Travelling overseas - what gear to take

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doubledark

Well-known member
If you were travelling overseas as a one-man-band and wanted to shoot two camera interviews PLUS stills; what camera gear would you choose?

I guess the same question applies to sound & lighting.

cheers
 
For me, personally, Fuji X-H1. Great color science and simple to use. Possibly the GH5 if I was obsessing about shooting 10-bit, but I don't. 8-bit is fine for most situations that I find myself in. GH5 would be lighter to travel with mutliple lenses, the Fuji lenses are a lot heavier because of its S35 imager.
 
My current travel set-up is FS7, A7III and DJI Mavic. How many lenses and accessories I take depends on where the location is, what I'm shooting and how much help I'll get.

In general my advice is don't take more than you can comfortably carry.

That said, this was what I took to a remote part of Canada a couple of weeks ago:

Kit.jpg

I'll be taking just two of those bags to Uganda next though which is more realistic for a OMB.
 
Liam Hall said:
My current travel set-up is FS7, A7III and DJI Mavic. How many lenses and accessories I take depends on where the location is, what I'm shooting and how much help I'll get.

In general my advice is don't take more than you can comfortably carry.

That said, this was what I took to a remote part of Canada a couple of weeks ago:

View attachment 131081

I'll be taking just two of those bags to Uganda next though which is more realistic for a OMB.
Click to expand...

Did you have crew in Canada or did you have to deal with all of this yourself? I took three cases/backpacks to Brazil last year for a shoot with my Rock & Roller Micro and it was okay. Also, I just had to lug it there, once in country, I had an excellent crew, even an AC who hauled everything for me, he wouldn't let me carry anything. It was nice!
 
Depending on where in the world you are going, I'm offering a suggestion for some different equipment, this after I almost died from drinking contaminated water a few years ago (from the hotel tap in London of all places). I've worked in over 50 countries and two things I always bring for proper hydration, the Katadyn Mini Ceramic Microfilter and the SteriPEN Adventurer Opti Water Purifier. I always have these with me in a small pouch that I can wear on my belt.

https://www.backcountry.com/Store/catalog/search.jsp?s=u&q=Katadyn+Mini+Ceramic+Microfilter

https://www.rei.com/product/799003/steripen-adventurer-opti-water-purifier
 
Thanks all who have responded.

Liam, your back & knees must hate you :(

My thinking so far is 2 x BMPCC 4k and 1x Nikon body, 3xNikon lenses
1 x lightweight tripod
1x table top tripod
2x Rode wireless kits
a couple of foldable reflectors/diffusers
1 x laptop
 
The BMPCC 4K can literally ship the first day of September or 14 months later...when are you traveling?
 
doubledark said:
Thanks all who have responded.

Liam, your back & knees must hate you :(

My thinking so far is 2 x BMPCC 4k and 1x Nikon body, 3xNikon lenses
1 x lightweight tripod
1x table top tripod
2x Rode wireless kits
a couple of foldable reflectors/diffusers
1 x laptop
Click to expand...

Counting on BMD delivery dates? That's optimistic!
 
doubledark said:
If you were travelling overseas as a one-man-band and wanted to shoot two camera interviews PLUS stills; what camera gear would you choose?

I guess the same question applies to sound & lighting.

cheers
Click to expand...

What is physically realistic - you have two arms and one body.

To move as an OMB your resource is two arms and one body.

My experience is this..
When moving (eg to the hotel from the airport) I can use both hands and strap two things to my body.
When shooting I can use both hands and strap one thing to my body.

So how does this usually break down.

Hand1 Sticks bag - A long thin bag ideally with wheels - contains sticks and lightstands (and often other stuff like a rain coat)
Hand2 Hotel bag - A backpack that will stay in the hotel.. Laptop, chargers, clothes
Body1 Operator bag - a shoulder bag that will contain lenses not on camera, Bcamera, batts media (and often drinking water in a side pouch)
Body2 A cam bag - with my A camera and all the bits to build it - with an ENG cam this would just be the camera in its jacket.

Now lets go on location
Hand1 sticks bag
Hand2 2 Built A camera
Body Operator bag
(chargers et al left at hotel)

If you are just shooting nat light in the day you can leave the sticks bag at home and just carry the sticks. The purpose of a sticks bag is to enable you to move sticks and lightstands with one hand.

Sticks, camera, operator bag (billingham on shoulder brown strap)
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=ae69121045486ec5175e6132fb3355e1&oe=5B7F9BB4
 
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I have to say, the more I shoot and travel, the less I like OMB. Having a crew is the best and I now pout when I can't get at least a PA and a sound mixer.
 
puredrifting said:
I have to say, the more I shoot and travel, the less I like OMB. Having a crew is the best and I now pout when I can't get at least a PA and a sound mixer.
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Couldn't agree more. Though, the problem I get when hiring local crew is quite often they simply don't know their arse from their elbow. Indeed, I'd rather have an enthusiastic PA than some of the so called professional crew I have had to bear lately (one or two good ones too BTW).
 
X-H1 only goes for up to 30 minutes, that may or may not be a problem. I'd probably go with GH5 right now and maybe a Sony RX100 latest model for compact use. Might be swayed to go with Canon XC15 depending on circumstances and project needs, would cut the kit down in size by a bunch since the lens is attached and it has an XLR module too.

Cheapest I would go on tripod would be a Benro S6, S8 would be better. Maybe one of their really small travel tripods as a second unit.

For any serious work, do not consider this tripod https://neewer.com/product/neewer-7...rload-up-to-8-8-pounds-4-kilograms-redsab264/ I own this and intend to use it for a rough mount that gets locked down. I did recently try it on a video where the camera was mostly locked down, and it is not good for any movements - none at all. of course it also only cost $35 including shipping and should be fine for my intended purpose, just not a serious use tripod in my opinion.
 
markfpv said:
Having shot a many things wearing steel toe boots, orange or yellow vest & hard hat.... Sam - I gotta say - you are not wearing that hard hat properly. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
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under my arm you will see a D850 - not only was I shooting a film but a 'book' - peaked helmets and stills cams held to the eye dont mix - you gotta go gangsta style
 
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