Travel Photography with Fuji cameras
I’m a hobbyist photographer and combine photography with my family vacations. I am fortunate enough to be able to visit some amazing locations.
Combining a passion for Photography with the needs of family inevitably result in some compromises. I am lucky that my wife enjoys travel and hiking but it pushed her tolerance when she saw the amount of equipment that I wanted to pack!
I’m based in the UK and a trip to Yosemite National Park in the Spring was potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m going to want to take all the equipment I own, right?
I was invested in the Nikon System with a Nikon D3 and Nikon ‘Holy Trinity’ of lenses 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm. While the D3 did the job for shooting the occasional wedding but it was a challenge for travel mostly due to size and weight.
A large camera and large lenses needed a large bag (LowePro Backpack) and a large Tripod to support them. My wife was un-impressed that I had no spare capacity in my Hand Luggage and that my Gitzo Tripod would only fit diagonally across the suitcase taking up a lot of space
I purchased a Fuji XE2 as a backup camera and soon found that I was using this instead of my Nikon. I work a full time job in the City of London and found that the Fuji was compact enough to take on my daily commute. The opportunity to have a such a capable camera with me all the time was appealing.
With the Fuji I was re-discovering a passion for taking Photographs regularly and not just on my vacations.
I took the X-E2 on a trip to Italy and I was very pleased with the flexibility, compactness and IQ of the Fuji System.
The Land of Fire and Ice
I had a trip to Iceland Planned for September 2015 and decided that a Fuji X-T1 might be the perfect travel gear for this once in a lifetime adventure to the Land of Fire and Ice.
I sold my Nikon Gear and invested in a Fuji X-T1, Fuji 18-135mm and Fuji 14mm.
The X-T1 is compact, full featured and weather sealed. I was able to swap out my large Lowepro Backpack for a much smaller Slingshot 200 AW and pack a relatively tiny SIRUI T-025x Tripod that closes down to around 30cm and does not take up ‘half a suitcase’ of space!
I travelled light, taking just the Fuji X-T1, Fuji 18-135mm and Fuji 14mm Prime. The 14mm fast prime is useful for wide angle night scenes and the off-chance of an appearance of the Aurora.
The 18-135mm is a relatively compact and convenient travel lens with a useful zoom range. The weather sealing comes in very useful and gives confidence to keep shooting when Iceland throws water at you, which it does regularly.
I got caught in a heavy rain Shower while photographing in the mist at the Skogafoss Waterfall. I was able to continue shooting to capture the vivid rainbow despite the wet conditions.
Iceland is very windy and the Sea Spay at the black sand beach near Vik is impossible to avoid giving another reason to be thankful for the robust X-T1
I visited the Strokkur Geyser and waited patiently as the boiling water erupted regularly into the sky. I had not been to this location before and had no idea that the intensity of the eruptions varied dramatically. I had changed my location to get a better composition into an area that was strangely empty of visitors. The Geyser suddenly erupted with a significantly greater intensity which resulted in me and my Fuji getting drenched with hot water!
Driving the Golden Circle is a popular day trip for visitors to Iceland. The 300km route covers many beautiful landmarks in a short period of time including Þingvellir National Park, Geysers at Haukadalur and the amazing Gullfoss Waterfall.
Self-driving the Golden Circle rather than joining an organized tour allows you stop for photos anytime you want or head off to explore side roads.
There’s no rush when you’re travelling at your own pace. Spend an hour petting Icelandic horses if you want, or wait patiently for perfect clouds to move into your camera frame.
The City of London
While I used the my Nikon Camera for weddings and for travel photography I didn’t use it on a day to day basis due to it’s size and weight. My Nikon D3 would sit on the shelf gathering dust between vacations.
Since switching to the Fuji System I carry the X-T2 with me almost every day. I bought an ONA Prince Street Messenger bag which comfortably holds my Fuji X-T2 and one or two lenses as well as my work laptop and umbrella
Having my Fuji with me on my daily commute into the City of London allows me to capture the beauty of the City of London through the seasons.
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Chris Sargent is an award winning amateur photographer living in London, UK. He has been taking Photographs for over 10 years, covering a diversity of genres but especially Landscape and Travel Photography. Chris used systems from Canon and Nikon before switching to Fuji in 2015.
OMartin
March 27, 2017 @ 12:46 pm
I have been shooting Nikon SLRs for 35 years, and always bring a backpack of gear on trips and holidays. Now I felt for something lighter, and had finally decided on X-T1. But after getting a preorder discount on the X-T20 I settled for that, even when I hadn’t any chance to try it first. I quickly got a Samyang 12mm/2, Fujinon 23/2, 50/2 and 16-50. I managed to do a quick comparison against my Nikons, the old D700 it was meant to replace, and my D750. But I quickly realized it was more a match for my D750, so I decided to go on a 3 day trip to Prague with my wife with Fuji only, leaving all my Nikon gear for the first time in decades. Well, I didn’t miss my heavy SLR once!! I rather thought about all the situations I got shots I couldn’t if I had my SLR. We went to many churches, where photos weren’t even allowed, but the Fuji was so small and totally quiet, so it was no problem to get nice shots. Also it felt much easier to take street photos with a smaller camera.
Camera with 4 lenses, including a Gorillapod, filters, batteries etc. fitted inside a small Lowepro backpack, with opening in the back only. Very convenient and secure. And less than 2kg!
It was such a joy and inspiration to have such a light camera, and I could fit it everywhere! Easy to squeeze through narrow iron gates and on crowded balconies on the towers, i could even use my tiny Gorillapod to make some nice night portraits. The new f2 WR lenses are brilliant! Very good fit on the X-T20.
Andreas
March 29, 2017 @ 11:50 pm
i’m most likely buying the x-t20, as my first ever “real” camera.
what would be the number one recommendation for a “travel lens”?
Korey Napier
March 30, 2017 @ 1:50 am
If you’re wanting just one lens for travel, I would recommend the 16-55 f/2.8 if you’re wanting a zoom lens. It’s the equivalent of 24-70 and you can shoot everything from landscapes to portraits with that zoom range. If you are wanting just one prime lens, the 23mm f/2 or 1.4 would be great choices for travel.