I’ve been busy reading up on India and planning an itinerary lately. I also did some shopping for my travel, and I will write about the travel gear in a separate post. But for now, the photo gear! I currently own a Canon 5D, and four lenses: Voigtlander 20mm f3.5, Voigtlander 40mm f2.0, Canon 85mm f1.8, and Canon 135mm f2.0. All prime lenses. I used to have zoom lenses as well, but I sold them all due to disuse. This is a personal choice and it is highly related to the type of photography that I do and my philosophy of photography. I prefer to have fast, small lenses, and I wouldn’t mind swapping them frequently that much (maybe not in a dusty condition). Using prime lenses allows me to concentrate on one type of photos at a time, which results in better output for me. I also love the shallow depth of field that I can get from my fast lenses. On the downside, sometimes I may miss a photo opportunity because I don’t have the right lens on. People that worry about that and also like the ease of handling zoom lenses (no walking, and zooming instead) usually use one of those “all-around” lenses that cover a large range of focal lengths. But they lose in image quality compartment and gain boring apertures. Others may go for two fast zoom lenses, like 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8, attached to a body each, and have the speed and versatility at the same time. But then their kit is far from being compact and lightweight, and it comes at a hefty price too. So there is no lens that is fast, light, and versatile at the same time. Pick two.

So the story short, I’ll take prime lenses with me in my trip to India. I know I’ll risk losing photo opportunities, like something happening at a distance when I have my 20mm lens on, or the other way around. But I think India is so full of opportunities for photography that if you miss one, you get another one in a couple of minutes! I’m not a photo journalist or a wedding photographer that THE moment would be vital for me. Streets of India swarm with moments and any moment can be THE moment.

I’m not sure if I want to take all of my lenses with me though, because of the weight issue. I’ll be backpacking and carrying my photo gear “everyday” with me for over a month. So adding 1 kg of extra gear can be detrimental to my experience. I definitely need the 20mm lens for landscape/cityscape shots, the 40mm for street photography, and 85mm for portrait/street photography purposes. So I’m a bit reluctant to take the 135mm with me. It almost weighs as much as the other lenses all together, and it takes as much space. It’s such a swell lens and I love the portraits taken with this lens, I can also use it for detail shots and distant shots. But having four lenses is kind of confusing for me, especially that the 85mm and 135mm are a bit close. If I have to take one of them, it would be the 85mm, as I just love the focal length and I’m so familiar with it. We’ll see how it goes.

Another change in my kit might be the camera. I love 5D and it’s such a great camera despite the fact that the technology is almost 6 years old, and 6 years in digital photography is like 30 years in car industry! The only issue is that “my camera” backfocuses a little bit, and this can be a great deal when I use large apertures. When I focus on the eye, for instance, it often focuses on the sideburns, and this is highly problematic with lenses like 135mm f2.0 or 85mm f1.8. If I want to repair that, it will cost me a couple of hundreds of bucks. So instead, I might upgrade to a 5D mark II. I also get higher megapixel (21MP vs 13MP), and sensor cleaning which is essential in dusty streets of India. But on the other hand, it’s not exactly cheap, and it won’t be long before the next version of 5D comes out, and the price of the camera falls drastically. But heck, if I need the camera now, I need it now, not in 6 months.

I’ll write a follow-up post when I finalize my photo gear, and I’ll go more into details of my camera bag, my tripod, and extra accessories.