My Photography Travel Kit
Two Fuji XT-5's, Sigma 18-50mm F2.8, Sigma 10-18mm F2.8, microfibre cloths, K&F lens cloths, lens pen, lens blower, Neewer filter set, wired shutter release, Neewer Flexible Tripod, power bank, ear plugs, Godox IT30 Pro and hotshoe extender, two spare batteries and a dual battery charger.
Last month I went to Rome for vacation and I wanted a compact yet flexible setp to ensure that I could get the best photos possible.
The Goal
Have the most flexibility with the least weight and at the same time not need to check a bag on the plane.
Tripod
I knew that I wanted to take photos at sunrise and sunset and would need a tripod, however a full sized tripod, even a travel one, would take up to much space in my carry-on luggage forcing me to check a bag. The solution was to use a mini tripod. During this trip, in the end, I did not use the tripod, however I did use the mini tripod during my trip to London in 2023.
Neewer Flexible Tripod
4 minute long exposure of the London Eye taken with my mini tripod
Bag
I have an excellent photography backpack that I bought a few years ago, but as of January 2025 that bag is 1.5cm too large on two dimensions to be used as a carry-on for flights let alone as a personal item. For this past trip I discovered this too late to replace the bag, but for my next trip to Iceland I will need a backpack to carry more gear including a larger tripod.
For this trip I used my everyday non-photography sling bag. It's small enough to use as a personal item on flights and can easily hold my power bank, mini-tripod, flash, two bodies with attached lenses, cleaning cloths, and spare batteries.
Waterfly Sling Bag
Cameras & Lenses
I have two Fujifilm XT5 bodies and one lens for each body. Only bringing one lens per body provides a couple of benefits. The first is that I will not feel like I have the wrong lens on my camera body and will be focused, pun intended, on the compositions that I am able to take with the lenses on the body. The second, and more important to me, is that I won't be changing lenses in the field with the risk of sensor dust.
I know the risk is small, but a sensor cleaning kit is only good if you can get somewhere inside without risk of dust. And when on vacation it's not always easy to find an indoor location without airflow from air conditioning or people walking by. Your hotel room is good, but it's not always practical to return to your room in the middle of the day.
By choosing zoom lenses I increase my flexibility to acquire all the shots that I want. On the first body I will have wide angles covered with the Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 and on the second body standard zoom range is covered by the Sigma 18-50mm f2.8. The end result is 10-50mm (15-75mm full frame equivalent) at f2.8 which is fast enough for night time shots in a city. See more on the pros and cons of a zoom lens in this article.
Many photographers will say that f2.8 is not fast enough for night shots, but I disagree especially in a city with lots of ambient light and a modern camera that handles low light well. Combine that with modern editing software and AI noise reduction and you've got solid night shots without the noise.
The Colosseum during sunset shot with the Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 lens
A restaurant somewhere in Rome at night shot with the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 lens
As you can see the images are sharp and have low noise despite being shot at iso 4000 and 3200.
Additionally I bring my laptop so that I can transfer photos, back up to the cloud, and edit a couple of shots each day. This vacation, my laptop was in my wife's carry on bag due to the issue with reduction in carry on sizes as of January this year and no longer being able to use my existing Camera backpack which has a laptop slot.