, we were in Europe for 3 weeks. I only brought Q3 with me. Last week, we just came back from Istanbul, and I bought my M10R with 21mm, 35mm, 50mm and Q3. Q3 would’ve been fine if it’s all I brought. Changing lens just sucks on trips like that especially if you have kids with you. We also go to Hawaii almost every year, actually we are going to Kauai in late July. Trust me it’s going to be hot and humid. I would bring 1 body, 2 lenses at most. Probably just A1, 16-35, and 85. That would cover everything and have the 85 to do some portraits and landscape. ...Show more →
sandy27000 wrote:
I think 16-35 and 85 with the A1, in Peak Design shoulder bag is what I’ll end up using the most. As for the 50-150, it’s already traveling with me on this flight somewhere over China currently, so when not in use, will just sit in the hotel room. I do want to see if I can get by with just the 50-150 most days, in which case it would be useful discovery for future trips, notwithstanding the weight and size of that lens. I just need to get over the indiscreet footprint of it!
I would think to capture the Hawaiian landscapes you would need something wider than 50mm. I typically use lenses from 21mm to 100mm when shooting landscapes in Hawaii. So I don’t feel the 50-150 lens would be a one lens solution for landscape locations.
I hate to hijack this thread, but I'm in the same boat as the OP, but sort of already planning as light as possible similar to some of your suggestions. I'm purposely taking my oldest camera (A7R3) instead of my A1 just from a worst-case perspective (I can afford to be without the R3 if something happens, not so much the A1 from a productivity perspective - that's the money maker and football season will start soon). Like the OP, this is likely a once in a lifetime trip, and I want to keep it simple (my wife will kill me if I overdo it). Taking the 16-35GM, and either the Tamron 28-75 or 35-150, which will be primarily used on our hikes (Diamond Head, Lighthouse, etc). Some days all that will stay locked in the safe and I'll just use my phone or DJI Osmo (it's a vacation after all!). That said, I have 2 questions:
1 - would my Voigtlander 10mm Heliar be of any use? It's small, easy to pop into the backpack, and I am thinking could offer a unique perspective on some of the landscapes. The downside is the lack of ability to use any filters.
2 - I am hoping to do a doors off helicopter ride (yes, that Magnum Helicopters tour!) - and this is where I'm thinking I would need longer glass than I'm planning to take. 70-200? 100-400? definitely NOT the 200-600 (too big). I have zero perspective on what this ride will be like and what focal length will be needed. Or should I just skip the photography and enjoy the ride?
mike1812 wrote:
I hate to hijack this thread, but I'm in the same boat as the OP, but sort of already planning as light as possible similar to some of your suggestions. I'm purposely taking my oldest camera (A7R3) instead of my A1 just from a worst-case perspective (I can afford to be without the R3 if something happens, not so much the A1 from a productivity perspective - that's the money maker and football season will start soon). Like the OP, this is likely a once in a lifetime trip, and I want to keep it simple (my wife will kill me if I overdo it). Taking the 16-35GM, and either the Tamron 28-75 or 35-150, which will be primarily used on our hikes (Diamond Head, Lighthouse, etc). Some days all that will stay locked in the safe and I'll just use my phone or DJI Osmo (it's a vacation after all!). That said, I have 2 questions:
1 - would my Voigtlander 10mm Heliar be of any use? It's small, easy to pop into the backpack, and I am thinking could offer a unique perspective on some of the landscapes. The downside is the lack of ability to use any filters.
2 - I am hoping to do a doors off helicopter ride (yes, that Magnum Helicopters tour!) - and this is where I'm thinking I would need longer glass than I'm planning to take. 70-200? 100-400? definitely NOT the 200-600 (too big). I have zero perspective on what this ride will be like and what focal length will be needed. Or should I just skip the photography and enjoy the ride?...Show more →
Helicopter tours, either a prime in your favorite length between 24 and 35 or a high quality 16-35 is what you want. Polarizer, 1/1000 sec or faster shutter and f/5.6-11, depending on cloud cover and ISO.
We just got back from a 12 day trip on Kauai. I took the 16-25, 20-70 and 70-350. Used the 70-350 more than the other 2 even though I was in crop mode with it. The 20-70 is a good one to have but I'd say you need a tele as well. Rained a few times on me but the A1 & lenses were fine. Don't leave your gear in plain sight in a parked car and I think you'll be alright. We're older and don't go off the beaten path much though.
I'm currently on travel in Spain. 100F/38C weather days on end. All I have is an a7Cii + 24-50/2.8 -- perfect travel combo. I carry it in a small superlight 25 USD shoulder bag from Uniqlo.
Tonight is our last night in Hawaii, we leave for Tokyo tomorrow. The most used lens has been 16-35 f2.8 GM2 followed by 50-150 f2 GM. Im still reluctant to carry the 50-150 f2 in the city, but that lens can be a good single lens solution for most situations if one is ok to lug it around. I did carry 35mm f1.4 GM and 85mm f1.4 GM2 also but they have not used much so far, that might change in Tokyo though.
Here are some photos from the trip, late in posting as we had a bereavement in the family. Here's what I ended up taking:
Sony A1 M2 X 2
16-35mm GM2
50-150mm GM
85mm GM2
35mm GM
Think Tank Mindshift Photo Cross 13
Peak Design Sling 6L
I usually carried both the bodies and 16-35 + 50-150 in Hawaii as most of the times we had a car or a tour vehicle. In Tokyo, I usually carried one of the bodies with 35mm and 85mm primes in the Peak Design. Once in a lifetime trip, so carried the kitchen sink in the end. The second A1 M2 body arrived just in time for the trip.
16-35 was most used followed by 50-150mm. If I had to do this again, perhaps I will leave the 85mm prime behind. I found the 50-150 fun to use, coming from Nikon world, the weight is similar to Nikon 70-200 f2.8S, so that I didn't mind that much. I do need a sling bag that can carry both the bodies with the zooms mounted and the 35mm f1.4 GM, which Think Tank cannot carry if I mount the zooms on two bodies, any recommendations would be great.
Thanks again for all the responses as I got ready for the trip. Appreciate your time.
ILCE-1M2FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens35mmf/2.81/200s100 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens35mmf/5.61/125s50 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens35mmf/2.81/125s1000 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 50-150mm F2 GM lens50mmf/2.01/250s400 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 50-150mm F2 GM lens150mmf/5.01/320s125 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens23mmf/8.01/1250s500 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 35mm F1.4 GM lens35mmf/5.01/400s500 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM II lens23mmf/8.01/1250s500 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 35mm F1.4 GM lens35mmf/1.41/400s3200 ISO0.0 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 50-150mm F2 GM lens150mmf/2.01/2000s1000 ISO+0.7 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 50-150mm F2 GM lens150mmf/2.01/320s5000 ISO+0.7 EV
No surprise on the 16-35. Honestly on most trips I could probably just take that and be fine, but I like the CV15 for sunsets, and the 24G was nice in evenings when I didn't want to carry a bag (fit in wife's purse).
Agree. Although the new 50-150 is very tempting to carry along all the time, it will weigh heavily on my options going forward
gocolts wrote:
No surprise on the 16-35. Honestly on most trips I could probably just take that and be fine, but I like the CV15 for sunsets, and the 24G was nice in evenings when I didn't want to carry a bag (fit in wife's purse).
