it was all working great but then I wanted to take a photo a family vacation was coming up and
I couldn't believe how much I was stressing about how to take videos and photos for the
trip if I bring the big camera will I use it as much as I think or will I use it at all should I
just iPhone it all the way it's gonna be with me at all times but as a photographer I want
to capture the best images and the best memories so this was the Dilemma how much gear do I bring
and will I use it the answer well it wasn't as straightforward as I thought it would be
foreign
fix it in camera and then finesse it in post and deciding which gear to bring on vacation
was more stressful than I could have imagined it did surprise me how different a vacation trip is
from a business trip for a business trip it's easy bring the best gear you can fit on the carry-on
you know the general purpose of the trip and you can choose a gear which best suits that trip but
then our family vacation had me super indecisive on what I should bring because there were so many
different possibilities on what we could capture I have three potential cameras that I could bring
the first one is easy an iPhone it's simple it's Compact and will always be with me easy startup
easy switch between photo and video works great in daylight and sunny settings it doesn't capture the
best photos or videos from the cameras that I have but it'll capture the memory so it's a no-brainer
yes it's coming and it doesn't even need to go in the carry-on it's just in my pocket next up was
the Canon EOS R it's a few years old but it has a great sensor for photos it only has HD video
compared to the 4k on the iPhone but it has a great feature that I love there's quick switching
between photos and videos just by pushing one button I have many lenses for it and I'm very
comfortable and familiar using it but it's really bad in low light for video just like the iPhone
and I knew we would be going on rides that would be super low light and we would be doing stuff
at night that I'd like to capture as well this is where the Sony fx3 comes in it's fantastic in low
light but it can also take amazing photos and videos in daylight it's 4K with amazing slow-mo
But ultimately I ruled out the fx3 fairly quickly and I'll explain why a little later the fx3 would
be the camera that I would bring with me for a business trip Hands Down Easy Choice grab the
camera backpack or more likely in my case the rolling carry-on Pelican case a messenger bag
and leave most of the gear at the hotel and travel light during the day with the messenger bag but we
are on vacation a family vacation so how is that different you ask I am traveling with kids not
super young kids but young enough where we still need to bring a change of clothes and drinks and
other things I know will have to carry and a camera backpack isn't the best choice for this
kind of trip the way it has its compartments actually make it harder to carry other things
like purchases along the way and I didn't want to get to a point where I was strapping all the
extra stuff to the backpack like a sherpa though that did happen so the camera backpack was out I
wanted to take a hiking backpack it made way more sense for the amount of walking I knew we were
going to be doing but I still needed a place to put on my camera gear that I knew I was going to
bring on Amazon I found this small camera bag it's water resistant and it fits nicely in the bottom
of a backpack at the time that I ordered it they didn't have a black one but it was super cheap and
I wanted to make sure that it actually did work it's fairly small just enough to fit the camera
two lenses and all the accessories that I wanted to bring but it severely limits how much I can
actually take so now I have to be very selective so what stays and what goes this is what I packed
with the EOS R the 16 to 35 millimeter for all the wide angles or vlogging if I did any and then it
was a choice between the 50 millimeter the 24 to 70 or the 135 that I have ultimately I decided
that the long lens would be best though if I still had the RF 70 to 200 millimeter I would have taken
that and I packed an ND filter that was my family vacation travel kit but then it was time to use
the gear at first I knew getting to the airport would be hectic so I packed the camera and used
the iPhone exclusively for that portion of the trip just to document document versus creative I
agree garyvee and it just made sense kids luggage moving quickly you don't want to forget anything
or I didn't want to have something dangling off my side and a camera strap for me the camera was more
for the vacation so let's get there first first date the camera setup bag is ready to go clip
on the bag for a quick access I was excited for this I think I filmed with the camera for about
20 minutes before I started using the iPhone more and more the wide angle was nearly the same and it
was so much quicker to fire up and just use and I didn't want to literally have the camera strapped
in my hand for the entire trip any ride that we went on I found myself putting the camera fully
away into the backpack I didn't want it smashing side to side on the right after two rides I didn't
feel like taking the camera out anymore so I was using the iPhone to take photos and videos from
that point and to be honest it felt like this was going to be the way it is for the rest of the trip
but then I wanted to take some detailed photos and videos and the iPhone just pooped the bed here
it's great for wide angle stuffs and for macros but anything off in the distance it can't really
do with any kind of fidelity the digital Zoom just makes everything look like mush when you review it
later and as good as the iPhone has become taking pictures and videos and the photos still look like
iPhone photos but photos with actual lenses just hit different especially long lenses these are not
shots I feel confident getting with an iPhone for me I feel that the iPhone is only halfway there as
an all-around camera system it's really meant to document not create but as a photographer I want
to create sometimes the osr as small as it is does feel too cumbersome to use to just document when
stuff is happening so fast and when you're with your family trying to enjoy the moments there
are no resets error wait for the camera to be ready so in the end I use the iPhone and the EOS
R together to capture document and create the iPhone for footage and quick snaps and the EOS
r with the telephone lens to capture some really nice photos that the iPhone could not get though
I do have to get my hands back on the 70 to 200 millimeter for next time the biggest reasons I
didn't bring the fx3 is it's super expensive which made me very nervous I only have one native lens
and I didn't want to rent any like I would on a business trip the metabone adapters are hit
or miss with the EF lenses and one of the bigger reasons that made me glad I didn't bring the fx3
is that it doesn't have an evf for those moments in harsh and bright lighting conditions so check
out this video about how annoying that actually was I didn't think it would frustrate me as
much as it did also so I live stream on my second Channel where I deep dive on the creative process
as well as freelance financials so make sure you check that out as always thanks for watching