Finally I decided to bring my 135mm F2.0 along as it is priceless for candid shots and portraits. I also did not go for 5D mark II, because of its price tag. I’ll deal with my 5D, trying to focus in between the eyes and/or shoot a few and pick the one in focus. I’ll have to deal with sensor dust as well, perhaps cleaning my sensor everyday with a blower.

Another important issue is how I want to carry my gear. So I will have a Canon 5D with 4 fixed focals: Voigtlqnder 3.5/20 and 2/40, and Canon 1.8/85 and 2/135. All fast fantastic lenses that allow me to do a wide range of photos with excellent results. But having 4 lenses in a bag and juggling between them can be quite a nuissance. It is also important for me to have an instant access to all my equipment, so the backpack kind of bags are dismissed. I was considering carrying my lenses in a waist-bag and my camera in a soft bag, and put them all in a backpack, but I decided not to. This would be a good option for hiking, but not walking in a city, because then you would look like a bit ridiculous and out-of-place, to say the least. Instead, I’m going to carry all my equipment in a Lowepro Passport sling.

What I really like about this bag is that it is quite inconspicuous, and doesn’t look like a camera bag at all. It also has a zip on one side that upon openning, adds an extra 20% of space to the bag. So I have to put the 135mm in the spare space beside the photo compartment, and the rest assorted in the compartment using separators. The only downside is that the bag wil be quite heavy, especially if I take a bottle of water and a guidebook with me. I can occasionally leave the 135mm in the hotel room to reduce the weight. So voila!

Another important issue is the back-up. I’m going to shoot hell-lot-of-photos in this trip, perhaps as high as 100 photos per day, or so. And I shoot RAW, so it sums up to as high as 50 GB! I’m not going to bring my laptop, as it’s a big hassle. It adds 2 kg of weight, and there is always the risk of having it stolen when left in the hotel, etc. For the back-up, there are several methods, and there are heated discussions in photography forums about. Some people say burn your photos on DVD and send back home by post. Others say upload it online (which I personally think it’s totally dumb, especially if you shoot RAW files). I personally find these two methods too cumbersome. Instead, I have bought myself an external hard disk that can copy files without connecting to a computer. I will also keep the files on the memory card. The HD is a Wolverine PicPac II, 250 GB. There are two issues with this method. First of all, it is not the safest way, as the HD can get stolen. To reduce this risk, I’ll try to keep the cards and the HD in different places (keep the cards with me, and leave the HD at hotel). The other issue is that the HD copies all files on the card, each time you want to back-up. So I will end up with many copies of my images. Though 250GB is quite a lot, and I can back-up the same card several times, no problem. I might also try to swap cards several times per day, to have the same place shot on several cards. Talking about cards, I think I’ll take two 16GB cards (should buy), a 4GB and a 2GB (I already own) card with me. Hope nothing goes wrong with the files during the trip, but having a back-up is always reassuring.

And also this is my first post using BlogPress on iPhone. During the trip, I will write my blog on my iPhone using this app, as it allows me to save an offline copy. The only gotcha is to find WiFi hotspots in India, and apparently this is not trivial! We’ll see how it goes, I might write a post about this app after the trip.

  • Posted from my iPhone

Update 23.09.11: Eventually I did not bring the 135mm!!! We will see if I miss it badly or not!

Update 12.11.11: Make sure you read the post on my thoughts about the gear after the trip!